GD WRX ACT ProLite Flywheel and Exedy OEM Clutch kit

[Ghost]

Whoo Hooo, got my car back together so time to give back.

The final straw on my car was when the throw out bearing disintegrated. I put it up on jackstands and decided to do some fun things to it. One of those things was installing an ACT ProLite Flywheel (9.6lbs) and Exedy WRX clutch and pressure plate (both originally intended for a bugeye WRX.

I'm not going to go too much into the install because I had the motor out. I can say that every mated up perfectly. Iirc I used GD flywheel bolts because they are shorter than Legacy SS ones.

So what's it like?

Well RallySportDirect recomends "ProLite Flywheels are recommended for race applications and often can trigger a CEL. If using for Street, look into the StreetLite Flywheel."

My Opinion after 2.5 hours on the new setup? BULLSHIT!

You know how you always imaged the RPMs dropping between shifts? You know that image you have in your head of you pulling off a quick shift and it being absolutely smooth. The engine RPMs drop over half a second and bam you are accelerating in the next gear.

This flywheel makes that possible.

1st to 2nd still needs an infinitesimally brief pause before letting the clutch out, but every other gear yeilds a butter smooth shift when trying to spend as little time between gears as possible. And that is coming from a guy with a fully poly mounted drive train.

Now to be clear here I am not talking about banging gears. Just a quick positive snick from one gear to another.

As far as I am concerned this should have been a factory option.

That is a bold statement. I make it because in my opinion the drive-ability penalty is tiny. Yeah it takes a little more throttle work to get moving, but you just adjust. It's like driving somebody else's car, give it what is appropriate. You also have to shift rapidly all the time but if you are already in the habbit of doing that (like me) when do you not?

The idle is a little low and lumpier now but no CEL.

As far as stalling. I use to own an FD with a street lightweight flywheel and 6 puck organic clutch. That car felt like right around 650 or so RPM the bottom would fall out and there was no saving it from the impending stall. I stalled that car a lot. I expected that here.

Nope. Yeah you don't want to let the rpms get too low but that goes for any car. Even with the clutch fresh and abnormally grabby it still gives you enough time to blip the throttle if the rpms start dropping. In that way the car is still very easy to get through 3pt turn situations.

All in all I have always loved lightweight flywheels. But this one has got to be my favorite.

[James614]

Our OBD1 cars do not have the excess of self-diagnosis that the GD WRX's and newer models have. We can do any number of things like virtually anything we want with the exhaust as long as the O2 sensor is present somewhere, lightweight flywheels and pulleys galore, etc. Of course, when the guys with the newer cars get CEL's, they can just have them disabled via AccessPort or ROM Raider.

But otherwise I'd have to say I have the Exedy LW flywheel (12.6lbs) on my Touring Wagon and while it took some getting used to I can't say it offers any actual compromise. My wife thinks the car feels great to drive (and her ideal car is a CUV), and I taught my 15 year old sis-in-law how to drive in it and she took to the clutch just fine.

With that in mind I feel like your "it should have been a factory option" statement isn't so bold. I think the stocker is like 26lbs, I can't see any good reason for the flywheel to be that heavy on the Subies. I know some cars they really benefit from having that weight smooth out the bottom of the rev range, but the boxers don't seem to have such an issue.

[mike-tracy]

I liked having a LW flywheel and aggressive clutch on my car, till I got a job with a commute. Try spending up to 3 hours in bumper to bumper traffic every day and tell me you still like it. I now carpool 4 days a week, and don't have that setup any more. I also plan to move far closer to work, lol. But I would not put this on a car I drove through Bellevue/Seattle traffic with.

My current cars have stock STI flywheels which are approx 21lbs, or 5-7 lbs weight reduction depending on who you ask. IMO this is the perfect weight for commuting, coming from the factory.

Having said that, I still miss the LW setup I had - it suited the character of the old 2.0L perfectly.

[Legacy777]

Yeah....I would tend to disagree with your "should come as stock" statement

As Mike mentioned, try driving a LW flywheel in traffic for any extended amount of time and you'll go batty. I drove with an Exedy WRX LW flywheel for a little over 8 years and I'm definitely much happier driving the car with the stock 6spd flywheel.

[James614]

I drove in DC traffic (not on the regular thankfully, as that sucks even with an automatic) and I didn't think my Exedy flywheel made it any more of a chore than other manual cars I had.

[Ghost]

Three months later and I stand by my statement that this should have come stock. I have done every kind of driving including getting stuck in traffic for hours. For this driver, the changes have only been positive. The clutch pedal is just easier to work with.

I highly recommend this to anybody that is comfortable enough working a manual to rev-match shifts. All this is going to do is make your life easier.

[Alphius]

I owned a '92 SS with an Exedy LW flywheel. Every other turbo Subaru ive owned has had a stock flywheel. I much prefer the factory weight. I think it's completely down to personal preference, but the LW flywheel was worse in every way that matters to me.

My latest car is a '99 Legacy GT with a WRX swap and I have a stock 06-07 WRX flywheel on there which most say is around 19lbs. I do like this flywheel fine.

[TurnNburn]

Thanks for the info. How much $ was that flywheel? Probably not for everyone, but i like it
It just makes everything more responsive and fun to drive.

I did have to reset my ECU when i put mine in, if i pushed the clutch in above 4k rpm and let the rpms fall the car wouldnt catch it in time and it would die. After i reset it and did that a couple of times it figured it out.

On the newer GD style subarus that came stock with the dual mass flywheel, a lightweight flywheel will throw CEL for a misfire because the original flywheel helps dampen the pulses of the crankshaft during combustion. If you remove the dual mass the car wont see the dampening that is supposed to be there and the car will think it is misfiring even when it clearly isnt. I chased this problem around for days on a 07 WRX. That being said, if you have one of the reprogrammers out there, you can turn those codes off and drive happy. But on the flip side you wont know when it is actually misfiring.

[czei]

I've got the ACT StreetLite Flywheel 13.4 pounds and can't really tell much of a difference in terms of street driving, even stop and go. (The 9.6 pound version didn't seem like a good cost/benefit tradeoff.)

I do notice that under hard acceleration the RPMs fall very quickly if I don't shift really fast, but of course the RPMs are quick to come back up again.

[xise]

I also have the exedy stage 1 clutch with the streetlight flywheel, The reason you get fast decel with this flywheel is because it still has the mass to cause engine braking when off the throttle, this is actually ideal for track applications ins some instances especially in turbo cars where in boost you will have no vacuum brake assist, so that small bit of braking that occurs from the engine's decel helps you transfer weight before a corner. It also helps when rev matching before you let the clutch out on a downshift.

Ye olde principle of ever action having an exact and opposite reaction, certainly applies to when there is great accel there is also great decel. You can use it to your advantage, and you just have to learn to cope with minimizing that decel between shifts, I'm not afraid to put a few heat marks on the flywheel if I feel the need to make the clutch bite...that's why you get hardier friction materials...they can take it!

[Ghost]

I also have the exedy stage 1 clutch with the streetlight flywheel, The reason you get fast decel with this flywheel is because it still has the mass to cause engine braking when off the throttle, this is actually ideal for track applications ins some instances especially in turbo cars where in boost you will have no vacuum brake assist, so that small bit of braking that occurs from the engine's decel helps you transfer weight before a corner. It also helps when rev matching before you let the clutch out on a downshift.

Ye olde principle of ever action having an exact and opposite reaction, certainly applies to when there is great accel there is also great decel. You can use it to your advantage, and you just have to learn to cope with minimizing that decel between shifts, I'm not afraid to put a few heat marks on the flywheel if I feel the need to make the clutch bite...that's why you get hardier friction materials...they can take it!

You get it.

I have gotten stuck in traffic plenty with this flywheel, still loving it. Feels stock. Very easy to drive in all conditions. I maintain that 9.6lbs should have been around the factory flywheel weight. If you can't deal with it cut up your license and burn it. This mod combined with the brake mod in the other thread unlocks so much dormant potential in the chassis.

Stop buying streetlites, the prolite is fine. I used this car as my DD. The worst I do is double dip the clutch getting the car moving in first (release with the first blip to get the car moving, then a dip and a 2nd blip with the release to complete engagement). Who cares, its automatic, and I don't think I am burning up the clutch, it all happens below 1500rpm and im still the first one across the intersection.

I rather engage the clutch completely and make up for any problem with more throttle, some people rather slip clutch more. But my way comes very natural to me.

The only place where it sucks is going creeping over really uneven pavement. Lots of revs needed and the possibility over overheating the clutch disc. I almost once wasn't able to get out of a auto car wash because there were these steel humps I had to drive over and them being wet it was difficult to get just the right torque input not to spin the tires but also not to have them bite and pull the RPMs down.

[Legacy777]

You get it.

I have gotten stuck in traffic plenty with this flywheel, still loving it. Feels stock. Very easy to drive in all conditions. I maintain that 9.6lbs should have been around the factory flywheel weight. If you can't deal with it cut up your license and burn it. This mod combined with the brake mod in the other thread unlocks so much dormant potential in the chassis.

Stop buying streetlites, the prolite is fine. I used this car as my DD. The worst I do is double dip the clutch getting the car moving in first (release with the first blip to get the car moving, then a dip and a 2nd blip with the release to complete engagement). Who cares, its automatic, and I don't think I am burning up the clutch, it all happens below 1500rpm and im still the first one across the intersection.

I rather engage the clutch completely and make up for any problem with more throttle, some people rather slip clutch more. But my way comes very natural to me.

The only place where it sucks is going creeping over really uneven pavement. Lots of revs needed and the possibility over overheating the clutch disc. I almost once wasn't able to get out of a auto car wash because there were these steel humps I had to drive over and them being wet it was difficult to get just the right torque input not to spin the tires but also not to have them bite and pull the RPMs down.

You've completely contradicted yourself in your own post. You say that the car should come with the 9.6 lbs. flywheel as stock, yet later on you say it was difficult to drive over steel humps at a car wash. This is far from something a car manufacture would consider acceptable.

Let's try and keep the reviews as objective as we can.

Thanks

[Ghost]

You get it.

I have gotten stuck in traffic plenty with this flywheel, still loving it. Feels stock. Very easy to drive in all conditions. I maintain that 9.6lbs should have been around the factory flywheel weight. If you can't deal with it cut up your license and burn it. This mod combined with the brake mod in the other thread unlocks so much dormant potential in the chassis.

Stop buying streetlites, the prolite is fine. I used this car as my DD. The worst I do is double dip the clutch getting the car moving in first (release with the first blip to get the car moving, then a dip and a 2nd blip with the release to complete engagement). Who cares, its automatic, and I don't think I am burning up the clutch, it all happens below 1500rpm and im still the first one across the intersection.

I rather engage the clutch completely and make up for any problem with more throttle, some people rather slip clutch more. But my way comes very natural to me.

The only place where it sucks is going creeping over really uneven pavement. Lots of revs needed and the possibility over overheating the clutch disc. I almost once wasn't able to get out of a auto car wash because there were these steel humps I had to drive over and them being wet it was difficult to get just the right torque input not to spin the tires but also not to have them bite and pull the RPMs down.

You've completely contradicted yourself in your own post. You say that the car should come with the 9.6 lbs. flywheel as stock, yet later on you say it was difficult to drive over steel humps at a car wash. This is far from something a car manufacture would consider acceptable.

Let's try and keep the reviews as objective as we can.

Thanks

I included that anecdote in the interest of transparency, in a few isolated circumstances having the 9.6 flywheel made driving more difficult. In daily driving I don't notice it or actively have to compensate for it, the car is just easier to drive than it was with the stock piece.

If you take the average native manual driver from Phoenix, Chicago or Tampa and put them on a hill in San Francisco or Seattle they are going to be utterly screwed when they hit a stop sign, forget parallel parking. There are no warning signs, you take a right turn and realize you are going up hill at a 30 degree angle and there is a stop sign at the top. Now imagine having to deal with that in a FWD car, in the wet, with an open diff. This was a situation faced by many a econobox driving San Franciscan in the 80s and 90s. Manufactures don't equip all their manual cars with 50lbs flywheels, traction control and hill start assist because some of them will be operated in edge case cities by edge case drivers, it's expected that the driver adjust their technique.

Yeah a lighter flywheel will make edge cases more challenging, but like hill starts if you aren't a novice it's not a problem, you fill in for the lack of mass with throttle. A turbo, manual sports sedan isn't really destined to be bought new by the lowest common denominator, and that is why I think this should have been factory. For me it has made the car easier to drive in %99.9 of daily, in city, stop and go driving (including hill starts). For the other % 0.1 of circumstances it might take 3 tries to get out of the car wash. That isn't a shortcoming in my book, it is striking a better compromise to make the car better suited to environment where it spends the vast majority of its time operating.

I don't have anything more to say on the matter.