Is it worth Lightening and Balancing a G60 Flywheel

[jonnyblease]

I am planning on replcaing my clutch at the weekend with a G60/VR6 Setup. I have bought a LUK Clutch and am awaiting a G60 Corrado clutch which is being sent to me by a guy breaking his engine.

I have just rang a local engineering place and enquired about getting the Flywheel lightened and balanced. He suggested that there qould be little point balancing the flywheel as non of the engine componenets are being re-balanced so what is the point!

He reckons about £40 to lighten the flywheel taking of a small amount of weight.

My question is does this sound ok? and anyone had any experience with lightening G60 flywheels and the benefits of doing so?

Thanks

Jonny

 

[JB!]

I am planning on replcaing my clutch at the weekend with a G60/VR6 Setup. I have bought a LUK Clutch and am awaiting a G60 Corrado clutch which is being sent to me by a guy breaking his engine.

I have just rang a local engineering place and enquired about getting the Flywheel lightened and balanced. He suggested that there qould be little point balancing the flywheel as non of the engine componenets are being re-balanced so what is the point!

He reckons about £40 to lighten the flywheel taking of a small amount of weight.

My question is does this sound ok? and anyone had any experience with lightening G60 flywheels and the benefits of doing so?

Thanks

Jonny

mk3 16v flywheels fit too... i want a lightened one, but will probably buy a pre-lightened one for europe. hottuning sell them iirc?

 

[Robbie C]

Flywheels:

OEM G60:
• Steel construction
• 21.6 pounds

Eurospec:
• Billet steel construction
• 14 pounds
• Most inexpensive

Autotech:
• Billet steel construction
• 11.8 pounds

Autotech:
• Aluminum construction
• 8.3 pounds

Fidanza:
• Aluminum construction
• 6.5 pounds

By my maths that makes the G60 flywheel 9.8 KG, and my lightened flywheel is 6.5 so there are some gains to be had. Be aware of increased gearbox chatter too.

As per the above post I think it's the ABF engines you can also get these flywheels from

 

[jonnyblease]

thanks

Looked into some of the brands listed, seems i can get a pretty good deal as I have paid £10 for the oem G60 flywheel and the engineering place reckons about £40 to reduce the weight by a kg.

Reckon its worth going ahead with it? Not really clued up on the benefits entirely as I believe the G60 flywheel is already lighter than the standard unit. Will a kg make a difference

Thanks again

 

[Slimy]

thanks

Looked into some of the brands listed, seems i can get a pretty good deal as I have paid £10 for the oem G60 flywheel and the engineering place reckons about £40 to reduce the weight by a kg.

Reckon its worth going ahead with it? Not really clued up on the benefits entirely as I believe the G60 flywheel is already lighter than the standard unit. Will a kg make a difference

Thanks again

A kilogram can make all the difference, if it's taken from the right place. In my Vectra days, a common mod for the V6 was to lighten the monstrous flywheel. Most places took ten pounds off it, and they were considered ok. Then someone took five pounds off from closer to the edge, and it actually worked better. It's something to do with the distance from the centre, rotational torque or something? A 10 kilo flywheel with all it's mass at the centre will behave very differently to a 10 kilo flywheel that is all rim.

As for the balancing bit, surely with the flywheel being one of the heaviest turning components, it would benefit the most from being balanced? A slightly off balance crankshaft won't cause anywhere near as much vibration as a slightly off balance flywheel? And they both turn together. Or am I missing the point?

 

[JB!]

http://www.hottuning.co.uk/

4.3kg flywheel for £230 (G60 + 2.0 16v)

also, while the clutch is out, get a solid G60 gearbox mount!

 

[jonnyblease]

thanks, I have seen the hot tuning flywheel,

thing is i have the option of a lightened oem flywheel for £50 considerably cheaper than a hot tuning one even if heavier. I have found that lighter is not always better after doing a little research;

The are no negative effects to lightening your stock flywheel unlike replacing it with an ultra-lightweight Aluminum flywheel. Most manufacturers make the stock flywheel very heavy. This makes the engine very smooth and enables it to retain energy at part throttle cruise and up long grades for better fuel economy.

An Aluminum flywheel goes completely the other direction with almost no weight. This lets the engine rev up very quickly and allows the engine to work easier due to the reduced weight spinning around on the back of the crank. This is fine as long as you are at full throttle and wide open throttle all the time like in a Road Race or Drag Race only car. As soon as you let off the gas the engine RPM drops instantly and the car slows down. In a road car this causes surging and bucking at cruise speeds and poor driveability and clutch engagement.

A lightened stock unit on the other hand gives you the best of both worlds. It is a compromise between the overly heavy OEM unit and a Too light Racing unit. You get the benefits of both with none of the bad qualities.

Turbo cars are exceptionally critical to flywheel weight. Too light a flywheel will make the car rev faster and possibly come on boost faster but that is only half the issue. When you let off the gas to shift the car will drop off of boost just as quickly causing a poor transition when you come back on the throttle.

thanks for yout help guys, i will have to ask them about balancing the flywheel again as i can see your point about it being heavier.

 

[jonnyblease]

sorry to bring this post up from the dead. Have you got a part number for a g60 solid gearbox mount. Whats the advantage of using one of these?

Flywheel is getting lightened today and the weight he is aiming for is 9 kgs as he is very wary that the primary use is road use so he has warned me not too go too light as I do lots of motorway driving and i dont want to have to be on full throttle all the time.

 

[Robbie C]

So he's shaving off less than 1KG?

Uprated mounts help reduce engine movement coming on/off the throttle, in turn reducing excessive downpipe flex, stabilising the car and aiding traction over the front wheels.

Vibratechnics do a fast road and race version, as sold by Badger 5 and Backdraft. Worth looking into

 

[jonnyblease]

So he's shaving off less than 1KG?

Correct,

I am just wary that i want it to be driveable on the roads afterall its a lot lighter than a standard dual mass flywheel that comes equiped on the cupra.

Ok il definietly have a look into one of those. How much are they roughly? Is it worth whacking in a short shift (TT) on while its being done?

thanks for your help

Jonny

 

[Robbie C]

A full set ( of 3) will cost you something like £300, check with Badger5 and Backdraft on here

You can do the TT short shifter at any time

 

[jonnyblease]

wow there a lot more than standard. I dont think I can afford that kind of stuff at the moment as nice as it would have been to do whilst replacing the clutch.

 

[Robbie C]

They can be done at any time, no biggy with the gearbox in situ

 

[JB!]

Correct,

I am just wary that i want it to be driveable on the roads afterall its a lot lighter than a standard dual mass flywheel that comes equiped on the cupra.

Ok il definietly have a look into one of those. How much are they roughly? Is it worth whacking in a short shift (TT) on while its being done?

thanks for your help

Jonny

buy a black forest industries stage 0.5 VR6 mount kit, includes poly front and rear mounts and solid g60 gearbox mount.

mine cost me £170 all taxes paid, to my door.

http://www.usrallyteam.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_96_100&products_id=596

a VAST improvement.