[89SDime]

I am building a chevy 383 street motor and was wondering if an aluminum flywheel will make a difference compared to steel??

I have been told u need a steel for the street and it help generate extra torque??

[techinspector1]

Much of this depends on the weight of the car and the rear gear ratio. If you have a lot of motor in a light car with a short gear, then an aluminum wheel will help get the revs up faster. If the car is heavier with a tall gear, steel might be a better choice.

I remember some of the Junior Stocker small block cars using 50 lb. steel wheels to get the car moving off the line.

[REALGONEKATT]

Good ol' heavy iron will get ya that torque you want outta that stroker....All about the force of rotating mass...High r's are overrated anyhow, unless yer buildin a circle track racer...

[jimfulco]

A lighter flywheel makes it rev quicker, not faster. A heavier flywheel makes it easier to get moving from a dead stop.

[Blazin72]

A heavier flywheel doesn't create any more torque than an aluminum flywheel will. It just stores more energy. More mass means more inertia. Think Newtons first law, "An object in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force".

Anyway, a friend an I put an aluminum flywheel behind a 1.5L in a 1800lb Datsun 210. Even though the car was very light it was still a bit tricky getting it rolling if you weren't familiar with the car. Of course your 383 will make far more power than that 1.5L could ever dream of making, but I'd still stick with the steel flywheel for street use.

[curtis73]

Think of it this way. A flywheel is just an energy storage device. If you had a 500 lb flyweel, it would take forever to accelerate the crank, but you could pop the clutch on a hill with no gas and it would lurch forward and not ever stall. If you had a 2 lb flywheel it would take so much careful revving and slow clutch engagement to get moving that it makes street driving horrible.

I am going through a similar thing putting a T56 six speed in my Impala SS. Most SS guys just use the F-body parts with the light 28 lb flywheel and it works great. I drive mine strictly on the street so I opted for a 33 lb flywheel for streetability. Sure, I might have given up .003 seconds in the quarter, but not stalling the car in front of a group of hot chicks is worth a lot more.

Get the RIGHT one, not the lightest one.