allen71457

iTrader: (5)

Which would be a better clutch for racing? 3 or 4 shoe?And why?

LosiPRRACER

I will start off to say, this thread will become very personally opinionated.

The last 3 Ifmar World champions, have used 3 shoe clutchs.

cody king - kyosho 3 shoe(regarded as one of the best)
robert batlle - Ultimate 3 shoe
Ty tessman - Hotbodies(not sure what actual shoes he used as the track was super high bite and he normally runs the HB carbon shoes.)

4 shoes have more adjustability, also they stay made up on the fly wheel when you take it off.

3 shoes normally have to come off the flywheel to remove flywheel from engine.

I dont really know what the overal performance gain of 4 over 3 or 3 over 4.

just from what i've gatherd is
4 shoes can be smoother and more spring options(alot of 4 shoes last longer then 3 shoes)
3 shoes can hit harder less spring options

Just what i think...

merdith6

iTrader: (3)

I like the Mugen 3 shoes clutch. I tried 2 other brands of 4 shoe clutches and went back to 3 shoe. Seems more durable and consistent. I have not tried a Buku but I have heard nice things about them and once again 3 shoe.

allen71457

iTrader: (5)

Thx..

meis

I never tried 4 shoes yet. Mostly I'll use what I can get from my LHS.

Matt Piva

iTrader: (25)

if you can get a 4 shoe clutch for a good price i would do it! everything about them is better, far more options in springs and material of the shoes and then you have the plus of being able to change out entire flywheels with the removal of only the nut instead of taking everything apart! biggest thing i notice has been over the years there hasnt been nearly as much clutch failures flywheel or clutch bell failures neither and where i would in the past have problems with the clutch causing my engine to overheat or flame from either clutch drag or something else the 3 shoe would do ive just noticed far less troubles with the 4 shoe and ive noticed longer engine life by a noticeable amount! maybe i sucked at tuning maybe i didnt take care of those clutches enough and that was the reason they didnt work for me but the 4 does and thats what i would stick to from here on out!

kgombe

iTrader: (13)

last 5 so maybe all.. :-)

rc skyline

iTrader: (4)

Generally the more shoes the more surface contact area so the clutch will run cooler and can provide a stronger grab or hold for lack of a better word

Obviously there are exceptions to the rule with hundreds of different brands on the market

You may want to look at a Buku Clutch which is a three shoe (unless you use their losi set up) which can be adjusted to give you whatever feel you like

I don't think anyone can really say a three is better over a four etc, there is no real answer for that question

Perhaps in a Truggy situation with allot of power and track grip you may benefit from a 4 shoe with more surface area to handle the load


Dave

madweazl

iTrader: (12)

I went from a 4 shoe in the Losi to a 3 shoe on the Associated and really like it. For me, the 3 shoe "felt" fine but the shoes lasted considerably longer. After the Associated I went to Tekno that basically runs a Losi clutch (4 shoe again). The "feel" is again fine but it seemed to wear more. I'm running the Werks Pro clutch now (4 shoe) and the shoes last considerably longer, feel just fine (again) but the biggest thing is ease of maintenance; it is so easy to work on!

For me, I like the 3 shoes (the AE unit at least) and the Werks 4 shoe the best. I have a 3 shoe LRP in the pit bag that I won at a raffle last month that I might try out.

Chris Reilly

I like the Mugen 3 shoe set-up. But I will admit I ran the Kyosho 3 shoe/1.0 with carbon shoes on my AE. I really like the carbons. I heave never tried the hard aluminum on any clutch. Never tried the AE 3 shoe set-up. .

aloksatoor

iTrader: (43)

I bought a couple of the m2c ones with the set of springs. Tried it last year, this time went back to the factory kyosho shoes and clutch and I like its feel much better. Also with the stock flywheel, it kind of has a buku like cap to protect the front bearing from dirt ingress.

bksrt

I have a 3 shoe on my caster(mugen style) 3 carbon shoes. I find there to be a lot of slip. Takes a fair bit of rpm to get any bite and if the bell is cold you might as well forget it. Its a very soft spring setup as well buti havent bothered changing it yet as i usually just let the kids run that buggy.

My losi 8 2.0 has 4 aluminum shoes with silver(medium) springs. It bites hard and very quick. Also as was already mentioned, i can remove the clutch without taking the shoes off which is very nice. Clutch shoes arent my favourite things to deal with. Ive never damaged one but i always feel like im going to because i use a flathead screwdriver to remove them. It must be alot easier with the proper tool but i dont mess around with the clutch enough to justify spending the money for the tool. I suppose these are something that you change according to track conditions but i dont really go to tracks. Even if i did i would likely find something with a little less bite than my losi setup has right nw and just adjust my driving style to suit the track. I dont think I need 100 different clutch configurations just so i have the "right" setup for each type of track surface.....seems excessive and redundant as i can just throttle early/late and more or less as i see fit. My idea of a good driver is someone who can make a car run fast almost no matter what. Someome who can still place well no matter what happens. People that blame thier loss on track conditions and not having the proper setup are making excuses for thier lack of driving skill. If youre at a top level you should be able to place top 5 as long as you dont have a major failure(engine,clutch,diffs etc)every time you race.
Something like not having the right clutch shoe should not ruin your day. I think theres a lack of focus especially in younger people on learning to drive. Everything gets blamed on the car or parts when a greatdeal of problems could be blamed on a lack of driving skill.

3DRCRACER

iTrader: (1)

Every time I try a different clutch I end back up with the Werks 4 shoe. I used the Mugen clutches and they feel really good but life was short and they eat into the bell. I also tried the Buku with no luck. I got a lot of slipping and heat from it. I also used the M2C 4 shoe for a while but it was a little soft hitting, even with all the tuning options it has.

I've had tremendous luck with Werks. I can get 4 - 5 gallons on a set of shoes and they don't produce near as much heat. My Mugen bells stay the same color their whole life. Clutch bearings last longer too.