datsun-roadsters
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: Lightened Flywheel.

To: "Daniel Neuman" <dneuman@stars.sfsu.edu>, <dc311@mail.com>
Subject: Re: Lightened Flywheel.
From: Ronnie Day <rday@cyberramp.net>
Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 14:25:09 -0600
> HI All,
>       I do not mean to be stupid but why exactly is havinga lightened flywheel
>good? What does it do for the car?  How come Gorden could not slip his 
>clutch 
>on a hill??
>       Thanks,
>               Daniel
>> 
>> CarterCM@aol.com wrote:
>> 
>> > Gordon,
>> > How would the light flywheel work with lower gears (4:11?) on the street? 
>Have
>> > you tried it?
>> > Craig Carter
>> > Fountain Valley, CA
>> > '70 SRL311-14100
>> 
>> I have been running a 10lb flywheel with a 4.11 LSD for the last 4 yrs and 
>love it
>> for daily driving and auto-x.  But then again, no a lot of hills is San 
>Diego.
>> 
>> Dennis Currington
>> San Diego
>> '66 2000

Flywheels both smooth out engine roughness and "store"  rotational energy 
to help a motor to keep turning and to impart that stored energy to the 
rear wheels when you release the clutch.

Remember inertial physics about bodies in motion, etc? That's your 
flywheel. It's also the reason that many relatively low powered cars tend 
(stock) to have heavier flywheels. The extra weight translates in to 
greater inertia which wants to keep noving/rotating when you drop the 
clutch.

The extra weight, however, takes longer to either speed up or slow down, 
too, which is why engines with lighter flywheels rev quicker. There is, 
however, no free lunch. If a lighter flywheel lets a motor rev up quicker 
the opposite, that the same motor will lose revs quicker, is also true.

The weight (equaling stored energy) of the flywheel more or less 
determines how long you have to get a car moving (from a standstill) 
before the increased load/effort on the motor causes it to stall or the 
car starts moving. A heavier flywheel tends to keep the motor running 
smoother and longer in this transition, making the process of getting the 
car moving smoother.

So a very light flywheel may not be what everyone wants or needs, 
particularly in SF.

FWIW, Ron



Ronnie Day
rday@cyberramp.net
___________
The ACL Group
Arlington, Texas
(817) 572-0873 (V)
(817) 478-2896 (F)



<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>