Originally Posted by
Nat Maniac
Hi all,
Id like to hear from anyone who has made the switch from 4 to 3 gear, ideally those who run on carpet but clay drivers aswell.
Apparantly one of the benefits of the 3 gear is better braking power, whilst this sounds great in theory id prefer not to spend the money only to find out its barley noticeable if at all.
Can anyone out there say without doubt the 3 gear provides increased braking power?
Thanks all !!
i wouldn't say it gives more braking power. it doesn't transfer as much weight to the front when braking so it is more stable under braking.
if you're running high grip carpet/astro, 3 gear is a no brainer. especially since the cost to convert to 3 gear is minimal if you use AE parts.
from schelle's website:
From Kurt "Coach" Wenger...A quick lesson on 3-gear.... I personally believe the difference in drag is nothing compared to the difference in car handling. 3-gear won't give you the feeling of more power.
There are 2 things the gearbox (and thus the motor orientation) change on the handling:
1) torque effect: When you hit the gas, with a 4-gear, the motor pitches the car to the rear, adding grip on power. The 3-gear orientation pitches the car towards the front, resisting weight transfer. The opposite is true on decelleration/brakes. 3-gear makes the motor forces resist the natural direction of weight transfer
2) gyro effect: When you turn, the 4-gear orientation makes the motor add to the lean of the car, while the 3-gear orientation resists lean.
Thus, when you drive the 3-gear, the car feels less reactive/more mellow, with less on-power traction. This is generally good for extremely high grip tracks, or drivers that want the car to stay flat in the turns....3-gear generally stabilizes the car but you need to make a few changes to get enough rear grip. I wouldn't recommend it on a loose or low-grip track.