Are lightened flywheels worth it?

ginashamz

Car in question is the RX-8 PZ. The suspension from factory is designed for the track but I want something that will make the car rev faster. I am not sure if it’s the low torque but feel like it would be a lot more entertaining if it could take less time going up the gears as it revs to nearly 9.5k RPM.

Racing Beat (official Mazda rotary tuners) sell a flywheel that’s more than half the weight of the stock flywheel for around £500. Is it only worth fitting this when I change my clutch too? I think that’ll need doing within the next year

lockedout69

Yes, totally worth it. It should knock about 14 seconds of every journey. That is soon going to add up and give you more time to do other things.

mollycat

lockedout69 wrote: »

Yes, totally worth it. It should knock about 14 seconds of every journey. That is soon going to add up and give you more time to [STRIKE]do[/STRIKE] make up other[STRIKE] things[/STRIKE] stories.

Fixed that for you

Jackmydad

ginashamz wrote: »

Are lightened flywheels worth it?

Sigh. . . . .

Mercdriver

lockedout69 wrote: »

Yes, totally worth it. It should knock about 14 seconds of every journey. That is soon going to add up and give you more time to do other things.

Including the custard test - photo with the car, that day's newspaper and a vintage chocolate bar...

motorguy

ginashamz wrote: »

Car in question is the RX-8 PZ. The suspension from factory is designed for the track but I want something that will make the car rev faster. I am not sure if it’s the low torque but feel like it would be a lot more entertaining if it could take less time going up the gears as it revs to nearly 9.5k RPM.

Racing Beat (official Mazda rotary tuners) sell a flywheel that’s more than half the weight of the stock flywheel for around £500. Is it only worth fitting this when I change my clutch too? I think that’ll need doing within the next year

Is this the old beater with the rotten sills, the ditch finders and the shot suspension?

EdGasketTheSecond

No the flywheel is balanced to the engine and designed to be exactly how it is.

motorguy

EdGasketTheSecond wrote: »

No the flywheel is balanced to the engine and designed to be exactly how it is.

The car has already been lightened anyway. Most of the sills have gone. :rotfl:

Car_54

EdGasketTheSecond wrote: »

No the flywheel is balanced to the engine and designed to be exactly how it is.

Indeed. And isn't the whole point of a flywheel to maximise stored energy, by being as massive as pracicable?

Jackmydad

[quote=[Deleted User];75929509]Indeed. And isn't the whole point of a flywheel to maximise stored energy, by being as massive as pracicable?[/QUOTE]
Yes but what do the manufacturers know?
Anyway can't Wonkel engines theoretically run without a flywheel?
Seem to remember something about that.
Must make the power delivery very harsh.

Richard53

[quote=[Deleted User];75929509]Indeed. And isn't the whole point of a flywheel to maximise stored energy, by being as massive as pracicable?[/QUOTE]
For road use by the average Joe, yes. A massive flywheel stores energy, smooths out the power pulses and makes the engine easier to start. With a highly-tuned racing engine, a light flywheel has less inertia and the engine will rev more quickly, but at the expense of being harsher and less able to chug through a roundabout in second without touching the clutch


Skimming and lightening the flywheel is a well-attested part of race tuning an engine, but I wouldn't have one in a road car at any price.