Lightened Steel Flywheel Vs Aluminium

The flywheel is primarily a device of inertia. When you engage the clutch, the flywheel stores energy or inertia that helps move the mass of the vehicle.

Factory flywheels are designed to use the least amount of stored energy while still providing good vehicle drivability. Because of the extra inertia required for a smooth transition to engagement, vehicles with smaller engines have relatively heavy flywheels. While increasing performance, reducing the weight of the flywheel may reduce the vehicle’s drivability.

Under racing conditions, the flywheel weight can be used to control the drivetrain’s inertia. For example, if a vehicle tends to bog when the clutch is engaged, increasing the flywheel weight will increase the inertia required to launch the vehicle smoothly. Reduced flywheel weight reduces the inertia applied to the vehicle and allows for freer revving and faster shifting.

In the performance world, faster shifting means faster quarter-mile times so reducing the weight of the flywheel is critical. Generally, there are 2 common options for reducing the weight of a flywheel, lightened steel or aluminum flywheels. Both methods have different benefits and drawbacks. 

 

Aluminum flywheels provide an excellent weight reduction option over the OEM steel flywheel. Aluminum is around one-third the weight of steel however the melting point of aluminum is far lower which can cause issues like warping.
 

Lightened steel flywheels are another option to reduce the weight of a flywheel.

This option looks at changing the design of the flywheel to reduce the amount of material used. Mantic Engineering uses this method in the track series performance clutch system range. Mantic only uses billet steel for their lightened steel flywheel which is CNC machined in their Melbourne, Australia manufacturing plant. The advantage of billet steel is that its extremely strong which reduces the chances of stress cracks and is safer at high RPM. Mantic Engineering flywheels are all SFI certified and are tested on high-performance track vehicles.