The best choice really depends on the reason why you want a light flywheel. If it is just to go faster in a street-strip car, then I'd use the heaviest wheel or a stock-weight good steel wheel.

If you have an all out high RPM drag car with serious engine power overkill at very high RPM and want to avoid the large shock load from letting a clutch out hard, you might want the lightest wheel.

 

The best choice really depends on the reason why you want a light flywheel.

I really don't want a super lightweight alum on my street car but am interested in a lighter steel flywheel. I just want to know if anyone is running these lightened steel flywheels and if they are durable. They seem to be right in the middle of the weight game between stock and alum.

 

I am interested in opinions and info as well.SFI ratings and weight.Looking for something that is close to stock weight,or 1 to 2 pounds lighter.For street and drag use.Mostly drag.

 

I just got off the phone with Brian at Anderson Ford Motorsports and he said they are very durable made of 4140 forged steel and at 14.5 lbs. He said they went to these due to some issues with the Aluminum flywheels warping. I was not really looking for a flywheel this light for the street. I was more hoping for something 5 lbs lighter than stock.

 

I've got a McLeod AL flywheel from the late '90s (12 lbs? 14?) in my '92 306 wanna-be CMC daily driver. It's. AWESOME. However, I did have to have the surface machined before swapping it into my second motor as the plate had warped (bad clutch install? heat? normal? no idea). It was fairly easy and cheap for the local machine shop to do though. Throttle is a lot more responsive; great for throttle blipping during downshifting if you match revs. However, all the research I've seen says if you are a drag racer, don't do it. You want the momentum of the heavier flywheel to help get out of the hole.

 

Lightweight flywheels are kind of a pain on a street driven car. You need that extra inertia to help with low rpm starts, especially with aggressive clutches. They are great for a road race vehicle. I prefer a regular weight billet steel flywheel, even on a track car, since they are very durable and forgiving.

 

I have a Mongoose clutch and 3.55s with a T-5, I have no problem with low rpm starts. I suspect most people have at least 3.55 gears these days, if not 3.73s.

However, you do have to train yourself to be more gentle with the throttle, otherwise you light the tires up, especially in the rain.

 

Tests have shown that the aluminum flywheel did lose out on getting a car moving from the starting line. However, the aluminum flywheel through out the rest of the run was able to overcome the initial advantage of the steel flywheel. It ended up being faster in the quarter mile. It's also only a matter of a quick driving adjustment on the street. What do dedicated race cars use? I would think if there was an advantage with steel, they would use it. Just my .02.

 

I dont know where you read this marketing Bull####....but the guys who go fast, run a steel flywheel...
you need the inertia...especially at a high rpm shift and a high rpm launch
some of them run a lightweight clutch setup.....but that is a WHOLE Other can of worms

the other issue, is that an aluminum Flywheel flexes a lot more than a steel one, and has a tendency to crack easier when you put a heavy load on it(meaning a heavy, High HP Car, Leaving hard off the line


in Drag Racing, a lot of races are won or lost in the first 60'.... which is why your 60' is so important....
given an identical car in each lane, a 60' of even just 1/10 faster, yields significant results at the end of the track

 

Check with the dudes at American Powertrain. They can school you on this. Call and ask for Paul. Tell them Barry told you to call. He is a cool guy!

Barry

 

Could do ram aluminum...they're a bit heavier... 16# if memory serves me correct.

They were always my favorite

 

I know of one person that likes their aluminum and he is a F/S car

 

Your right Shifter ,The Rams are heavier.I am going back with mine next season.The Ford racing was 2 pounds lighter, that I ran last season.No good,even though I did fairly well.Wish there was something in between a Ram aluminum and cast steel.Is there an animal?

 

This is also what I'm looking for a steel FW at approximately 17lbs. I'm still looking and ill let you know.

 

I saw a slight MPG improvement with aluminum (12 lb). Revved quicker and decelerated a little quicker. Had to feather the clutch a bit on initial starts-that was with 3.55 gear. With 3.73 it wasn't a big deal. 2.95 first.

 

Found a 15.5 LB steel flywheel from Ram, here is the best price I could find.

Ram Clutches 1529-15 Steel Lightweight Flywheel SBFord 157T / 0 Bal. / 15.5Lbs.

Here is a clutch masters steel comes in at 17lbs, I want to run a twin disc clutch and seems this flywheel would work due to the surface being cut down and the Twin disc adapter ring wouldn't work.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-86-95-F...tors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model:Mustang&hash=item1e66ae7088&vxp=mtr

 

Thanks 92,If you see any others,please let us know.

 

Anyone who thinks they see better acceleration or better fuel milage in a street car, or medium drag car, is tripping out.

Rotating Mass, Available Horsepower, and Acceleration

There is a link there to a flywheel energy calculator. If you use the calculator, remember it is how the weight is distributed radially on the wheel along with RPM change that determines the amount of extracted and stored energy. All that energy eventually comes back.

 

In the summary to the link you provided R is why I was leaning to a heavier flywheel.The shock to the tires,and a less consistant 60 ft.I have experianced exactly what it said with my lightweight aluminum.I do gear changes at all the timing points in the Quarter also,and wasnt as consistant as I felt I should have been .Due to rapid RPM drop,and recovery.I had to look at those numbers very carefully to get my dial in's right.And nail the shifts every time.Even though I had a fairly good year I could have done better.It was a good thing I had an A-5 to pull me thru.

 

The link in post #18 has a lot of good information, but also reaches some false conclusions based on a couple of assumptions.

In a perfect lossless system you don't lose any power when a flywheel is accelerated and then decelerated (while connected to the load). In real life this doesn't happen, so the system where the flywheel changes RPM less (light weight), will have less power loss. In addition one major assumption is not even discussed. When a heavy flywheel is used and a car changes gears, the stored energy in the flywheel gets delivered to the tires as an extra surge in addition to the engine power. This surge usually results in tire spin, and at the very minimum extra sidewall wrap. The flywheel power is being turned into heat in the tires and ground, instead of accelerating the car. With a light weight system, this loss usually doesn't occur.

I have used aluminum flywheels in a lot of cars and have never encountered one (with a V8) that I had any trouble getting to launch consistently. That is a lack of driver talent. Learn to drive a stick.

Aluminum flywheels have a number of other benefits.

I would be wary of a light or specifically lightened steel flywheel. We tested one a number of years ago, that was a disaster. When you lighten a steel flywheel, you significantly reduce the bending stiffness of it. Remember when the clutch pedal is depressed, the pressure plate is applying a bending load to the flywheel with a load of 2,000-3,000lbs. This force was great enough to cause the flywheel to flex so much that the pressure plate did not completely release the friction disc. The result was that the car would not shift properly.

 

FMS 23lbs

Brand New Ford Racing Billet Steel 157 Tooth 6 Bolt 23 lb Flywheel M 6375 D302B | eBay

 

my 2 cents. had steel one for years on my 11 second street/strip car. switched to Fidanza aluminum and gained about 2 mph in quarter. i drive the think on the street about 1500-2000 miles a year. Clutch is Spec stage 2. Sure you need a little more rpm to get car moving but big deal. Car revs quicker but in between shifts can drop off quicker too. The Fidanza has the steel insert/face so instead of machining it can just buy new steel insert when ya want to.

 

my car is under 3000lbs without me so aluminum made sense.

 

I want to thank all for their input and get this back on track. I wanted to know the experience people had with a lightweight Steel flywheel not heavy stock or normal weight billet flywheel. Most stock or billet flywheels are in the 24/25 lb range. I'm more interested in the lighter billet steel flywheels 20lb or less and how there compare to say the Alum flywheels in durability and performance and where they got them.

 

Me to as I need a flywheel

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