I just wanted to share my excitement for finally installing the m20 flywheel that has been sitting in my shed for a couple months.
Let me start by saying that this has got to be one of the best mods for our car. Its an improvement in every way with almost no drawbacks. Its not a quick job, but its fairly straight forward, especially if you have the use of a lift.
I took my flywheel to a performance shop and had it machined to get rid of the lip on the engine side (eliminating the need for a spacer) as well as to get the weight down to about 15.5 lbs. It only cost me $150 to have that done, and I think it was prolly worth it.
As far as driving goes, its noticeably quicker with the redline seeming to arrive much faster in first and second. But to me the biggest difference is just in the much more rev-happy nature of the engine. In neutral you can actually rev your engine and your tach doesn't move like molasses. But where it really makes a difference is driving. Heel and toe shifting is MUCH easier as now all I have to do is to give the throttle a quick blip and the revs are right where they should be.
Launching isn't any harder, and if anything, I think its smoother as the old heavy flywheel was too overpowering. I also find shifting to be neater for the same reason. Every once and awhile if you miss your revs, you will feel a bit more jerkiness, but I think that with the lighter FW its easier to get shifting just right as the revs fall quicker making it easier to match up. Down shifting in general is also much easier. Overall I am a smoother shifter with the new FW.
The only downside for me is idling when the engine is cold. Its really rough and will die if I don't give it some gas. Other people have said that their idle wasn't impacted, so this might be a problem with my engine running at cold. Once its warmed up, there is a little difference but its hardly noticeable.
The other added benefit is a much beefier clutch disk and pressure plate. I think the springs in the clutch disk prolly help with smoothness (there's none in the OM clutch disk)
This has got to be one of the best mods you can do for our car, and I recommend putting it at the top of your list. It really makes the car feel much more like the sports car that it is
. I also think the m20 conversion route is a nice compromise between performance and driveability. Its light but not too light.
I used
http://www.blackforestindustries.com/m20flywheel.htmas a guide, along with my manuals. The only difference was that I didn't need a spacer since I had my FW machined.
Topic: m20 flywheel conversion complete! impressions (Read 2450 times)