shaft driven or belt driven? which one would you drive

[Gargoyle]

what are the advantage of a shaft driven car and a belt driven car?

[HauntedMyst]

The advantage of the shaft driven is it is a solid drive line that doesn't get fouled by rocks or pebbles. On my HPI Pro 2, I fouled the belts/gears a few times gets pebbles stuck in between them. Also, I've never heard of a shaft breaking. Belts do wear, the shaft does not. Most belted cars require belt tensioners. Once you put the shaft in correctly, it doesn't need to be adjusted further. Both the shaft and the single belt Losi seem very effiecient. (the Losi is the only completely enclosed belt car.)

Other then the Losi, most belt cars seem to have more complicated diff access, I know my Pro 2 and Corally did. On my TC3, I undo 6 screws and the diff is in my hand, the same is true for the Losi XXX-S.

Everyone will give you their opinion, I think its just a matter of which car its in and which you prefer.

[Interstate]

Belts have less rotating mass giving you less of the gyro effect, thus a little better handleing. dogbones do pop out and twist, causing slop and loss of drivetrain. dog bones i think are heavier, which will give you worse acceleration. if you get CVDs, those can get costly to replace. it's really personal preference.

[tallyrc]

all i know is that for my nirto street car (yokomo gt-4). i'd kill for drive shafts because of the mess. nitro with belst are way difficult to clean compared to shaft driven cars.

[matmatcadillac]

I don't really see any comparison. I have both and the belt stinks. If you put to much torque to it, it breaks or skips. It can't way less by the time you have tensioners and covers or shields. Plus it's more moving parts and things in the way or to clean. I have never popped a driveshaft or got a pebble stuck in the shaft and I don't know how you could ever twist one. On the losi if you break a belt, how long does it take to change it? I know how long it takes with a two belt system that is open. On a car with one belt front to rear enclosed (Oh my god). 2 hours?

[outsider]

For the obviouse reasons i think shaft is superior... BUT, I also think RC manufactures prefer belts right now is because the shaft turning makes an appreciable amount of torque that would make handling more squirelly BUT with proper enginering like AE used (putting more weight on one side [battery]) you can counterbalance the effects. Belts create a vertical torsion so on the track you don't notice it. Well that's my take on it. BTW real cars aren't affected by this because of the total weight involved.

[maxxxracer]

I drive a shaft and love it.

[JimmyMac]

Wow, I think everyone here owns a shaft car. :D I don't though. Hmmm, well let's see here. I think one thing that was "sorta" mentioned here was that shaft driven cars have torque steer. That's mainly because the shaft spins left to right, or right to left causing the gyro affect. So shaft driven cars will turn better one way than the other. (of course many here might claim otherwise hehe :D ) As far as shafts being more efficient than belts? I dunno about that. That would be a matter of opinion. Don't forget shaft driven cars have beveled gears. Though they may be well designed, they do offer some resistance/drag. Blah blah blah (gotta stick up for us belt guys!)

As far as changing belts, nooo not 2 hours. Maybe an unskilled kid. But not for me. Depends on the car but possibly 15 minutes. I have known shafts to mess up. So it's not completely impossible for that.

Anyways, (talking on the phone, so I'll make this short) It doesn't matter which car you own. It's how you drive it and tune it. Sure a shaft car will be sealed. But so is the Losi and MR4 (older Yokomo 1gen). Just depends how much maintenance you want to do. It's not like belts break all the time. Not if you know what you are doin. But depending on the car, you may have to change them every now and then. Just get what you want. And get a car that matches your driving style (handling wise). AE, Losi, Yokomo, Tamiya, HPI, Schumacher, and others have major wins on their hands. So it's not really the car, it's the Driver!!! Just my 2¢ :D

Mike

[RC10 GuyAZ]

Well, I believe that shafts have more acceleration and torque. Belts have more top end speed due to the low rotating mass. There are all types of hopups, like for instance the TC3, that can redude the rotating mass, which gives you more top end and acceleration!

Patrick:cool:

[matmatcadillac]

Mike
That belt change question was refering to the XXX. A two belt car is a pain but not time consuming. Is the Losi the same. As far as set-up goes. I saw Frank Calandra race a sedan in one heat and win, then race in the next heat in 2WD (belt broke) and win. I think he knows how to set up his wouldn't you think so.

[chizzler]

matmatcadillac- youve contradicted yourself in that last one.....;)
if this guy won with breaking his belt (im guessing it was a dual belt) what happens if you warp the spur on your tc3?
your race is done....:D

you could change the belt on the xxx-s almost as fast as you can change the shaft on a tc3, its not as complicated as it is being made out to be.....

any car is going to be almost equally good, as long as you put the time and effort into it, and know what you are doing when you are using it!

[Bishop]

I don't think the rotating mass problem of a shaft drive on a RC car is a real issue anymore, they are very light weight and should not be an issue, I would seriously doupt wether it would cause the car to turn better in one direction that another, and if there was a tiny effect I doupt you would actually notice it.

I rode a shaft drive bike around for a while and never noticed it being harder to lean in either direction.

Personaly I would rather have a shaft drive RC car if I had the choice, a lot more simple and less to worry about in the long term.

[matmatcadillac]

My point was that at his level of ability he didn't have to change the belt to win the race. How many of you could win a sedan race in 2WD, I know I can't. If he would have changed the belt he was eliminated.
I guess I havn't warped a spur to that point. I will change it if it's bad after a race. How do you warp one that bad in a race that you can't finish?

Matt :D

[chizzler]

lol, i had it happen to me once, the ground was a bit slick and i guess all the harsh sliding caused it to go...:D

lol, oh well!

btw, xxx-s won the 11 tc shootout.......! hehe, barely edging out yokomo

[Nitrotruckman]

Personally I like chain driven vehicles like go-carts. Chains don't come off (well not if they're properly adjusted), they are strong, and they are very responsive. But you never find that on rc cars for some reason. So, on rc stuff, I like driveshafts. Why, because of all the reasons already mentioned, plus driveshafts are much easier to deal with. You also see gear transmission cars, and these are the best if you only have 2 WD.

[speedydave]

Get the shaft, maaaaaaaaaan. :p :D

[JimmyMac]

Actually I have heard this with shaft driven cars (torque steer). As far as a car being too small to feel any effects, try holding an electric motor in your hand or just place it on the table and apply full power to it. What does it do? Since these cars are smaller, you may not think they are affected by it. But they are because they have less mass to oppose it. Just like jumping cars, hit the brakes and your front end dives. Give it throttle and it raises the front end. Turn your wheels in mid air and your car will roll to one side or the other. Rotational mass, can't stop it's effects, but you CAN reduce them.

But anyways, Yokomo kicks arse!! Hehe, I like the TC3. Dont' get me wrong. It was that or the Yokomo MR4TC Special. I got the Special. Friend has/had the TC3. Great car. Does have good/excellent acceleration. But my car had better handling. Oh, he did mess up his spur gear. Don't know how that happened. But I saw it mentioned here. So I thought I'd mention it.

Anyways, shaft driven cars are cool. I'll just stick to belts for now. Wooo whoooooo!

Mike

[outsider]

They should make a dual shaft each rotating in a different direction, nullifying the torque.

[HauntedMyst]

Actually, the shaft and the motor on a TC3 do counterbalanace each other and there is no torque steer what so ever that I can detect. While I race a TC3, I also have a Corally C4, and previously had a Pro 2 and have no preference as to the drive train, it's just a matter of which car gets me into the boards....I mean around the track fastest that matters to me.

And btw, chizzler did finish a race with 2WD, but more so, he did it with only 3 wheels. One of his rear wheels was knocked off during the race and he managed to finish it.

I can tell you from experiance, it least with an HPI Pro 2, changing the belts was very time consuming. Changing the rear belt ment a good 15 to 30 minutes, replacing both belts ment taking apart nearly the entire car.

[JimmyMac]

Read new RCCA mag. TC3, TB Evo, STR-4 Pro had torque steer. Hmmmmmm, guess I was right. :D

Jimmy Mac