cyber3d

So, shaft or belt? Why would a person choose one over the other for their toring car?

Victor

tc3team

Some people prefer the shaft cars because of the feel you get of "sharp,direct" power,as opposed to the typically slightly slacker setup of a belt driven car.

It really is down to driver preference though.

Superkarter

iTrader: (2)

also belts are more forgiving in a crash where as a shaft tends to break bevel gears in a crash.

Joel Lagace

iTrader: (4)

Shaft:
-prefured in stock racing/19T classes
-low maint(sealed)
-great for outdoor bashing over belts
-diff gears only take damage if using spools or oneways during hard crashes, use a diff will not result in broken bevel gears, also tamiya had a flaw in there evo series of cars up till the evo4 where they went to the floating center shaft like all other shaft cars use.
-instant power
-chassis design and layout is limited to the placement of the shaft so new and radical chassis layouts are not as likely as is with the more flexible belted cars

Belt
-prefured in mod classes(no torque steer effects)
-un sealed prown to more dirt in drive line(not an issue on carpet)
-more choises of chassis these days
-Diff access not as fast as some shafts but the t2 and 415msx are now just as fast to get at
-slight lag in power but hardly noticable

surrealmaterial

iTrader: (4)

i prefer shaft drive simply because no maintinence required...

surrealmaterial

iTrader: (4)

i prefer shaft drive simply because no maintinence required

pinggoy

iTrader: (24)

depends on the track... and shaft drive got torque steer if you dont know hoe to set it up

Fastburn

iTrader: (18)

Most of the guys around here run the RDX, 415 or T2. I know there are some Evos and TC4's around, but you dont see them much. Cant really explain it, but just seems to be the preference. I think the belt cars just are more symmetrical in their handling.

pinggoy

iTrader: (24)

peer pressure. nobody knows that but thats some reason. and nobody admits

pinggoy

iTrader: (24)

and hey belt drive has more choices and look better in layout.

ProudSavageOwnr

shaft is always better cause u dont have the fright that ull tear up belts if u get some debris into the belts/pulleys....trust me its happened to me and sometimes belts/pulleys cant handle high torque applications and just tear or strip...im talking of experience with nitro powered onroad i highly doubt that an electric motor will have the torque of a nitro powerplant :P

go with shaft if u plan on racing on anything else other than carpet...if u gona race on carpet go for belt

F. Mendoza

iTrader: (79)

I see we all have our opinions. I've had both versions and do seem to prefer one over the other. This is what I've noticed.

I believe a shaft driven car has more instant power, throttle on demand. A little harder to drive though. Probably for more experienced drivers. A little less maintainance on diffs but faster wearing on parts (drivecups). Replacing internal pinions is for sure if you have a oneway or a spool. Probably not very forgiving in hard crashes.

A belt driven car is a bit lazier on throttle. A bit slower off the line but easier (smoother) to drive, less torque steer. More cleaning drive train, less wearing of parts. Not much to replace other than replacing belts twice a year if that. A bit more forgiving in harder crashes.

It now comes down to chioce. Which would you prefer. Some drivers prefer shaft driven, some prefer belt driven. I know that once I had my choice car my laps improved significantly. I went from the middle of the pack in my class to one of the faster guys my first day of going back to the first version of car. TQ'd first day out with new car , never ever had a TQ before that . Once in awhile I have a offday or night, but enjoy racing alot more than before . Hope this helps

This is just what I went through. If my write-up is wrong, someone please correct me on this. Everyone has thier opinion, this is just mine. Good luck.

cyber3d

Hey Stratus racer,

I see what you are saying. Makes sense to me.

thanks

bmmer701

iTrader: (17)

hi what's a torque steer? and how do you prevent that?

Fastburn

iTrader: (18)

basically, torque steering is when the power of the motor causes the car's steering to be affected.

Like in a FWD car, you mash the go peddle and the wheel will pull one way on you because of unequal half shafts or something else. Same thing applies in the shaft drive cars, you apply throttle and it has a slight tendancy to want to rotate around the main drive shaft causing your steering to be affected.
I dont have enough experience with shaft cars to properly answer how to remedy the problem.

At least this is how its been explained to me, if im wrong, correct me.
All I know is that in every class ran up here, belts are the most popular.