novak bl motor gearing recommendations

[Needler56]

can i go by the novak bl motor gearing recommendations for touring car even though mine is front wheel drive? only because most touring cars are 4wd these days

[ElectricThunder]

You can probably go a tooth or two higher than normal since there's less the motor needs to turn (two less wheels and one less diff).

[GSMnow]

I would have to agree, you should be able to gear a little higher. Instead of overloading the motor, you will just spin the front tires. You should not have any problems with motor temp.

On the other hand, if you are racing on a track, I would still go back to my old gearing rule for any brushless system... Gear it so that the motor reaches it's maximum rpm at the fastest part of the track. Gearing any faster than that is going to result in slower acceleration capability, greater heat in the battery, motor, and ESC, a shorter run time, and a touchier throttle trigger. If you gear too slow, you will top out before the end of the straight, and could go faster, so if this is happeneing, where you are at full triugger, and want more, then go up a tooth. But, if you are not able to hit full trigger anywhere on track without spinning the tires, then go down a tooth or two. This is specific for on a track where the conditions are the same, lap after lap. Having a small amount of extra speed is not too bad, but gearing for 50 mph, when you can't get to 30 on the track, is just waste of power.

[Needler56]

so would there be a reason why some of the hotter motors like the 3.5r aren't recommended for 2wd buggies? is it because of the size of the car which would cause more stress on the motor? or is it mainly because the car would be impossible to control?

[ElectricThunder]

Well, buggies are heavier than touring cars in general, and have larger diameter tires than touring cars. It's also unusable in terms of being able to put ALL of that power down with just two wheels.

[GSMnow]

I would say E.T. has it right. You just can't use the power without driving 4 wheels. It also comes down to being able to gear the motor to a useable speed range. If you put on the smallest pinion made, and the biggest spur that fits inthe car, and the motor rpm is so high that you wheels are spinning at 65 mph, and you are on a tight dirt track, it just won't work, there is no point to it. The 3.5 and 2.5 motors are designed for touring cars with small tires and 5 (or even 4) cell rules. They can use the silly high KV numbers to get the ground speed a touring car can reach on a big track when limited to just 5 cells. Those motors pull huge current to make the power, but if the track will take it, and the other guy is doing it, then so does everyone else to keep up.

I certainly learned first hand that the most horsepower does not always win a race. It is more important to match up the power range to the conditions you will be running in. Not too many years ago, there was a chase to make more power to win, but the latest crop of brushless motor systems can all make more power than the vehicles can put down to the ground. A driver with amazing reactions and a very well trained trigger finger may be able to drive a hugely overpowered car to a win, but someone with less skill might be all over the track with it. A car with the correct power for the track will be far easier to drive and could actually be faster when the driver can spend more concentration on the steering rather than the hair trigger on the throttle. I saw it first hand when my lap times improved going from a 500watt motor system down to a 300 watt. It is really hard to steer when the truck keeps doing wheelies.