I’m about to pull the trigger on the flywheel and crank pulley. I’m looking for input from those that have done these mods. So far everything I have from JHM is solid and I could not be any more pleased. I’m curious tho about how much different these make the driving experience. Id imagine the car must rev up faster and rev matching downshifts must be a little different to get used to. Regardless of what I hear I’m still doing it, I just want to hear your impressions.
Thanks
I have done both on a bunch of cars. It is well worth it to install both the lightweight crank pulley and lightweight flywheel. The engine revs so freely with both. If I could then I would install other lightweight rotating parts too, especially with a RS4 where it revs so high.
I’m hoping it’s a huge noticeable difference. I just changed out the original (I think) spark plugs today and that alone made it feel a little more responsive. They were carbon coated pretty bad.
I have an automatic transmission and I felt a nice pick up with the crank pulley. Its a nice unit.
As for the flywheel I have installed several and its something you will notice. Its well worth the money.
I just bought the flywheel a few months ago, and have been EXTREMELY happy with it.
My OEM duel mass failed and when it did it, the car started vibrating like crazy. This is a common issue with the factory unit and I highly suggest not going with another duel mass (obviously your not as your looking into the light weight flywheel).
The JHM LWFW is awesome, one of my fav modifications to the car, you will get a little bit of chatter at low RPM which is to be expected with a single mass but its not bad or annoying just different . The actual driving experience is really going to depend on your clutch, I went with the 5R and love it, I live in the country so I don’t really have much in the way of stop and go traffic, but the car is pretty easy to drive. The new flywheel does allow the engine to rev quicker which will change the way the car feels in a good way. You will notice the difference the weight savings especially when pushing the car.
The light weight crank pulley is great, I did mine before my clutch and flywheel install. The difference was noticeable right away, more free revving. You will know why when you pull out the OEM unit, I can’t remember what it weighs but it is HEAVY, especially compared to the JHM unit.
When you buy the light weight crank pulley make sure you go with the 6 rib kit, it is best to just convert to the new tensioner and belt right away rather than later. Also saves you $$$ when you decide you want a blower.
Both parts were worth every penny.
Thank you. Just what I needed to hear.
the stock flywheel is a lump designed to make gear changes easier with more time to engage and allowing easier rev matching. Basically because the business men who bought this car for $80,000-100,000 when it was new (depending on where you live) tend to be ham fisted. Think Mickf29 and those types. Guys who can’t really drive. The first 3 years the RS4 was out…out of 10,000 of them, and a few hundred that went to the dragstrip, only 1 guy got it into the 12s lol.
So it was designed to rev slow. Compare it to the R8 for example which for the most part shares the 4.2 RS4 engine, but has a lighter flywheel to allow for a freer/faster revving engine. Audi assumes the people who drive an R8 are a bit more adept, or will at least be more accepting of the slightly less accommodating engagement.
If you need a new flywheel you can certainly get another stocker, but why not get something for not dissimilar money that weighs a good 10-13 lbs less that your engine needs to rotate for you to go anywhere? We’re buying ECU tunes and bigger exhaust and adjusting the catalytic converter layout in search of performance. When we have a chance to free up rotating mass, let’s do it. That’s my logic. Rotors, wheels, crank pulley, flywheel. All good steps. Not going to be a huge shot in the arm individually, but when you kick 40-50 lbs of rotating mass out of the equation, it really changes the way the car feels.
i just installed the jhm 3R clutch and lightweight flywheel combo after having trouble with my loba set up.
one of the spring plate things? on the sach pressure plate snapped leaving me unable to select any gears.(loba use a sach clutch plate, sach pressure plate and loba’s own lightweight single mass steel flywheel).
even though the jhm aluminium flywheel is only a couple of pounds lighter on paper than the loba one, the difference was quite noticeable when you had them in your hands.
the car even starts quicker with the lighter jhm flywheel!.
i have only done about 50 miles since installation so have to take it easy for another 450 yet, but pedal feels great not heavy at all. and the build quality looks excellent certainly better than the sach/loba set up.
i would never put a dual mass flywheel back in my rs4, the BNS loves to rev why anchor it down?.
i also have the light weight crank pulley and the difference between oem and the jhm one is crazy!!!
some pics…
snapped spring plate on sach pressure plate-
http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r794/sarrs4/ar/IMG_20151108_151138_zpsedkxzvj4.jpg
http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r794/sarrs4/ar/IMG_20151108_150834_zpsuko3hyse.jpg
JHM’s pressure plate looks a lot more stout!
http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r794/sarrs4/ar/IMG_20151108_150841_zps93b4dawy.jpg
out with the old, in with the new!
http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r794/sarrs4/ar/IMG_20151108_150455_zpssd5ohff9.jpg
http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r794/sarrs4/ar/IMG_20151108_145940_zpsfmz4moor.jpg
http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r794/sarrs4/ar/IMG_20151108_150014_zpsmxkbipmn.jpg
http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r794/sarrs4/ar/IMG_20151108_153532_zps6pe856h0.jpg
all done
http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r794/sarrs4/ar/IMG_20151108_160221_zpspl29q7al.jpg
Sar good to see you back on the site and getting new parts put in.
Funny you should post the one part showing how beefy the JHM unit is. From the casual observer you would not know they are two different units. Clearly they are different
Thank you. It all looks great. I’m sold. I can’t imagine how much better it will be. Id like to drive stock fw and crank pulley vs jhm back to back in 2 different cars to really see the difference.
I went with 5r clutch and lwfw and with my supercharger kit I got the crank pulley. I could not believe the weight difference on the pulley. I was astonished how heavy the stock one was the jhm one is also just slightly smaller.
as for the clutch the engagement and everything is at the same point as stock and within a couple hundred km you will be used to the extra bite. feels perfectly normal to me now.
the flywheel is a work of art its a shame u don’t see it once its installed.
http://i1270.photobucket.com/albums/jj615/Garrett_Hargreaves/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-12-09%2001.07.55_zpsbqasgg4x.jpg
http://i1270.photobucket.com/albums/jj615/Garrett_Hargreaves/Mobile%20Uploads/20141123_012310_zpsswrqdthj.jpg
