As above would it be worth me getting 1 over the original? The car is a version 4 sti
What are the "true" benifits

Cheers

 

I personally would consider doing it if you are thinking of changing your clutch as well.It is quite a big job and to just change the flywheel on its own ,when you may have to change the clutch at a later date,makes more sense to kill 2 birds with 1 stone imho.The benefits are better throttle response as less inertia on the engine.I have also noticed when you rev your car at idle it drops down to tickover rpm a lot sooner than with std flywheel due to less drag on the engine.

 

There will be a gain in acceleration, the gains depreciate with every gear change ie you will notice it 100% in 1st, 75% in 2nd, etc etc

If you run a very short ratio gearbox where there is not much step down in revs between gear changes like on an sti type r gearbox you will notice it more,whereas on a wide ratio uk box you'll feel the benefit in 1 st maybe 2nd and not notice the increase after this.

 

I noticed it when I fitted it to my uk turbo , had the car 2yrs and never hit the rev limiter. Fitted roger Clarke supa light flywheel( which weighs less than half the weight of the oe unit) & hit limiter twice in 2nd gear when accelerating hard.Car feels much more responsive imho.

 

Cheers guys what does the oem flywheel weigh? Iv just got a 6kg flywheel don't no of this is much lighter than standard

 

12kg or there abouts IIRC...love mine at 4.3kg and a 6.7kg

 

Std flywheel on a classic weighs 10.5 kgs ,so a 6kg one is still gonna make a big difference .The RCM unit I bought is billet steel and like 53's weighs in at 4.35 kgs.

 

Do the lightened flywheels give idle issues as well, I'm sure iv read they do in some thred??

 

Don't believe all you read on the Internet , unless it's from seasoned campaigners who know a bit about Subaru s . Roger Clarke , scooby clinic , Andy Forrest , etc all know a fair bit about these cars.
As I posted earlier a lightened flywheel Helps to reduce the rotational mass that the engine is required to turn - less drag on the engine People have had problems when skimming flywheels , but not with proper well manufactured items as far as I am aware.

 

Cheers mate
I was trying to think how it could have a affect only thing i could think of is like you say someone who has had a oem wheel badly skimmed/lightened and its off balance

 

It makes a noticeable difference to acceleration. I fitted a RCM pulley set at the same time & was more than happy with the results.

 

I believe they can make pulling away a little more tricky as the car no longer has the same momentum from the flywheel but thats just what i was told when asking the same question.

 

Not really more tricky, but a few more revs are required, but this becomes second nature after a day or two.

 

To true ,especially when you have a paddle clutch fitted as well .

 

Other than the possibility of some clutch judder as mentioned, there must be other downsides to this? eg rough idle, less low speed flexibility etc

JohnD

 

Why would that be , as they say the proof of the pudding is in the eating & my car shows no signs of the things you have mentioned. If anything when I rev it up on tickover and take my foot off the gas it drops back to idle speed quicker and idles perfectly .

 

I have a light weight flywheel too, car is much faster when overtaking on the motorway, no ill effects either.

 

Does it not make you wonder why Subaru install such a heavy flywheel in the first place as less metal = cheaper!
Dropping back to idle quicker is of course, to be expected as there is less inertia. I suggested a rougher idle as there is less damping of the firing pulses which would be more noticable at low engine speeds. (remember the reasoning for dual mass flywheels on diesels?)

JohnD