I was torn between whether or not to get a lightened flywheel and did
a bit of research before I finally decided to get mine. As part of this
research, I did surveys and talked with several reputed people on this
topic. I'll try to make this short.
Survey Results:
I sent out letters to about 20 people that had gotten lightened flywheels
somewhere along the lines and listed it in their profile. I only surveyed
those with twinturbos as this is what I have now. (I had one on my N/A,
but wasn't sure about whether it would be beneficial to turbo cars.) Of
the 20 letters I sent out asking for their opinion on the flywheels, I
received 12 replies. 8 have aluminum flywheels (2 piece) and 4 had JUN
flywheels. Of all the response, not one was negative. They all recommended
the flywheel to some extent. All replied that it helped spool up time in
that the turbos spooled up sooner than before they had the flywheel. However,
3 out of 12 stated that they felt that the flywheels should only be done
at a time when it's convenient. (Changing clutch, etc...) Basically, all
felt that this mod was worth it.
Interviews:
As part of my decision process, I spoke with several people such as
Mark at SGP, Kevin at Primespeed, Adam at Stillen, and Jim Wolf. While
there has been some questions about the flywheels, all are of similar quality.
While the two piece flywheels are said to have some problems, the places
I've talked to have rarely actually received a true complaint. When asked
if lightened flywheels were beneficial to drag racing, Jim Wolf replied
with a simple, "Yes, definitely." Flywheels have always said to be beneficial
to road racing as it is easier to match your revs with lightened flywheels
so heel-toe and double clutching become easier.
The conclusion I came to was that the lightened flywheel is indeed beneficial
to our cars. While it is more difficult to drive, which is why some may
have bad experiences with it, once you get used to it and learn to drive
it properly, you really appreciate it. I won't say which flywheel is better,
the JUN or the aluminum, because, quite simply, I don't know. I will tell
you though, that I went with the Stillen two piece aluminum flywheel made
by Mueller. This is because that this flywheel is rebuildable if it is
ever warped so instead of paying $425 for a new JUN flywheel, I can buy
a rebuild kit for $160. Otherwise, the flywheels are resurfaceable, to
some extent. (I've been told that JUN is resurfaceable for 2-3 times. However,
I have also been told that chromoly is not resurfaceable. I do not know
how accurate that last statement was though.)
Alex Lee (DE)
