Flywheels (Was:Re: RS2 turbocharger)

[Jim Haseltine]

----- Original Message -----
From: "TM" <t44tq at mindspring.com>
To: "'gerard'" <gerard at poboxes.com>; "'Nate Stuart'" <newt at newtsplace.com>

> I didn't think flywheels had really much to do w/ power output,
> but rather that relatively heavy flywheels are used on street
> cars so that they are easier to drive and shift- a really light
> flywheel would make rev matching rather tricky for shifting.

The flywheel is there to 'smooth' the engine. Not needed so much nowadays,
but years ago they were essential on low-revving engines with few cylinders,
without the inertia of the flywheel keeping the crank spinning between power
strokes the engines couldn't run.

Best one I've ever seen is on a tractor that my b-i-l restored, a
single-cylinder 4-stroke diesel. At idle it seemed to fire about once every
5 seconds, driving round a flywheel that was approx 24 inches in diameter
and 3 thick.

A lot of race engines don't have flywheels now, they rely on the mass of the
clutch unit.


Regards,

Jim Haseltine