flywheel balance question

[Bernie Benz]

Rick,

IMO, components must be balanced at the component level, otherwise
subassemblies must be balanced together as if a single component and tied
together in the documentation.  Such is not the case, so your vendor took
the easy way out and lucked out, meaning no unhappy customer.

An as side point, if there were no need for flywheel inertia, why would a
mfgr. add the additional material to a flywheel beyond that required for a
suitable clutch plate surface?  IMO, your gain in acceleration is trivial,
considering the vehicle momentum as transposed back to the engine.

Bernie

> From: "Rick Houck" <rhouck at neo.rr.com>
> Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 20:10:41 -0500
> To: <audi20v at rennlist.org>
> Cc: 200q20v at audifans.com
> Subject: flywheel balance question
> 
> I need advice from someone who has lighteded an I5 flywheel. Should the
> flywheel actually be balanced perfectly when removed from the crank?
> 
> Background: A few years ago, I took my coupe flywheel to a local speed shop
> for cutting. They did the job, but when I picked it up, they told me it was
> out of balance before cutting, so they left it that way after cutting. Not
> knowing Audi 5 cylinder engines, they were not sure if this was done on
> purpose to counter some effects from the rotating mass of the crank and
> reciprocating parts. After 5-6 years of track duty behind my 7A and MC
> engines, I can say that it is very smooth all the way to redline. I think
> they were probably right.
> 
> Fast forward: I am now getting ready to do a 3B conversion on another car,
> and again will be using a lightened coupe flywheel. My experience tells me
> it is OK to just remove metal evenly, but I have never heard this discussed.
> Anyone else go through this?
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> Rick
> 
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