so...having some clutch work done soon, and i'm contemplating a lighter flywheel. i've always wanted to try one and i know it's now or never, with regard to saving the labor cost.

 

what i've found is Exedy and ACT make street-able lightweight one-piece flywheels for my 98 Forester.

 

i'm about 90% sure i'm going to, but now i'm wondering if there's a big difference between the two products? there's a bit of a cost difference.

 

surely would appreciate any comments or suggestions, especially if anyone has done this and has regretted it later...thanks.

I had an ACT Streetlite (or however it's spelled) in my 98 Outback with 5mt and had it in for 30,000 miles. Made it fun but not trying to leave while stopped on a hill (which is my terrain now) or trying to crawl up steep slopes so I'm going back to my stocker. Not looking forward to the performance loss but looking forward to not stalling as much or burning my clutch so, yay. Not to mention the fact that my older friend who would borrow the car sometimes won't be roasting my clutch or complaining about not being able to leave from a stop at below 1500rpms .

I had an ACT Streetlite (or however it's spelled) in my 98 Outback with 5mt and had it in for 30,000 miles. Made it fun but not trying to leave while stopped on a hill (which is my terrain now) or trying to crawl up steep slopes so I'm going back to my stocker. Not looking forward to the performance loss but looking forward to not stalling as much or burning my clutch so, yay. Not to mention the fact that my older friend who would borrow the car sometimes won't be roasting my clutch or complaining about not being able to leave from a stop at below 1500rpms .

 

very good to know.

I thought about getting a lightweight but it seems you don't really gain anything in the long run and would be more of a pain to drive as a DD.

I put a billet flywheel and a carbon clutch in my SC'd 350Z and I DEEPLY regret it. It made the car's throttle and rev response as fast as a motorcycle ... with a quick throttle blip, it would wind up to 6K and drop to idle in less than a second. The performance gains were nice ...however they weren't worth the poor drivability and NOISE. I did my homework after and found that its common for these set-ups to cause a lot of chatter. I had a VERY difficult time selling the car because everyone who listened to it idle thought the car needed a valve job or I dropped a coffee can full of beans in the bell-housing.

 

In my case, the clutch and flywheel was hardly more expensive than OEM parts. It was a no-brainer at the time. The car was still INSANELY fast w/o the set-up - I would have rather had it sound good and rev like a normal car.

 

Just my opinion. I think they are really overrated

Also forgot to mention the fact that the CEL will become your annoying best friend due to the computer not able to keep up with the quicker rpm gain and loss. A lot of people just disconnect the light bulb but I just got myself a scanner and clear the codes and still have a functioning CEL.

Subarus generally do not like lighter flywheels. They need the extra mass to store energy for smother take-offs at low rpm. They also help keeping the engine smoother between cylinder firings.

 

The more cylinders the lighter you can go with a flywheel. $'s are not to happy about it if you are concerned about driveability and not stop-light racing.

Gees, this one is right up my alley.

 

My personal experience with a lightened flywheel, ACT Streetlite...

 

I currently have 30k on mine. I installed when I did the clutch and valve job. See my link below:grin: for pics.

 

The thing I have noticed are slight but quicker revs. With the performance street disk and flywheel I must say I LOVE direct hook-up. No slipping there... I personally like a nice tight, cough:slobber:, clutch. If you do a lot of city driving you might think about a hydraulic clutch.

 

With the SB2-HDSS "Performance Street Disc" and 600185 "Streetlite Xact Flywheel" for my 99 Impreza OB Wagon I'm completely satisfied.

Got my Outback up and legally driving again and man is it nice to have it back. Drove into the hills today to visit a friend and he lives on tiny one lane roads with hairpins and steep inclines. Man was it nice to lug around in 2nd or 1st and just crawl around and not burn, slip, or deal with the clutch/ trans. and the extra slow speeds. Also did some lite wheelin and was much easier to get around and crawl with the OEM flywheel.

Edited July 5, 201015 yr by Qman

A lightweight flywheel works very well in a moodded Impreza. 4 cylinder motors do not have a problem with a lightened flywheel. If you drive comservative then a lightened FW is not for you. If you want quicker revs and improved throttle response then it is. You will find that it will not lug the lower rpm's like a stock FW. If you do not have any other mods or do not plan to do mods then I would recommend against it.

 

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