Light Flywheel vs. Heavy Flywheel – Effect of Flywheel Size (Mass) on Engine Performance
Advantages and disadvantages of light and heavy aircraft
The weight and size of the flywheel depends on the nature of the torque change required.
With a heavy swing, it is difficult to change the engine speed.
Since it takes a moment to accelerate a heavy spinning wheel, the engine speed does not increase quickly even when the accelerator pedal is depressed.
Engine RPM does not drop as quickly when the pedal is released because there is more energy in the spinning wheel to drive the crankshaft.
That is, engine responsiveness decreases as flywheel weight increases.
A heavy flywheel helps rev recovery, keeping the engine from dragging during gear changes.
Lightweight flywheels reduce inertia, so it responds quickly to acceleration and deceleration.
That is why lightweight flywheels are used in sports cars.
When the clutch disengages, there is a greater drop in RPM because there is no heavy fly to keep the momentum going.
Not good under normal conditions, as light flywheels increase the tendency of the engine to die during gear changes.
Two-stroke and four-stroke engine flywheel
In a four-stroke engine, one power stroke (720° crankshaft rotation) is performed per two revolutions of the crankshaft.
The flywheel must provide energy to make the remaining three strokes.
In a two-stroke engine, there is a power stroke for each revolution of the crank (each 360° revolution), the flywheel of this engine must provide power for the remaining one stroke.
So the size and weight of the flywheel may ultimately depend on the purpose of the engine.
Light flywheels are good, especially when you rarely stop the car.