alum flywheels experience

[chrpark]

anyone had experience with the aluminum flywheel (fidanza?)

i'd be installing on a 948cc 9cmotor set up for fast street including a judson supercharger...

i dont buy the baloney HP estimates in the ebay ad (+15HP?!) but would still think the lighter weight brings some benefit...

i believe some of the shops also sell alum flywheels and i am not sure if thy are same manufacturer.

thanks

 

[Westfield_XI]

IMHO there is no HP change. But the lower inertia will allow the motor to rev faster and that may be expressed as an HP change on a rolling road type dyno due to the way it measures power. But an engine dyno connected to the crankshaft will show no increase.

 

[spritenut]

I have had one for years, I think it was money well spent.
Sure, no "horsepower" gain but the engine will rev up alot quicker and when the engine revs quicker, the car gets up to speed quicker.
It is seat of the pants performance you can feel.

 

[mightymidget]

Torque lost?
Torgue is grunt

 

[spritenut]

Sure, lost torque but I don't need the torque because I don't pull a trailer with my Sprite.

 

[bgbassplyr]

Torque lost?
Torgue is grunt

Changing to an aluminum flywheel will not cause loss of torque, only loss of inertia.
Torque is a function of the engines cam timing-lift-duration, plus spark timing, carb setting, etc.
Flywheel weight when starting to turn or slowing is a function of inertia. The heavier it is, the longer it takes to spin up or down.

 

[Hap Waldrop]

On the 948, if you can find one, I think I would pass, the poor little 948 needs all the help it can get, to get going and a lighter flywheel for it is not the hot ticket for road use. Add to that no one really makes a decent 948 aluminum flywheel for the 948, Tilton quit making them years ago, and Fidanza unit has the wrong offset on it.
Bottom line you can mostly rule it out for the 948, due to that fact they are not available.

 

[jlaird]

IMHO your best bet is to have the stock flywheel lightened.