Do-It-Yourself High Performance Car Mods

Flywheels

The flywheel stores energy to keep the RPM from dropping too much when you release the clutch. Unfortunately, a flywheel’s heavy weight can also slow you down. Accelerating the flywheel by a couple thousand RPM for each gear requires power. Replacing a heavy steel flywheel with a lightweight aluminum one, or sometimes simply a steel flywheel with less material, can make the car accelerate like it is much lighter. The downside is that a light flywheel may take more careful work with the clutch to get the car moving.

Keep safety in mind when looking into flywheel mods. Not only can the flywheel spin at speeds exceeding 200 mph, but they are covered on the outside with over a hundred gear teeth where the starter connects. If one of these ...