Mr Grippy Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 Hello all, Over the winter months i need to sort a noisy clutch release bearing so at the same time would like to fit a lightened flywheel. I fully understand the workings and phisics of the flywheel, what i would appriciate is the comments of anyone who has fitted one to their car. I have looked at various weights from 3kg to around 6kg and would like your thoughts on the engine performance and pickup on the varying weights. I believe that my standard flywheel weighs in at around 9.6kg. My engine is a 2l zetec that has been highly modified with high compression pistons, fast road cams, ported head, oversized valves... etc. The car can be slightly lumpy in slow moving traffic so i don't want to make it any worse with a very light flywhheel if thats the case. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 Having had an ultralight flywheel (around 2kg without ring gear), though still with a standard “size” clutch, (as opposed to small lightweight type), on a highly tuned XE, also lumpy cams, high compression etc. Was that it was critical on the mapping, but provided the mapping was good at the idle/low revs/low throttle opening end of the scale, it was perfectly drivable in traffic etc. (One proviso, though, with a very long first gear driving at very slow speeds in traffic jams, manoeuvring between parked cars etc, required a delicate touch, and a bit of deft footwork with clutch and accelerator). If the mapping and physical set up of the throttle bodies at idle speed isn’t great, however, the engines can loose revs so fast if you lift off completely, that they just keep dropping past the nominal idle speed, and it’s almost like the ecu doesn’t quite stop them in time and stabilise the engine rpm quickly enough, and they just stall. Yet once at idle will run perfectly happily, if a little lumpily. Get the setup (airflow at idle) and mapping right and all is fine! A slightly heavier, circa 4 kg flywheel, I guess would avoid some of the pickiness. For the way it makes the engine feel, deffinately something I’d recommend. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAFKARM Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 What do you use the car for and what are you trying to achieve? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Grippy Posted October 15, 2017 Author Share Posted October 15, 2017 Thanks for that Dave, sort of answer i was looking for. The car is used for road driving when the sun comes out and the odd track day. As far as what i want to achieve, that is the point of my question......having never driven a car with a lightened flywheel, what can i expect.... and is it worth the effort and expense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Car Electronics Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 Always worth ditching a standard 2l zetec flywheel as fast as humanly possible- all they bring in a lightweight car is negative- worse acceleration, worse launch, worse gear shift. The car will feel much more lively with any version of lightened flywheel, and will also accelerate noticeably faster in first gear, at least. @DE04* recently swapped his, I can't remember which flywheel he picked, but is happy with the results 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 What Mike said! With cars like these, personally, I think it’s all about the feel and the balance of how the different parts of the car feel together. Its one of the reasons, why taking an everyday type engine, doing a few simple things to it, such as the flywheel, exhaust, cams etc, even if they don’t actually add oodles of extra power, make the engine feel as lively and brisk as the cars chassis does, and the whole package is somehow improved, more than the sum of its parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Little (Trevturtle) - Treasurer Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 I fitted a 3.8kg to my 2.0 zetec last winter. Good tickover even at 900rpm and a lively engine. Just need to be a little more careful pulling off as it's easier to stall . But you get used to it This flywheel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosKev Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 I fitted one to a tin top 306 Rallye and it was great,the engine felt so much more eager to rev Only thing that changed noticeable as a slight downside was the extra revs required to move away from a stand,but got used to it within a few hours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrustyjust Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 Look at Raceline for a decent flywheel . Rather to have a quality designed weight reduced one, than one thats so light, it can explode and remove legs .................... And remember ARP new bolts when you fit it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DE04* Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 Got mine from Raceline,lightened standard flywheel so bolt off bolt on and can use same clutch pressure plate. I think something like 5.5kg. So for road use is fine and definitely revs a lot quicker. As mentioned already don't forget new ARP bolts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonjh1964 Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 4 hours ago, Trevturtle said: I fitted a 3.8kg to my 2.0 zetec last winter. Good tickover even at 900rpm and a lively engine. Just need to be a little more careful pulling off as it's easier to stall . But you get used to it This flywheel I've got the same one, it's 6 or 7 Kgs lighter than the original 2.0L, is well suited to the car and no problem with idle around 850 rpm. The only down (?) point is that it's drilled and dowelled for the smaller Pinto clutch which meant a new clutch and release bearing. When I bought mine TTV did a 2.0L flywheel for the original 240mm clutch but it was a couple of kgs heavier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamperMan Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 STD ford 1.8 zetec one is a lot lighter than the 2.0 flywheel. Also the mk1 mondeo clutch and pressure plate will work with a type 9. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wood Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 I have the Raceline flywheel and I'd recommend it. No real down sides, it helps throttle response and gear changes from high revs are a little slicker. I too would recommend the Raceline flywheel over a lightened standard flywheel. Raceline were originally going to lighten mine for me but came across dowels in the internal structure after removing a few MM so we both came to the conclusion that going any further was a bad idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsechris Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Went for the pauper option of the 1.8 flywheel too - no clue how it compares to a 'proper' lightweight flywheel, but it works well for us. I can certainly attest to the potential risks of going too light though. Had a very long and painful period of fault finding on an RV8 many moons ago. Car stalled at every junction or stop. Instant re-start and stable idle as Dave said though. I finally figured it out myself after a year of wasting time and money with the 'expert' who had specified the engine, supplied all the parts and done the ECU mapping (more than once). The Lucas ECU simply couldn't keep up with the rapid drop in revs so dropped the ball every time. Ultimate simple fix was to refit a stock flywheel, although I did go through other solutions like fitting carbs(!) and also ran an early Emerald ECU on it for quite a while too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingster Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Mines pretty light. Can’t tecall exact weight but around 3kg ish. It’s a proper billet steel one from Ginetta not a lightened job and came with my first engine. No idea how it compares to std but never had any issues at low revs and like the way the engine responds to the throttle. I do need to have idle just above 1k revs though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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