Lightweight Flywheel Impressions

Hey All, Yesterday, I brought my car into the shop to get a new clutch and lightweight flywheel installed. I had purchased the parts over the Internet last September and they've been sitting on my living room floor since. I finally dropped the car off yesterday morning and at 3PM, I got a call from the mechanic who informs me that my car is up on the hoist, and it turns out I've brought him the wrong flywheel (apparently, the one I had is for a 964/993). Thankfully, they had an FVD one in stock, which they sold me and promptly put in. I picked up the car about 3 hours ago and have been driving around the city for the last two hours. Here are my impressions: Response: Flywheel feels lighter (I guess that is why it is called a "lightweight flywheel"). Not as light as a motorcycle flywheel, but throttle response is definitely quicker. Revs come up fast and go down fast. Acceleration also feels noticeably faster. Noise: I don't hear any noises from the flywheel that I didn't hear from my stock flywheel (strange, since I was expecting to hear some rattling...) Driveability: No issues here. I was worried because people told me that you have to bring the revs up higher and give it more gas to get the car going. If anything, I'd say the FVD lightweight flywheel takes the same or fewer revs to get the car moving (then again, my old clutch was really toast, so maybe it's just relative to the massive amounts of slippage I had to use on my old clutch/flywheel combo that I feel that there is no driveability issue). I'm pretty happy with the results--I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who had to change up their flywheel. If anyone has any questions or anything, I'd be more than happy to answer them. Also, if anyone knows of someone who has a 1990-1998 911 (either 964/993), I have a lightweight flywheel made by Fidanza that is brand new that I'm looking to sell. If you are interested, PM me... I might list on Ebay when I have some time. Cheers!

Glad you are happy.... They really do make a huge difference!! I have found if you just blip the throttle in nuetral on the 996 TT's, a stock TT will rev to abot 3K RPM while the one with the Light Fly will rev to about 5K!! Evan

I have the lightweight flywheel and have the same impressions. I had it swapped out when they did the RMS and needed to replace the clutch as well.

If you don't mind my asking, what shop did you have the clutch job done at? I'm in Toronto as well. I only ask becuase I'm assuming it wasn't an official dealer if they put in non-stock parts. Do you recall the labour rates for the clutch job? I think the one on ours will need to be done in the not terribly distant future... although fine at the moment - touch wood! Thanks Jeff

Hi Jeff, I went to G Tek on Cranfield Road near Eglinton and Victoria Park. I dealt mainly with one guy (his name was Dominic) but they did a great job--I was recommended to them by fellow rennlisters and they lived up to their praise. The telephone number there is [phone removed]. I don't recall the rates exact labour rates, but they charged me $650 CDN for labour to install the clutch, flywheel and to change the RMS. If you have any other questions, let me know.

Hi there and good day. May I ask with regards to the FVD flywheel how much does it way versus the stock dual mass? I have a EVO flywheel which weighs something like 12-13 lbs and it does chatter(say diesel ticking) at idle only but other then that same type of results from a driving perspective. Regards. Mike

Are these the kind of Flywheels that have a removeable wear surface that can be replaced cheaply instead of replacing the whole Flywheel when the milage gets high.

Yeah inside portion of flywheel can be replaced but don't know how much it costs. Regards. Mike

I figure that I will need to have my clutch replaced sometime in the next 12 months, and I am considering getting a lightweight flywheel, or high-performance clutch of some sort. Are there any downsides to these clutches? Do they wear out quicker? Is it only a matter of expense, or are they more difficult to operate?

996FLT6: I think the FVD flywheel weighs about 13.5 lbs, if I'm not mistaken. I have driven the car around for a few days now and have not noticed any "chatter". I do notice a different sound when accelerating from 2,800-3,200 rpms in gears 2-6... is this what you are referring to? I have been told that the surface of the flywheel can be replaced (instead of replacing the entire flywheel) and it costs about $600 CDN to replace the "wear" portion (approx. half the price of a new lightweight flywheel) Sorry Paul: I can't comment on the performance clutch as I don't have one, but from what I remember reading, it isn't worth the money (i.e. no real gains to be had). The lightened flywheel I CAN comment on and would recommend it as an upgrade.. I changed out the flywheel to the lightened one, but replaced the clutch with the stock parts on the recommendations of a few others.

Thanks mightytaco. I see you're in Toronto (my home town). That was a great deal you got on getting your clutch work done. I would have expected it to cost a lot more. Is the FVD flywheel the way to go? Does Porsche make a lightweight version? Which are most popular?

I talked to some people who use these 996 type Flywheels in competition and they said you can send the unit back to the manufacturer, I believe in California, or through the distributor and they will replace the wear surface for less than $250.00 U.S. Best regards

Paul: As far as I know, Porsche doesn't make an OEM lightened flywheel. Most people I know have gone with the FVD one. If you have a 3.6L, I think Fidanza makes one, although, I can't confirm this.

I have the 3.4 litre. I think I'm about 10 months away from needing to replace my clutch. When the time comes, I'll be asking for help to choose the correct flywheel on this site. Thanks!