sauciey

I need a new clutch, just wondering if its better to do a steel or Alum flywheel?
Im thinking about doing the spec 3+
Its not a daily driver, and mostly drivin on the street.

pushing 550hp at the wheels.

Need something that bites! i burnt a regular spec 3

The Red WS.6

iTrader: (4)

Got the same thing you got.... I had the steel one installed due to the fact that the car is full weight and had herd that it would be better for my application. I can't confirm or deny this tidbit. I went with the safe than sorry road. I heard that the aluminium was harder to get going, so I put on the steel one due to the stop and go traffic im in. I would also too like to know if the aluminium is mostly the same or if it's that much different....

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

The aluminum is a bit harder to get started in a full weight porker like mine, but it can be driven around. The increased throttle response far outweighs it IMO though.

wht01ws6ta

iTrader: (45)

Got an aluminum Fidanza on the way with a LS7 clutch-researched it quite a bit and very interested to see the difference for my self

SSDude

I would get a light weight billet steel flywheel. This way you get the best of both worlds.

N2O-ARMD

iTrader: (1)

Aluminum flywheels are different to drive on the street due to the loss of weight. Stock flywheels are heavy so that when you relase the clutch it has momentium to move the car. Aluminum will rev like crazy though and are great for drag racing not so good for road racing

kenp

iTrader: (9)

I drive with my fidanza aluminum flywheel every day. I see no difference in getting the car rolling. I do however, see a substantial difference in how much faster the car revs.

It greatly improves the fun factor.

wht01ws6ta

iTrader: (45)

Isn't that backwards? Once your clutch is engaged the flywheel is just extra weight to spin around

SilverSmoke

What do you mean takes more to get car started? You mean start up, or do you mean get up and go from a full stop. And if so, why would this happen?

I daily drive, but would like the extra fun factor

TransAminal

The less rotating mass you have on the flywheel, the harder is is to get the car going from a stop without stalling it. With the stock flywheel, when you let the clutch out and the revs drop, the mass of the flywheel keep the engine going. You don't have that with a lighweight flywheel, so you have to drive the car somewhat differently to keep it from stalling out when you are taking off from a stop.

DJ's Z

iTrader: (10)

Steel for the street / strip > Aluminum for road race

Theox

Here's how I see it:
Due to the "less mass" of an aluminum flywheel, the engine will both REV and DE-REV quicker.
Takeoffs need more engine revs and clutch time to get going.
To get a feel of how it effects takeoff from a standing start with a manual transmission,
try taking off in 2nd gear, all day. That gets old fast and puts a lot of strain on the clutch.
Going back to 1st gear takeoffs brings back the happy.
Now it seems to me that to get an aluminum flywheel to be viable on the street, you need to
go to a smaller pinion and or a larger ring gear in the rear, say from a 3.42 to a 4.56 (or more).
Perhaps the guys running automatic transmissions with high stall speed converters (3000+)
could use a lighter flywheel (flexplate) as their engines are up in the meaty part of their engine's
torque band on takeoff and they have the added flywheel effect from a crankshaft spinning at a higher RPM.

Paul

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

Theox - you have a point, but the viability of aluminum on the street is better than you are indicating (after all, a 3.42 to 4.56 swap is a BIG change). I'm still on the 3.42s with my aluminum flywheel setup (my new clutch weighs ~20lbs less than my old one), and I drive this car every day. You do have to implement a different strategy to get off the line smoothly from a dead stop, but it isn't hard to do, and takes about a week of driving to get it down perfect.

That said, the truck containing my 12-bolt and 4.11s should be on its way right now. I'm nearly certain that I'll like the aluminum flywheel even more with the taller gears making it even easier to get my little piggy off the line.

ls1amit

im on the stock iron flywheel here

ghettocruiser

iTrader: (17)

Im running a Spec 3 with light flywheel in my swap car. Its DEFINETLY different driving with that set up than a regular set up.

First and foremost, starting off is trickier. The car will stall fast if you arent giving a few more revs than usual. I try to use as little revs as possible...but every so often Ill end up on the verge of stalling.

When driving, the revs will drop fast. When you hit the clutch, the RPMs dive pretty quick. So when you hit the next gear, sometimes you have to give a touch of gas before you let out the clutch. Or else you will get a lurch. Atleast in my experience.

Get over all that, and the fun factor will make you happy. Revs are fast, throttle response is great, and it seem alot more nimble when you are running through the gears.

Ide say if you are mostly cruising around the streets, on the weekends or whatever, go with steel. If you drive it alot, and its mostly spirited driving, then go with the light one. Im pretty sure the steel flywheels are better for drag racing..so how many times you go to the track could sway your decision some.

Justin

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

Well put...I didn't think a light flywheel would make as much of a difference as it did just cruising around, but stoplight to stoplight is way more fun now.

PoorMan

Do you resurface the light weight ones just like the stockers or are they trash after once disc?

FURY

My wife's LS1 Trans Am had a SPEC aluminum flywheel, and when it came time to replace the clutch, we found that the previous owner overtightened the flywheel bolts and stripped out some of the threads. At this point, I just said hell with it and bought a used stock flywheel, and to be honest, I really can't tell that much of a difference between it and the aluminum. I think most of the "noticeable" gains are in people's minds...

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

They actually have inserts for the surface that the disc rides against...at least that's how my RPS is. You can simply replace the inserts instead of resurfacing, although I'd actually send it to RPS to have this done.

Aluminum wouldn't be able to handle the heat and pressure by itself (no inserts).

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

I guess that's really the difference in my case...most aluminum flywheels save you about 8-12 pounds over a regular flywheel. The RPS unit uses a light flywheel and pressure plate to bring the weight savings up to 20 lbs. With an 8-lb loss/gain of weight, you might not notice as much as I did losing 20 lbs.