inkatouring

I was thinking of going with an RS or aluminum flywheel when I replace my clutch. The car is solely driven on the street, but I love the feel of the aluminum flywheel in my touring. What's the conventional wisdom on street use, cost/benefit (in mechanical terms, not monetary), etc.

porscheralph

Not sure if this is "conventional wisdom" but I have had the RS clutch/LWF combo for several years and love it! Much more responsive, no problems with stalling (my car is a 97) and it really does not sound as bad as some my say. The car revs more freely and drives better in my opinion. As far as real cost - not much difference if you are going to have to replace the clutch anyway - maybe $200? My car is driven only on the street also.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Hi,

The "conventional" wisdom on the RS LWF applications is focused on performance applications such as DE events and aggressive street useage. The later cars, '96-'98, don't exhibit the stalling issues that some '95 cars can manifest therefore its prudent to factor how the car will be used and the driver's experience and skill managing light flywheel'ed engines.

In terms of performance, substituting a 38 lb flywheel with a 13 lb one makes a very noticable difference in throttle response and shifting, especially in the lower gears.

It does require a bit of deft footwork to get the car going with the LWF from rest so the bottom line is all about the driver's willingness to adapt,....

In short, everything is a compromise.

CarreraX

I did it and it was one of the best mods I did to my car. Also, I bought all the parts from Steve at Rennsport Systems and was very pleased.

Adrienne

I loved the upgrade. You will adapt, no problem. It is very responsive and you can easily read it, so no worries for you. I use mine for DEs and street. No problems with either use whatsoever. I have about 60k miles on the clutch now.

One thing you might consider is if anyone else will be driving your car. I have difficulty loaning my car because folks do not easily learn to drive the clutch. If you intend for others to drive your car for a short period of time, you will need to do some in-car test drives with them to make sure they get a hang of it before you let them loose.

hyphenf15

Takes no time at all to get used to the initial take up at start. Great fun when the car is rolling and when you rev match to down shift. I use my car as a daily driver and have really enjoyed the mod. I would certainly do it all over again - no regrets. Good luck.

jaholmes

It's a very good mod. I really can't hear the noise, so I don't think its a big issue. The responsiveness of the LWFW is awesome. I think the care is more lively at all power bands.

The only issue I have with mine is that I think I may have the wrong pressure plate (964 Turbo). It has a ton of grip and pretty grabby.

Overall of very good upgrade.

inkatouring

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. Given my love of LWF's in general, sounds like it will be a go for me at clutch time....

I've heard rumor of chips or the such to forestall the stalling. What about that (since my car is a 95).

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

There are several ways to deal with any potential stalling but one must make sure that you allow the ECU to complete its adaptation. This can be accelerated by turning on the A/C and driving the car for awhile,....

1) Good software does help

2) The Idle Stabilizer valve (silver cylinder on top of the intake manifold) must be completely clean and functioning correctly.

3) Some small changes in driver technique

4) The engine must be free of vacuum leaks and in good tune


All together, these measures combine to really minimize stalling,....

inkatouring

And where does one get "good" software?

JPS

Steve's has a great reputation here (software).

Q for the crew, as I'm looking at a car with a LWF...what are the aforementioned "slight adjustment to driving technique?"

CarreraX

I bought mine from Steve@Rennsport. Make sure to do the other things that he is suggesting. They are all very simple actually. You will love it!

CarreraX

The slight adjustment is be careful that when the revs fall (at a stop sign or something) you catch them near the bottom if they want to drop too fall. All in all, people make a bigger deal about it than it really is. The key is doing the other things Steve mentioned.

MarkD

on a 95 you might even plan on replacing the ISV as a part of your overall budget. If you end up not needing to, bonus! It is easy to access and cleaning might very well take care of it.
Runs about $275 if you end up having to replace it.

Tom W

For the software: You need a new chip. My car has a chip from Rennsport Systems (Steve) for the LWF and CA gas. It helps some, but the car can still stall. The ISV can be adjusted to provide additional benefit, I think the ISV adjustment helped more than the chip with my car. If the ISV gets gunked up, the stalling will be much more likely.

On the adjustment to technique question (what do you mean it "stalls"): If you approch a stop light or need to slow and you simply push the clutch to the floor and take your foot off the gas, the rpm of the engine drops. In some cases it drops too fast and too far and the engine dies (stalls). It's much more likely to happen the higher the rpm's are to start. If you leave the clutch engaged while slowing and only disengage after you are below 2k rpm, the likelihood of a stall is very low.

I've had the LWF & RS clutch on my car since 2002. Once I got the chip and adjusted the ISV, I had no stalling issues for years (I had to clean my ISV initially too, it was full of carbon and completely fouled). I went for years with none or only 1 or 2 stalls. More recently it has started to stall more often so I bought a new ISV and installed it the other day. No stalls since but I need to tweak the ISV a bit more to reduce the idle rpm a tad more.