Question... Is a lightweight flywheel worth having on a performance car for more power in the end? Or is the durability and life of them not worth the use?

I want to be able to "free" the power from my car rather than adding onto it. Like running dual belts on my engine or investing in aftermarket pulleys. Would a lightweight flywheel be a good investment?

 

A lightweight flywheel/good clutch combo is IMO one of the best performance bang for the buck mods you can do. It would be THE first thing I would do to any car I bought and started to mod.

 

The RacingBeat aluminum flywheel weighs 12lbs as compared to the stock one weighing 28lbs. $455

 

Wow, thats pretty pricey. Guess thats only because it's for an rx-7 though. I'm not sure of the quirks of the rotaries, but i've driven DSMs/hondas with 8 and 10 lbs and they drive great, so you could probably even go with a 10lb without a driveability problem...

 

Yeah. That's RacingBeat priced for ya. But their products are high quality for rotaries.

I definitely need the following from them:
-Aluminum lightweight flywheel $455
-Aluminum main drive double sheave pulley $65
-Aluminum alternator double sheave pulley $42
-Complete Turbo II High Performance Exhaust System (32% horsepower increase compared to stock exhaust although my exhaust right now is far from stock) $789

I am going to have to invest in the pulleys and flywheel first because I am poor as of the moment.

The exhaust can be an early Xmas present to myself if I can ever afford to get it.

EDIT: I ended up finding a lightweight steel flywheel on prostreetonline for $209. Seems decent to me.

I could use a new oxygen sensor while I'm at it.

 

i would recomend a cromoly flywheel like a jun or toda unit for durability reasons. i got mine for like 400 on ebay.

800 seems like a lot for an exhaust. i would put that kind of money towards getting the engine dowel pinned, street ported or getting new apex seals and springs, especially if the car is being built for competition and you already have an aftermarket exhaust. do rotaries benifit much from swain coatings, thats something else that you can look into.

 

both of my cars

8lb in the talon
10 in the teg

to be honest though i love the light flywheel;s
i got better throttle responce and quicker revs and i could shift match easier on downshifts.

id say do it. im on an 8lb right now with absolutely no driveability issues

 

hah yeah, and i had a 10lb in my single cam and a 7.8lb in my b16.

 

Depending on what you want, I'd say lighter flywheels are better for N/A cars, because it's all about getting to redline fastest in an N/A car. when you let off throttle, it will fall down faster as well. so in a turbo car, you want to be able to keep your engine (turbo) spinning as fast as possible when you let off (which the heavy stock flywheel will do) so you aren't losing that much boost.

so if you don't care about that and all you want is to rev faster, then get the flywheel.

 

racing beat is a high quality exhaust specially made for the rx-7. best looking and sounding IMO. rx-7's tend to put out a lot of heat. his exhaust is/was a hayame. im not sure if hes still got it. not the best for looks or long term performance. as for the power increase, if i remember i was told the boost turns up a little from putting that on and a FCD is recommended.