james SEZ -
> On the contrary, a lightened flywheel is one of the cheapest performance
> improving mods you can make, since the rotational inertia goes up with the
> square of speed, there is a whole lot of energy stored in the rotating mass
> of a drivetrain. A change of 5 or 10 pounds of flywheel weight has the
> effect of hundreds of pounds at engine speeds. Just like lighter wheels/
> tires shortens braking distance, a lighter rotating mass in the drivetrain
> quickens acceleration. The less weight that is spinning the less energy to
> dissipate when braking. There is a tradeoff though, acceleration is both
> positive and negative, so the lighter the rotating mass of the drivetrain
> the quicker it accelerates and the quicker it decelerates (negative
> acceleration) this means that you will lose more road speed up a hill in the
> same gear.
I agree a heavy flywheel loads the engine more when accellerating, but
once you have reached a stable speed, how does a heavier flywheel
significantly burden an engine to the point that it will detonate?
--
David Breneman | "Before there were CDs there were
Distributed Systems S/W Analyst | records, and before there were
Airborne Express, Inc. | records, there were 78s."
david.breneman@airborne.com | --- Seen on eBay
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