The steel is a "flywheel" and the weight acts like extra torque!! It is the best all the way around!! the alum is light and you will loose some low end torque, the engine will rev faster ( no heavy flywheel to get moving) but the launching ability with tires at the track sux!!
Just me...............................
Thumper
Just me...............................
Thumper
The aluminium would be the way to go for a drag racing only car. It is a lighter rotating mass for the engine to spin thus you are going to lose less power. That being said it may take a little time to get used to the lighter flywheel as stalling can be an issue from dead starts when you are on the street. I bought a steel SFI approved flywheel because i was doing more street duty then track. Spec makes good flywheels i hear and i like my centerforce flywheel i have.
wicked84gt350 said:
Aluminum is better for road racing because the engine responds faster. For roundy-round, it doesn't really matter if the engine rpm doesn't fluctuate much. Most circle track engines seem to use 7" clutches and light flyhweels, though. For drag racing, it depends on how hard of a launch you can make stick. I saw an article in MM&FF where a steel wheel was replaced with an aluminum flywheel to help soften the launch on a dedicated drag car.
Just FYI, a heavy flywheel will not cause an engine to make less power. It will only show up as a loss on an acceration/inertia dyno. A steady-state brake dyno will show the same power between aluminum and steel or the difference will at least be smaller than the dyno's margin of error.
So you are saying if the rotating mass is heavier you woun't see less power at the rear wheel? Seems wierd since larger wheels cause lose of rwhp larger brakes do aswell. All rotating mass. Its drive line loss. True you don't lose hp the engine can make but you do soak it up so it doesn't get to the rear wheel. Actually re reading your post shelby i think we almost agree.
Like I said, the steel flywheel will show the loss only when the engine is accelerating. A car might be a hair slower in the quarter mile, but the top speed will be the same.....indicating that there is no difference in power getting to the ground with a heavy wheel. Driveline and parasitic losses are different because that is where horsepower is actually lost to heat from friction.
hey hello people how can you say aluminum is better for drag racing? when you have sticky tires you need wheight to keep the inertia on the crank and more if is a heavy car, the weight helps you keep the torque and to keep the engine in high RPM's during shifting and does not let the engine dye when you take off the foot from the pedal...
Aluminum is for road racing!
Aluminum is for road racing!