Help me decide what flywheel to go with!

[LS1Formulation]

I'm about to order my new clutch from Monster Clutches and I am debating on which flywheel to go with. They have a 28 LB SFI billet steel flywheel or a 15 LB chromoly flywheel. Here's the clutch:

http://www.monsterclutches.com/level3clutch.html

I have never driven a manual trans car with a lighter flywheel, but I hear it revs faster and you'll see about a 5 RWHP gain over the heavier flywheel. This car is mostly a toy, even though I drive it nearly every day, so if it's slightly touchy with a lighter flywheel I won't mind. However, if it's going to make it a real pain in the ass to drive, then I'd rather not go with the lighter one. I drag race a lot and a lot of people say that a heavier flywheel launches the car better, but I think the additional inertia would make me more likely to spin off the line on drag radials. This is something I am not sure about, just hypothesizing. If you have experience with running a lighter flywheel in a car that gets drag raced and street driven a lot, chime in. I need some input before I make my decision.

Also, specs on my car will be approx. 3600 lbs, 4.10 gears, and around 420 RWHP, if that helps. Thanks!

[1quik6]

I just went around with this same question. It is basically just a give and take scenario without a right answer. The lighter the flywheel the faster it will rev. The heavier the flywheel the less it will bog off the line. After many conversations and hours trying to decide I just spent $40 to refinish my stock one and called it good, lol.

I figured my car would be much stronger if I just reinvested that $400 I was going to spend for a light flywheel somewhere else in the car. If you have your suspension tuned right and the proper drag radials, a 420hp car should be able to launch just fine at the track either way you go. Sounds like fun, Good luck!

[LS1Formulation]

Well, I am leaning towards the lighter one right now simply because I have EVERYTHING else done to my car that I could with any extra money that I save. My rear suspension is completely done and an S60 w/ chromoly driveshaft is being installed as I type this. Not to mention, the clutch is sold as a matched setup, I wouldn't want to resurface my flywheel and end up with engagement issues. From what I have read on a couple of forums, the lighter one is a bonus on everything other than the launch. Since I am only planning on running 17" drag radials, a slight bit of a bog off the line would help me. Not to mention, there's much less energy stored in the lighter flywheel, so if it does spin it should recover faster.

[1BADAIR]

need all that energy to get a 3700lbs car moving

[Phantom409]

A heavier fly wheel will transfer PWR and Torque better than a light one will.
If you drag race at all go with the 28lb one.

The light one is more for road course drivers that need to get the RPM's up faster.

I'm running the SLP one on my car.

[my95z28]

Yup, the way that I've always been told is if you drag race, use a steel. If you autocross or road race, go light weight.