What is the purpose of this grease?
In addition to lubricating the internal of the Voigt damper, it redistributes itself to balance the flywheel to give the engine its smooth running,
Thanks Seen this before...doesn't explain what is happening inside the flywheel nor what the grease precisely does...
Here is an experiment for you, if you like. Remove the Voigt damper, clean the grease completely off the damper, reattach it to the engine. Now run it. You will immediately know what the grease is for.
Done that Just makes a loud clattering racket back there and the motor runs all lumpy. Daren't step on the gas. So does anyone actually know what the grease physically does?
Come'on Lotus. The emperical data does not tell you? The grease lubricates the moving springs and weights inside the damper so that it does not make that noise. In addition, it spreads itself out toward the edge of the damper to provide a balanced damper so that the engine spins happily to 8000 RPM. What else can the five of us tell you?
The grease is the proper consistency to allow the weights to move at the correct speed to smooth out the vibrations coming from the engine - due to the flat plane crank there is an inherent unbalance that cause vibrations that need to be dampened for smooth operation and to prevent false sensor (rpm and knock) readings at lower rpms. They could have also used balance shafts but that increases rotating mass and complexity, more so than the dual mass flywheel. The weights, springs and grease are all necessary for it to function properly. Wrong grease and the weights release their stored energy to quickly or too slowly and the imbalance in the engine is not countered correctly causing vibration at best, sensor malfunction and accelerated wear to the engine/transmission bearings at worst.
Thanku Pete...great answer How come only the 348/355 tipos had this curious dual mass with grease flywheel? The other v8's have a flat plane crank after all....how come their engine is balanced.
Because the 348/355 flywheel is at the rear of the gear box. Normally the flywheel is at the rear of the engine, connected directly to the crank.