dieselfuel_13

I've got a 73 Musang that has approx. 300 hp. I haven't counted the teeth on the flywheel, but it has an 11" clutch. Does anyone know how much horsepower to the rear wheels will an aluminum flywheel add, also do you know what size I would needoffhand (without counting the teeth myself yet)?

mjr46

it doesn't really add any..more so it frees up availible hp already there..but the claim is up to 15 hp...I run two fidanza ones..one in my 66 and one in my 85.......they are great and I love 'em

67mustang302

Yeah, making anything lighter that's not inside the engine, technically isn't adding horsepower, just increasing efficiency. It's like getting lighter wheels, or a more efficient trasmission, or even having a lighter car. Increasing performance without increasing power.

Reverb

Actually making things lighter INSIDE the engine doesn't add hp either - you have to make the engine more efficient to make hp - burn more gas/air per cylinder stroke

JMD

My un-informed opinion is that an aluminum flywheel will add zero HP, and will free up zero HP.... It may allow the engine to wrap up a little quicker, but again IMO, you won't notice much difference with a 300HP engine running with a near stock redline....

Save your money, put it toward the future for some aluminum heads.... bigger bang for the buck.... IMO of course.

67mustang302

Well, technically making things lighter inside the engine isn't actually creating more hp in the combustion chamber, no, but you're losing less hp from having to move all the parts around so you pick some up at the flywheel.But yeah, it's not increasing actual power produced, just the usable power that's left over.I think it's something like 80% of the power produced in combustion is lost due to heat, friction and internal mass of the engine. Not exactly the marvel of modern efficiency most people think it is....good ol internal combustion. Chalk another one up for the elctric motor....works for the railroads.

Colorado_Mustang

Aluminum flywheels and lightened parts free up zero horsepower. They also add zero torque. They do allow the engine to spin up/down faster, but that's it. The way an engine is tested for power does not depend on how quickly the engine will gain RPM.

A lightened flywheel has a big disadvantage in both cruise mode, changing gears, and starting out from a light...it doesn't have the mass to dampen the fluxuations that occur during these conditions. You'll get less mileage on the highway, gear changes will be felt more, and the engine is more likely to stall if the clutch is let out a little too fast.

In a street car, an aluminum flywheel is a waste of money as a "performance" part.

Reverb

I used to have a 33lb(!) flywheel on my old car, changed it to a 18lb one and noticed faster accelleration and faster deceleration of the engine - increased my 0-60 time. I changed the 18lb one to a 9 lb one and noticed a smaller change, but was still there. No hp increase, but faster acceleration.

JMD

By my understanding of Newton's Law of Motion, an aluminum flywheel will add zero power, it will allow the engine to wrap up quicker by a few milliseconds, which may equate to a few hundredths of a second for aserious purpose built drag racing car in the 1/4 mile, but this difference in engine acceleration is all but meaningless on a street car of any description.

The extra weight of a steel flywheel vs. an aluminum flywheel is meaningless when it comes to friction or drag. The power consumed by accelerating the extra mass is returned once the flywheel starts slowing down.

This is kind of similar to a truck using lots of energy climbing a hill and then using virtually no energy when going down the other side, or kind of like anairplane climbing to 30,000 feet even for a relatively short flight, theenergy consumed climbing is recovered in decent.

A flywheel stores energy, it does not consumeenergy no matter the practical weight of the flywheelfor it's intended use.

Reverb

Once again. I've actually DONE this. Not on paper, not theoretically, but in real life. It will depend on the difference in weight from the steel to the aluminum (it doesn't have to be aluminum, just lighter), but it IS noticeable.