Review: Fidanza Flywheel

By: Surfwax95

I just installed my Fidanza Flywheel that I got from Enjuku Racing. I remember before I bought it I was doing research like a mad man trying to figure out whether or not it was right for me and my specific driving habits/styles. After a few weeks I decided to purchase it from Enjuku. Here are my thoughts. The following is all based on MY car, a 1995 240sx 5-speed with the following mods that may or may not effect the review: AEM Short Ram intake, 300zx fuel filter and pump, RPS Sport Clutch rated at ~250 ft.lbs., and springs/struts.

Installation:
Well, I consider myself to be mechanically inclined, but definitely no expert. I found the install to be more tedious than laborious. Because of how low my 240 is, the car was lifted using a scissor jack to get the car started up, and a larger jack was then slid underneath to jack it up the rest of the way. I used jackstands to keep all 4 corners in the air. I had my trusty 240sx Factory Service Manual beside me the whole time and my dad helped me out with the labor. Although optional, we dropped the exhaust and released the engine mounts to help ease out the entire transmission. The RPS clutch I mentioned earlier was installed using the Throw-Out bearing that was included. Taking off the stock flywheel I noticed a HUGE difference in weight compared to the Fidanza. I put everything back together just the way I took it apart. Overall I would say difficulty was 6/10 with 10 being “Let somebody else do it for $.” Mostly because of the tools needed, my dad owns a shop and had all the tools we needed (air tools for breaking some of the more stubborn bolts), but anyone with a good set of tools and some determination will be able to do this install.

First Impressions:
When I started the car, I noticed it didn’t have to run the starter near as long as I did before I installed the flywheel. I drove home from my dad’s house (300) miles keeping it under 3k RPMs to give it a good break in. I wouldn’t recommend getting the freshly installed flywheel over 4k RPMs, the manufacturer recommends a 200-500 mile break in period to let the flywheel seat properly. The car revs a LOT faster now, I’m not really one to rev at people, but let’s just say I can now. Before I had to lay my foot on the throttle for 2 seconds to get it up to 5000rpms, now a small blip will get the tach up there. After the break in, I did my first 0-60 run. Using my G-tech (which isn’t very accurate) my 0-60 WAS 8.65 seconds. With a new clutch and this flywheel it is now 8.02 seconds.

I haven’t experienced the loss of driveability that a lot of people have talked about in some other posts. I can still let out on the clutch with NO throttle and not stall out. The KA has a surplus of torque and installing this flywheel has not adversely effected it. Driving up hills isn’t as labor intensive as a lot of people make it out to be. You don’t have to downshift if you’ve got some speed going into it. Hard launches will of course be compromised due to the loss in reciprocating mass, but the top end gained from the flywheel makes up for the poorer launch.

Conclusions:

From the 100 or so hard miles I’ve put on this flywheel so far, I would have to say this product is DEFINITELY recommended. Like I said before, the KA has a LOT of torque, but what it doesn’t have is high end power. We’ve all experienced the “dropoff” at 5500. This flywheel has basically moved my entire power band from “3k – 5k” to “3.5k – 6k”. It will lose a little bit of grunt right around 3000, but the gain in upper RPM power more than makes up for it. So if you think losing some of the KA’s lower end power for a large gain in high end power then this product is for you. I highly recommend this product and I also highly recommend Enjuku Racing. They got this to me in 3 days and for a better price than a lot of other places. Support NICOclub.com and buy from sponsors!

A quick “pro/con” for people who don’t want to read:

Pros
– Faster revs.
– Rev matching on downshifts is awesome now. Just a tiny blip of the throttle to get 2k RPMs.
– Makes it feel like a CAR engine, not a truck motor.
– Passing on the highway is a lot better.
– Easier starting.
– Fills the void in power past 5k RPMs.
– Better gas mileage. (I haven’t had it long enough to get an average, but after one tank of gas it beats my normal average of 27.3, now it’s 28.6.)

Cons
– Revs drop a lot faster, not cool for autoXing. Push in the clutch and it drops to 750 rpms.
– $300 could be spent on something that gains more power.
– Apparently some people lose some driveability due to the “loss” in torque. I haven’t experienced this.
– Some people may find it difficult to install.
– You’ll get more speeding tickets.

Hope you enjoyed the article, there’s a lot more 240sx installation articles at 240sxTech.com!