Light makes right

[JoshuaA.Conner@VerizonWireless.com]

I have often tried to stay away from some of the theory related discussions
but I can not pass this up.  I would contend that a flywheel's only purpose
is to even out the power pulses.  This would have the effect of a smoother
idle, and possibly greater traction based on the firing order of the engine.
The downside is IMHO horsepower consumed.  IIRC horsepower is loosely a
measure of an engines rate of change ability(simply put, gain/lose rpm).
Would that not be the intent behind an F1 car having virtually no flywheel?
They have no concern for idle characteristics, all the engineers want is for
the engine to increase rpm as quickly as possible. Less mass to move, easier
to make it spin faster simply put eh?  To wrap it up, the  lighter the
flywheel the worse your idle but the greater the release of your engines
power to be dedicated to making your wheels turn faster which is what we
want right?  

I am not going to even address the how the flywheel can smooth out the
powerpulses which can give better traction in corners portion.  


Not even close to an engineer
Joshua C.

-----Original Message-----
From: scirocco-l-bounces@scirocco.org
[mailto:scirocco-l-bounces@scirocco.org]On Behalf Of Dan Bubb
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2005 3:50 PM
To: gforbess@attglobal.net
Cc: scirocco-l@scirocco.org
Subject: Here we go again, was Re: this guy deserves a serious beatdown


Lightening a flywheel is just the same as removing weight from your car
except it's primary effect
is reducing rotational inertia as opposed to just lightening the car. There
is no change in engine
HP or torque as a result of changing flywheel weight.
Rotational inertia can be correlated to vehicle weight, so you can calculate
the effective weight
reduction. It's just that the effect is different in different gears.
Relatively large effect in
1st, small effect in 5th.
There's a performance gain. It isn't huge. It may not be worth the money.
But it's there.
And No! the laws of physics haven't changed.

As a case in point, anybody seen a Formula 1 crank, flywheel and clutch.
Just to give you an idea,
the clutch plate diameter is 4.5" or less and the flywheel is really just an
attachment plate for
the clutch. Two reasons for the small diameter clutch; lower engine center
of gravity and lower
rotational inertia.
The ultimate lightened flywheel.

Dan

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