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......Light cranks from my experience are really felt above the torque peak and as "panic" (sorry, you'll always be Panic to me!) said it really depends on a lot of other variables. Where it can also pay off (in an obvious but not really mentioned way) is if the lighter mass allows the motor to more safely rev and be built/tuned to a higher HP peak and allow the motor for more RMP/POWER than it would otherwise be able to achieve.



that's the way i feel about it too. to keep high rpm engines from flying apart takes lightweight components.
some cars will actually run slower 60' times if they no longer have enough mass (inertia) to launch them.
don't expect huge gains in e.t. for a 10 sec. car, but better longevity should be expected in just about any race combo if done right, and not to extremes where parts are weakened by the lightening efforts.