Geforcy

I think why the TC3 is so well beacause of the suspension geometry. I can remember someone in sweden I believe it was Andreas Myrberg made a belt driven tc3 and there was no difference.

Cobra81li200

No, Andreas was testing a belt driven pro4 prototype, and he said he prefered it A LOT. But once again, the weight distribution was different so I believe it was not only a matter of the drive train.

Committed88

Would you care to explain what you mean exactly by running your center shaft one way? Sounds interesting.

Cole Trickle

I'm not sure excatly what you're asking about, but basically, there's two types of one-ways: A center one way and a front one-way diff.

On a dual belt car, the center one-way is mounted as the pulley, which drives the front wheels. On a shaft car, the center one-way is mounted on the end of the shaft, just before the diff.

Result: One-way action in the front, but with a standard diff. On the track, this aint as aggressive as a one-way diff.

ICEMAN

iTrader: (1)

belt drive on pavement

shaft drive on carpet

wrxnfx

iTrader: (30)

Remember the drivetrain is only one aspect of a car. It's not only the drivetain that will win a race. Great balance, good equipment, and great driving skill will win you a race. Marketing is a huge factor in this belt vs. shaft debate. My friends and I own both and we have had a range of new and old versions of each. Personal preference is a major factor as to which cars we really like. It's the total package (ie. suspension, durability, availability of parts, price, etc. ...) that make us like one over the other. As for pebbles, I usually use my TC3 and have had no problems with pebbles except for the steering rack which was resolved with a steering rack cover. My friends with their TA04, SV-10, and TF3 Spider have had problems with pebbles literally shreading their belts or breaking apart their diffs. No car is perfect, at least not yet.

Sleighty

i also feel that your driving style will swing which works best. I personally believe shafts are better, but could this be due to my driving style? I prefer to let the car roll into the corners and simply accelerate out of them. The shaft drive provides me with a better performance out of corners. Now when i had a belt drive car, and driven newer versions more recently. I found that it was better to go into a corner braking and then straight back on the throttle to ensure that the car was already accelerating half way through the corner. I personally found this to be the way of making the two cars perform pretty much the same. You may do things differently. However i like to keep driving neat and tidy and i feel the off power cornering of a shaft drive car allows me to do this. You may see things technically different.

On a simply technical perspective I still feel that the shaft drive car will always accelerate faster, this is simple physics. Belt drive cars will lose energy in the flex of the belts. Shaft drive cars of course do have certain handling charachteristics which may lose or gain time. Thats just the way things are.

Thats how i see things anyway guys, to me it all depends how you drive to which one suits you best, cant hurt to try a shaft drive car! I did and i love it, but i wouldnt turn down another belt car if that was also a good car.

fatdoggy

I really don't think that belt flex is that big of an influence. At my local track(ozite) belts run along side shafts all the time, neither has any obvious advantage. Imo it comes down to driving ability and then equipment. Example - "Josh Cyrul at the Clevland nationals"

True R/C Racing

I think belt nor Shaft is better. It all comes down to driving style and Car setup. Since I like to drive smooth around my turns I like my belt cars. If I was a person who likes an aggresive car with lots of torque I would pick Shaft.
My .02

Cain

iTrader: (294)

each have there benefits and weakness, I think the most important thing to concern yourself with is the quality, durability, and easy of tuning for the car overall.

Soviet

iTrader: (2)

Ok...I'll chime in...

You folks are chewing ALOT of fat here. It's this simple:

Shaft-drive systems are more efficient than belts. In a free-rolling "look how long my wheels can spin" type sense.

However...that efficiency means really nothing once a pinion is put to a spur gear as the amount of drag a belt car puts on the motor is still minimal.

Shaft cars "may" have a tiny bit more "snap" in acceleration. However that is something that only the driver can decide.

Belt cars do seem to have better natural weight distribution though.

Either way...It might only come down to a few more seconds run-time after driving your car in a perfect circle for x-amount of minutes.

I have both a BMI eTC3 and a Corally Assasin. I like both cars equally.

The Black Kat

I oughta slap you.....No reason to say another motor company sucks cause you don't run them...I don't run Reedy but I don't flame em...

If we didn't spend so much on our cars then we could, but until then we buy big pants and grow into them. Think of a belt as an investment.

I run shaft drive, I trim out/adjust out the torque steer. I like how you can be more responsive on the throttle with a shaft...its also more efficient IMO

I don't like a one-way PERIOD....I'd rather just run a smooth line and set my car up properly. I can never run consistantly with a one-way...My setups don't seem to get along with them

James Nguyen

I have to agree, reedy stock motors suck. I dont think shaft cars are any quicker out of the corner than any of the new belt setups out there.

R/C Anonymous

iTrader: (1)

change your setup then? front sway bar? change droop in the rear? front shock oil? springs?lots of things to do...imo a one-way is the answer to faster laps times in rubber class if you can drive it

R/C Anonymous

iTrader: (1)

never ran a Reedy motor personally...in my experiences (had TC3, Barracuda and XXXS G+) i ran belt and shaft both and there isnt a better. Its all in the setup of the car and driver's abilities. Equipment comes into play once you learn how to drive good consistant lines and have the correct setup for current track conditions.