Brakes is something I would LOVE to work out a sponsorship for - I just can't afford the $2k for new brakes. Not even $1k (for anybody watching). I'd love to get some Brembo's or a Stoptech setup - even a TRD big brake kit (Celica's fit the tC!).

To lease or not to lease - I'm really glad I opted for "not to lease" - I've had it since September and already have around 18k on it. That's a bit above and beyond the lease requirement, isn't it?

 

sounds nice, keep us updated especially when you get in your turbo

 

yes i would like to see how your progessing with those items installed

 

i only leased because my pops works for toyota, so i get company lease, free service, free insurance, cheap lease payments. besides my car is just a tool for me for A to B travel as soon as I get my yamaha R1 or build my chopper

 

keep us posted, this is the same setup i am considering getting in the future

 

Does anyone know if this 2.4L motor is internally balanced, so adding a light flywheel will not throw off the balance of the crank/roda/pistons? That is why some cars will see rough idling and short engine bearing life when they add a lightened flywheel or crank pulley, it throws off the balance.

Also CELs can occur with light flywheels because you are lightening up the crank shaft and when the cylinders fire, the forces transferred to the crank via the rods are now absorbed differently as the balance of the rotating assembly has changed. The knock sensor can detect this as excessive knock, or it can be picked up by the crank sensor as a misfire and throw a code. I have seen it on a few cars, however usually this occurs when a high profile camshaft is used causing the engine to lope. The phantom knock created by the cam is accentuated by the light flywheel.

I am not a fan of light flywheels...I have one on a car here that I drive every day and it is just no fun. Never had sucess with the daily driven car with the light flywheel. Of course it is not a scion either.

Ok, well, just some food for thought there.

 

your argument has been brought up before, and they are valid. Knowledgeable members of this site have concured with you that a light weight flywheel would not be good for the long term life of the engine.

 

there was a diagram with that specific information in the Unorthodox thread in this forum

 

How hard is it to keep a steady speed at city driving?

I'll need to be driving a short distance to school and back (living next to university = save money for car stuffs!) so staying at around 45-55 mph is a necessity. The fastest my city has is 60 mph.. oh well.. In any case, there's also traffic necessitating 30 mph-ish. If the acceleration is that much faster I can't afford to get a lightened flywheel due to the risk of rear ending another car and/or risking constant stalling due to driving at a low speeds at really low rpms.

But I really don't know much about this stuff..

 

The car is still easy to drive with these mods. The acceleration hasn't changed so much that the car is rendered useless in city driving conditions. IMHO, it's better now.

 

Ok, I had thought all that was a myth and so it probably is. Maybe my "source" was talking about a titanium flywheel or something..

What about gas milage? I imagine that since less power is being wasted spinning the flywheel and more of it pushes the car that less gas is needed to maintain the same speed. Is this true? Not my friend speaking anymore, this is what I conjectured on my own.

 

Our engines do have a balanced forged crankshaft so that wouldn't be an issue.

There are usually 3 weight stages for flywheels. The OEM of course is easiest to drive. It keeps engine momentum which helps for 1st gear engagement at a red light or hill. The lighter one is usually around 11-13.5 pounds. Your engine will rev faster (good for response), but be harder to launch at low rpms/speeds because of loss of momentum.

For anyone who know's physics, it's the law of intertia. Inertia is the resistance to change in it's current state or motion, or lack of, and it's persistance to remain in motion once in motion.

Higher intertia flywheels are much easier for clutch engagement, and is what aids you in chirping the tires when you slam 1st to 2nd, or event 3rd to 4th. Low intertia flywheels will be much harder to launch, because the motor itself has to do all of the work, instead of being aided by "virtual wieght".

Now on a positive note, there is one major advantage to light flywheels. Once in gear, there is less intertia for the engine to over come. It now doesn't have to work as hard to get the rpms to climb, including the tire speed/acceleration.

With a flywheel, your crank horsepower is identical, but you add more effiecy thus increasing your wheel horsepower. It's up to you to decide the correct balance of driveability and performance.

One final note (I know I keep dropping short ones)... OEM is never best for performance regardless. The mid-weight guys are designed for street and drag use. Ultra-lightweight flywheels are intended for road course use only (high speed racing) and are not suggested for turbo-charged vehicles in most cases. They make it nearly impossible for consistant launches at the track (usally either severe lag from lack of momentum, or too much tire spin from revving slightly too high).

Hopefully that helps you guys choose what's right for you.

 

Congrats draven! Let me know how the ride goes in a couple of hundred miles. I almost got the stage IV...but glad I didn't. My car has 23k miles, and I had it only since last August. I hope the turbo arrives b4 my warranty expires.

 

Uh, but this guy is using an eight pound flywheel...

 

how heavy is the oem flywheel.. and where can you find a mid wieght flywheel? and how hard would it be to install a flywheel??

 

The stock one was pretty heavy - around 20lbs I think! (I could weight it if you really want to know for sure.) I don't know about a mid weight one but I have a lightweight flywheel installed and there is no problem getting going at all. In fact, the launch isn't *that* different from stock. I got it from Titan Motorsports (see the link on my first post).

As far as installation - it's roughly a 6 hour job and if you're going to do it I highly recommend getting a new clutch with it because it's the exact procedure to replace the clutch.

I should try to get a video camera and get you guys a vid of what it sounds like and of a launch. Maybe after the breakin period.

 

Very true points there Joe. I had a lightweight 7lb flywheel on my MR2 Turbo and it was a nice mod though. It spun up WAY faster, however the side effect was that it was very hard to launch.. esp with the Stage 3 pressure plate. I replaced the clutch with a Stage 2 cluth and a stock fly wheel and it was definately slower through the rev's but was easier to drive around town and launch on the track. With the lightweight flywheel I was either lighting them up or bogging down the turbo engine.

That is probably why Indy car's light them up on the launch, not because of gear ratio but because the flywheel (along with other things that we don't need to get into on this thread) is so light they have no choice.

 

I'm just curious.....where do you people whom put these mods on get your money?? haha....

I'm stuck in the real world with rent/bills/bills/bills and more bills....I'm comfortable but there is no way I could just go out and drop a grand on a clutch and flywheel installed...

Just bein curious is all...

 

i eat sammiches for lunch, slim fast for breakfast (i'm uber skinny but they're fast/cheap), and i eat something i cook for dinner. i barely ever go out. i own the house i live in.. no mortgage...

live cheap! then your $ can go to mods LOL

of course it does help that i doubled my income in the last 4 months

 

Ditto on the sammiches and cheap bfast... also make my own dinner.... saves tons of cash! I do go out tho, often... work hard & play harder. I don't own my house, but the mortgage is do able... wish I doubled my income in the last 4 months. Well, I sort of did cuz I put the woman to work! Buahaha! =)