DwnShftPrincess
Senior Member
I need a new clutch and i don't want to waste any money. I found a good price for a stage 3 clutch with lightweight flywheel. I know my little SOHC doesn't need it but will one day. What effect will it have on the car?
Clutch upgrade
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wanderinman
Senior Member
Unless your going to need that stage 3 in the lifetime of a clutch, I probably wouldn't get something that grabby. The lightweight flywheel will be a pretty good upgrade, and since your already in there, might as well put that bitch in. Stick with a stage 1 (I run an exedy stage 1 and love it) if your closer to stock.
wanderinman
Senior Member
The stage one exedy is very very very daily driveable, anybody who says otherwise must have some sort of muscle disease in their left leg. Pedal was slightly stiffer, but you dont notice it after about a day or two of driving, and the bite is fantastic, chirping gears that didn't used to chirp on OEM clutches.confusatron
Senior Member
Why bother with a stage 3 clutch if your car is stage 0? No offense, but you really should consider spending that money on bolt ons, a turbo, or a motor swap dude. An OEM clutch is your best bet if you really need a new one at this point. Also, a lightweight flywheel, just like lightweight pulleys, will help your top end slightly, maybe 1 hp tops with your current engine, but it will hurt your low end power by about the same margin. You really won't notice much of a difference with a low-powered sohc engine.
A big name car magazine (who I won't bother to give them free advertising since they make enough money already) did a dyno test on a B16A2 swapped teg after installing a lightweight flywheel and lightened pulleys, and even with the car already making somewhere near 160 whp with previous bolt-ons, the car only gained like 3 hp at the top end. It does cut down very slightly on your transition time between gears due to lower rotational inertia, and allows your car to rev higher faster, but again that was on a DOHC already semi-badass engine. You should really hold off on the flywheel until you have a badass motor in there. Save that money and put it towards a power adder or motor swap. You'll appreciate that tenth of a second (if that) improvement a lot more when your car is running 14's instead of 16's.
A big name car magazine (who I won't bother to give them free advertising since they make enough money already) did a dyno test on a B16A2 swapped teg after installing a lightweight flywheel and lightened pulleys, and even with the car already making somewhere near 160 whp with previous bolt-ons, the car only gained like 3 hp at the top end. It does cut down very slightly on your transition time between gears due to lower rotational inertia, and allows your car to rev higher faster, but again that was on a DOHC already semi-badass engine. You should really hold off on the flywheel until you have a badass motor in there. Save that money and put it towards a power adder or motor swap. You'll appreciate that tenth of a second (if that) improvement a lot more when your car is running 14's instead of 16's.
wanderinman
Senior Member
A lightweight flywheel is not so much about gaining power as being able to pull the power from your engine better. If you are driving your car correctly (i.e. throttle blipping the downshifts, rev matching, etc.) then you will enjoy being able to better (by better read faster) modulate your RPM's. Of course its not going to add substantial power, and nothing short of forced induction is going to drop seconds off at the track. I say get the lightweight flywheel put in while your changing out the clutch, and go ahead and put a good stage 1 in there, because odds are your going to be adding the power before your going to want to pull your transmission out again.
Everyone on here says it and they are right. Dont try and save money by buying things you dont want. Build towards a goal... period.
Everyone on here says it and they are right. Dont try and save money by buying things you dont want. Build towards a goal... period.
DwnShftPrincess
Senior Member
is the aluminum flywheel just as good as the chom-moly flywheel? which is the best?
im not a big fan of the aluminum flywheels
the aluminum flywheel still has a steel friction surface
aluminum and steel heat and cool at different rates
this will eventually lead to warping
warping will cause the clutch to slip
the slipping will create more heat
the added heat will cause more warping
im sure there will be 30 posts from people telling me how they never had any problems with their aluminum flywheels... but i personally would stick with the chromoly one... less parts = less shit to go wrong
the aluminum flywheel still has a steel friction surface
aluminum and steel heat and cool at different rates
this will eventually lead to warping
warping will cause the clutch to slip
the slipping will create more heat
the added heat will cause more warping
im sure there will be 30 posts from people telling me how they never had any problems with their aluminum flywheels... but i personally would stick with the chromoly one... less parts = less shit to go wrong