So I bought this (haven't installed) from a friend who said it unlocked some power from the crank to the wheels. Apparantly, Alta does not sell them anymore. I will update when I install but until then I want to know if anyone else has tried this and their take on the situation. No a lot of info on this particular pulley for the R56 but there's a little more on the R53 (which alta still sells). Anyways, I'm just worrying about the long-term effects since this mod removes the harmonic dampener, but I've read somewhere that it is no longer an issue on newer engines (I have an N18). Can this mod be potentially dangerous to the health and life of my engine? Btw the one I have does not have the under drive thing that reduces diameter, it is the same diameter as the stock one. Thanks in advance.

 

Want to wipe out your engine's main bearings a lot faster? Use that pulley.

Removing the harmonic balancer (vibration damper) is a very bad idea. It absorbs the torsional vibrations of the crankshaft. There is no "race" solution for a N14/N18 harmonic balancer yet.

If you want more power, buy a big fat downpipe, big intercooler, and an ECU tune.

 

yes this is very true not a good idea. i had this in mind but i have heard sooo much about this is just not good. i have the ALTA FMIC and the ALTA ap next its the down pipe with that you should have lot of power no need of thart pulley

 

You can get similar results by putting on a light weight flywheel.

 

There is nothing to gain since the stock pulley is so light already. The r53 stock pulley is a heavyweight by comparison. I know a lot of r53 owners running a solid pulley and there is no need to put a harmonic balancer on a zero balanced motor.

 

Zero balanced--from the factory? I kinda doubt that. Most factories get things "kinda close" and call it good; it's not worthwhile for them to take one or ten or forty extra hours making sure the engine is "just right", because they could use that time to build another X number of engines.

(Actually, I doubt any claims of "zero balance" anyway. It is impossible to achieve absolute zero; if you are in fact at zero imbalance you aren't measuring with enough precision. "Less than a gram out" is possible, but not that easy. "Less than a tenth of a gram" takes a whooooooole lot of fiddly work. F1 engines are probably at the "less than a hundredth of a gram" stage--but not "zero".)

 

LOOK OUT!

It's only a matter of time for those R53 guys who use a solid pulley.

 

It's a zero balance motor and besides the factory piece isn't a harmonic dampener especially the r56 one as it has a small piece of rubber in it the factory piece for the r53 just has rubber injected into a 2 piece crank pulley that over time separates leaving you stranded and the reason this is done is for NVH and no other reason. The r53 has been around for over a decade and I have yet to see any sort of failure attributed to a solid crank pulley. Time to update the knowledge base.

 

Thread revival !!!
has anybody done this upgrade or used a lightweight pulley ??
I have a lightweight 1x piece flywheel already and how much that helped rev's climb was amazing. So if I could get a little more from a crank that's almost 2lb lighter, I want to.
I've been looking at the cravenspeed pulley..
I've run numerous solid lightweight pulleys on r53's and I loved the engine responsiveness afterwards ( not because of the size increase either )..
it's already proven the factory cranks ONLY are weighted to further smoothen out the engine and help maintain Inertia so that rev's dont drop too soon between shifts and it helps novice drivers. Im not here to debate whether theyre safe or not , only their effects on the engine and performance..
if no one chimes in , once I have my lightweight pulley AND crank lock I will update this and give my personal feedback.
lol anybody got one laying around??? Throw it my way and ille install it as a test mule.
I will make a thread very soon on all the budget performance parts I've bought and used and ille suggest to either use or not. Theres sone absolutely awesome upgrade ive gotten and am running now..

 

I planned on trying one out myself and Speedmaster's R56 "Fluid Damper". If you do it before I get to, let me know how it goes.