LIGHTENED STEEL/CAST IRONÂ FLYWHEELS CAN EXPLODE.. AND WORSE !!
It has been brought to our attention an incident involving a Mini ( Metro) with A Lightened STEELÂ flywheel broke/ shattered during a race meeting and the parts carved their way into the cockpit and severed the drivers leg so badly the driver unfortunately later died from infection in hospital. This incredibly sad incident is a reminder to all that playing around lightening steel items should be avoided. We also had a comment added to our GTT ALLOY Flywheel video stating “Steel flywheels cannot explode” … how wrong this person was. As you can see online there are many cases of them exploding and causing massive vehicle damage + injuries to the driver and passengers, hence why some people fit a shield to protect them.
There really is no reason ( Apart from cheap to make) to use performance STEEL flywheels these days. There are so many ALLOY flywheels around for most performance cars now. Alloy is far more suitable and stronger (weight for weight ). It also dissipates the clutch heat much better . Many allow both friction plates and ring gears to be replaced if worn giving ‘eternal life’……Yes GTT Alloy Flywheel ( 6082T6 top spec alloy) for the Mini includes all these features and more…. That’s why we designed it this way.
Just to elaborate on what we mean by stronger.. A 5kg steel item will be wafer thin and full or holes whereas a 5kg alloy unit will be much thicker, more substantial and not need to be full of holes… and therefore much stronger . That’s what we mean by ‘weight for weight’
Quote from Mr Brazier of Mini 2 magazine ‘This is why NHRA and other drag racing bodies demand the fitting of specialized bell housings or blankets of hi-tech fibre that will stop the shrapnel from cutting off legs since the early 1960s. Unlike so many other tragic incidents in auto racing, you have NO WARNING, the explosion just cuts off your feet or legs! This modification is illegal in every US sanctioning race body we now of at MC2 magazine…
Please choose the safe option.