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Belt or Shaft? ?

Belt or Shaft? ?

Old 08-28-2003, 02:10 PM
  #16  
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It will all come down to personal preference. I've personally owned 4 shaft driven cars (FT TC3, TB EV0 2, Tenth technology
NTC3) and really liked them, but could not get used to the "snappy" responsiveness of them. I always seem to go back to belt cars (Mission, 414, TA04, MR4, HPI) I like the plush feel of the belt transmission, but again its personal preference.
I'd give the total efficiency nod to shaft though, just because in real world testing a shaft starts out so much more efficient. A belt system starts out a little resistant, but as rpm's build it actually becomes more efficient as the belts tend to lift off the pully due to inertia, minimal contact is made between the belt and pully. Also dont rely on too much of what you read on this shaft/belt debate! I reciently read some rubbish from a R/C mag (nameless) who said exactly the opposite, belts loose efficiency as RPM's build. I have 2 heli's with belt drive tails who's 30,000-40,000 rpm counter the articles report .
As for weight bias, saddle packs will always be the most effective way to balance a car. That doesnt mean you cant balance a car with a battery down the side, you just have to closely weight your electronics, and then the battery, and add or subtract weight from that side that needs attention.
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Old 08-28-2003, 02:11 PM
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Originally posted by rtypec
I've got a belt that holds my pants up so that I don't expose my shaft

Seriously, it's good to have both...one of these days I may dust off my 414 to see if I can get it as good as my Evo3

LMAO

go with the shaft
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Old 08-29-2003, 05:36 PM
  #18  
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Hi Folks,
this is just my opinion on the Shaft versus Belt debate that has appeared so many times in this forum......

I honestly don't think that you can make a fair comparison on which is really better unless you have two cars of Identical weight, Identical suspension geommetry, Roll centres, weight distribution, tyres, etc etc with the only difference being one has shaft drive the other belt...

I mean there is little point comparing Shaft Drive Car "A" to Belt Drive Car "B" when out of the box Shaft Drive Car "A" is 100g lighter than Belt Drive Car "B" or vice versa. Or perhaps the suspension geommetry on Belt Drive Car "B" is superior to that of shaft drive car "A" so it gets around the track better.

Just my view

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Old 08-29-2003, 06:34 PM
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just get a corally assassin have the best of both worlds direct drive and belt drive train
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Old 08-29-2003, 07:40 PM
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HeY! i use to race oval w/ a freind and then he started to race on-road and told me to and i got a racer kit from Ae and i did real well and when i raced oval it was like w/ 10 guys tops and then going to on-road w/ like 25 guys in sportsman i just took of and i won it first season so i went to stock and then it took me a lil bit then i decided to hop up my car to all graphite and that and i started to do really well. Now i own to AE TC3's and one is for foam and one is for rubber and on my rubber car i got some customized alum. arms from my freinds dad and they are awesome and i'm constantly taking 1-3 in stock rubber but then stock foam barely making the A-main because more people run that but yeah i tryed a losi from a freind for a few weeks and i just didn't like it but i also tryed x-ray and it was real finiky and one slight wrong adjustment it was wack so yeah. I started w/ a TC3 and i still am 1 1/2 yrs. later and i don't plan on changing cars in the near future either. or i might try out yok.
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Old 08-29-2003, 07:49 PM
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JoshR 85 - Don't like full stops?
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Old 08-29-2003, 07:55 PM
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the belt gets the shaft.
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Old 08-31-2003, 09:32 AM
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I own 2 FT TC3's, And an Xray Evo2. I love both cars. They are equally as fast. I like my tc3 for foam because of the super rigid tub graphite chassis. My xray is an excellent rubber tire car. I have both belt and shaft cars, and i really cant say which i like more.
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Old 09-01-2003, 11:21 PM
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I have both a TC3 and a XXXS. Te shaft has muc more punch and acceleration but seems a little less topend speed. The XXXS has a far smoother throttle resposne but is not as punchy. Both are good cars but the Losi seems more responsive and predictable.
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Old 09-02-2003, 10:25 PM
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CGR, I've heard that before about the shaft not having the top end speed but I cannot figure out why. I can see where the belt driven car is more effecient as the drivetrain accelerates due to the belts expanding from centrifical force or whatever you want to call it but is the shaft badly affected by this with its gears? Man, this is worse than multi-dimensional space or I could just be imagining things.
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Old 09-02-2003, 10:40 PM
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If a shaft drive has less top end, that would not make it more efficient than the belt drive.
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Old 09-02-2003, 10:47 PM
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I like the roll effect that I get with belts(I run a mid oneway completely loose), I've never run a shaft car but I don't think you'd get as much free roll. Do you get as much roll effect with shaft cars as you do with belt cars? Also I know it's possible to have a mid-oneway in a shaft car, so has anybody actually driven one and if so, how does it compare to a belt car with a mid-oneway?

Last edited by fatdoggy; 09-02-2003 at 11:07 PM.
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Old 09-02-2003, 10:55 PM
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Good question fatdoggy, I haven't yet run a mid-oneway on a shaft driven car but that sounds like a reasonable comparison. I beleive there's someone on either the warpspeed thread or the tc3 thread that has run the mid-oneway with a shaft driven car, hopefully they see your question as I'm eager to know also.
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Old 09-03-2003, 12:20 AM
  #29  
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Have you thought that, as a shaft is always in contact(no belt stretch) with the wheels that it strains the not as powerful motors battery's. Like with a belt you have a little bit of stretch in the belt allowing the motor to spool up for a split second before it starts to put power to the wheels?

Me, i run an Assassin which is belt/shaft lol
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Old 09-03-2003, 04:19 AM
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I run the center shaft oneway on my tc3. It does allow the car to roll thru the corners much quicker and gives you a tad more offpower steering. I run a center one way loose on my xray as well.
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