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Lightened Flywheel + Clutch


Jacamo97
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Few little questions

Has anyone fitted a lightened flywheel to a Lupo GTi, if so, any recommendations and does anything else need to be upgraded or changed? Or is it a straight fit? I've seen a couple on eBay, any noticable different between the 3.8KG, and the 2.9KG? This is a daily car so not sure if the lighter one is more for track use.

On a similar note, the bite for my clutch has been very low ever since I've owned it. Is this a sign that the clutch is on its way out or is this usual?

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In the lab, we never ever managed to identify any advantage to lightening a flywheel to provide a gain in performance. That said, it's clearly advantageous at the lights when there's an opel corsa or equivalent next to you... brum brum! ;)

 

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Not yet had the pleasure of driving mine, but in the driveway the revs do build up a lot quicker than before!

My standard one was machined down from over 7kg to 4.3 kg and the mating surface renewed, new pins and as a extra I also sent my new pressure plate to get balanced on the flywheel as well - think cost was between £60 and £80  - this is with a guy who knows VW transmissions

In conversation - my guy mentioned fuel consumption can increase, another customer with a Golf did a lot of Motorways miles and could see the difference, I seem to recall it was 5mpg.  This is fine for a fun second car, but something to consider with a daily.

 

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2 hours ago, CLAYTONJONES said:

I have the Epytec 2.9kg lightened flywheel on mine with a standard LUK clutch. Nothing else has to be changed. My favourite mod i’ve done, lets the car rev so much more freely. Highly recommend👍🏼

Just been reading through a few forums, and a few people have said that when the revs are low it can be a little more annoying to drive as the revs drop quicker and they have to keep tapping the throttle to keep the revs up. Has this been a issue you've noticed? 

 

1 hour ago, LR5V said:

In conversation - my guy mentioned fuel consumption can increase, another customer with a Golf did a lot of Motorways miles and could see the difference, I seem to recall it was 5mpg.  This is fine for a fun second car, but something to consider with a daily.

Following on from the above, this is the reason people notice a drop in fuel economy as they have to keep the revs up. 

 

2 hours ago, mk2 said:

In the lab, we never ever managed to identify any advantage to lightening a flywheel to provide a gain in performance.

Interesting, thought that because you could climb and fall through the revs quicker you'd see some form on gain on performance be it acceleration or deceleration! 

 

All the above is definitely something to keep in mind! I'm far from an expert on this, so if you have anything else to add please do so! :)

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Don't forget that when the clutch is engaged (crank is connected to gearbox input shaft), the flywheel is there primarily for harmonic balancing. Power travels through the clutch driven plate springs.

The way to look at it is, think of the weight of the whole car as the flywheel. The only real difference after lightening is that there'll be more movement between the flywheel and the input shaft via the driven plate springs (assuming standard flywheel and clutch type- not dual mass).

To get real performance improvements, you need to lighten the car. A lot.

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Just now, Jacamo97 said:

Just been reading through a few forums, and a few people have said that when the revs are low it can be a little more annoying to drive as the revs drop quicker and they have to keep tapping the throttle to keep the revs up. Has this been a issue you've noticed? 

 

Maybe ever so slightly but i would never say its annoying, definitely not something i'd be worried about.

Edited by CLAYTONJONES
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The original flywheel is a store of kinetic energy that maintains your speed better - the example I was told was up and down hills at motorway, normally it maintains its speed at a constant throttle, but the lighter flywheel  need the throttle tickled - using more fuel

I know I am going to have to adapt how I drive with the new lightened flywheel, its going to be interesting to see how lifting off the throttle makes the Lupo behave on motorway.

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37 minutes ago, LR5V said:

The original flywheel is a store of kinetic energy that maintains your speed better - the example I was told was up and down hills at motorway, normally it maintains its speed at a constant throttle, but the lighter flywheel  need the throttle tickled - using more fuel

I know I am going to have to adapt how I drive with the new lightened flywheel, its going to be interesting to see how lifting off the throttle makes the Lupo behave on motorway.

You will notice a lot more engine breaking, i was quite surprised at how much!

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