The flywheel
You may be aware of the fact that tuners and racing car drivers lighten their engine’s flywheels to improve performance. The question remains, is this an effective strategy and will it be worthwhile to lighten your car’s flywheel? To understand how this would work, let me at first give you a basic explanation of the physics at play. What is a flywheel? In essence, it is a heavy, circular piece of iron that attaches to the end of the engine. It serves as a torque reaction damper to give smoother transitions between throttle-on and throttle-off conditions. As such it dampens out engine vibrations. It also presses against the clutch plate in manual cars to transmit drive. In addition, it has teeth along its edge on which the starter motor’s pinion gear runs to start the engine.
Lightening the flywheel
The flywheel is of heavyweight. As such it must accelerate as the engine spins up. It stands to reason that your car will be smoother to drive with a heavy flywheel. On the other hand, it will also accelerate more slowly. It should, therefore, be obvious that a lighter flywheel equates to quicker acceleration. If you consider flywheel lightening, then it is important to ensure you work with professionals. It is important that when they do machining, they do it very precisely. It is equally important to ensure that flywheel balancing is done carefully afterwards. This will ensure the smooth running of the system.
After doing the flywheel lightening, you might get more energetic acceleration. Do however keep in mind that your engine’s characteristics will change somewhat. Because of the lack of “flywheel effect”, you might need more revs than before to pull away without stalling. There might also be a marginal drop in refinement. Lastly, remember that modern, dual-mass flywheels are best left alone. Because of their two-piece design, they can usually not be lightened.
Why modify if you can optimise?
Why modify your car for better performance if you can make better use of what you already have through optimisation? Remember that a mass-produced car engine does not perform at its peak. This is because the engine computer settings have to make allowance for so many variances. By fitting a Unichip, you can, at last, have your engine computer fine-tuned for your particular engine. The Unichip also gives you the choice of customisable map sets. It is a convenient, non-invasive way to ensure that you get the best performance and economy for your car. This is done while essentially leaving your engine standard and therefore preserving its resale value. Practice responsible car care. Become part of the Unichip family and buy your Unichip today. Click here to contact us. If you want to read more about flywheel lightening and its impact on engine performance, then click here.
