Thoughts on lightened flywheels and clutch disks, For performance motor Options

[Boomingbeetle]

I have a 2270 motor that I will eventually be putting into my '71 with a sideshift tranny, once I get some dress-up and parts collected. It does not currently have a flywheel, clutch, or pressure plate.

1. Is there a benefit to finding a lightened flywheel if the motor has lighter internals?

2. I assume I should use a 6-spring clutch disk or an aftermarket performance material, but maybe this isn't necessary for a 150-HP/TQ motor? Ditto for the pressure plate.

[ClayPerrine]

I put a lightened flywheel in Betty's car.

She loves it. She says it makes the throttle response much better.

Give the customer (my wife) what she likes and wants.

[Mark Henry]

Give the customer (my wife) what she likes and wants.

What if she wants no head gaskets? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/hide.gif)

[DBCooper]

What if she wants no head gaskets? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/hide.gif)

Ha ha ha, you can be pretty funny, Mark... sometimes.

I too have always said lightweight flywheels are for racing, not the street, but something's come up. I have two WRX/914's here. They're pretty much the same but have a few differences, so it's interesting to compare. One car has a standard OEM WRX transmission/clutch/flywheel, the other the same transmission but a performance clutch and a lightweight flywheel. The car with the heavy flywheel is easier to drive in traffic, the lighter flywheel is more fun to drive everywhere. It probably doesn't accelerate any faster but it performs faster, if that makes any sense. It may only be psychological, I don't know, but it seems to spool quicker. I like it and next time the car with the heavy flywheel needs a clutch it will also be getting a lighter flywheel.

There's a big difference with these cars, though. Both drivetrains come from 3100 lb cars, so they're relatively unstressed in the lighter cars, and the lighter flywheel might even be proportionally correct for the 914's lighter weight. The situation might be different with a T4 engine and a 901, that I can't say. But I do like it in my car.