Lightweight Flywheels

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zyran

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I know light flywheels have sharper response interms of acceleration and also faster deceleration. But are they really harder to drive? I've read somewhere due to inertia, the car will die easier. Thank you boss
 
Makes sense. The lighter flywheel doesn't have as much inertia to keep the engine turning and smoothly.
 
not so much harder... you just have to pay more attention to your revs for the first few times you drive with a lightened flywheel because everything involving a change in revs happens faster... but after a few days of tooling around you should get used to it.... i have never heard of a car dying easier as a result of a lightened FW i do know that in neutral if i blip the throttle and let off the revs drop below idle but my engine still recovers but other than that i i don't stall her any more than i used to

TF
hoping for snow but getting rain
 
That seems to be the "problem" on Carrera GT. Fresh owners have a hard time learning to take off without stalling the engine. Of course the clutch is tricky there, but light flywheel makes it harder too. But then, it revs instantly like F1 :)
 
A lightened flywheel is a common upgrade for any car, but it is important not to get too light of a flywheel...the inertia of the flywheel is necessary to keep the engine running smoothly, and if you go from a 12 lb flywheel to a 7 lb one, your engine won't idle well....for daily driving, that sucks. AFAIK, 2-4 lbs lighter is usually safe when getting a lightened one, unless you're serious about modding your car.
 
The flywheel is what "pulls" the crank around. The fewer cylinders you have (configuration has an effect too), the lumpier it will rotate, and the easier it will be to stall. A lighter flywheel raises the stall speed of the engine, so slightly raising your idle speed is a good idea if you don't want to be embarrassed when you pull up to a stop.

The carrera GT thing is a clutch issue. Although the engine is low inertia for it's type, it still has plenty, and the buckets of torque mean it would be hard to stall from lack of acceleration. You should be able to sidestep the clutch at a few rpm, but just moving by slipping the clutch would be hard due to the instant nature of it.
 
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