Originally Posted by
fyrstormer
I'm running a 4000KV 2-pole motor in that car. It's geared for a top speed of 40mph. Traction is always at a premium on the unswept pavement I drive on, but I'm slowly learning which tires work best for me, so traction is slowly improving.
Generally I go with metal gears whenever possible, but since Tamiya is apparently much better at making things out of plastic than a lot of RC companies are, I find myself tempted to see whether the plastic gears can handle the load. But since this is a custom conversion, getting into the gearboxes to perform repairs is more of a pain in the ass than usual.
I know, I'm overanalyzing things. That's part of the hobby for me, apparently. There is absolutely no reason I shouldn't go with metal gears except to see if the plastic gears can handle the load, and also to see if having 6g less weight in the rear actually makes a damn bit of difference.
Why do you say the ball diff would be better for traction? I thought their main advantages were light weight and external adjustability for the limited-slip feature. Do they do something else to improve traction that I don't know about?
That's just been my observation between a good ball diff & gear diff. I've noticed it in both my touring cars, & in my offroad buggies. With a ball diff, my cars tend to be more forgiving to drive(& of course, they offer the ability to adjust how tight they are very quickly, to get it right for the situation), while the gear diffs make my cars feel more aggressive(definitely seems best in high-grip conditions). To me they seem to accelerate harder than with a ball diff(ball diffs might still have a wee bit of natural "slip" to them, might explain the difference in feel), & of course, when set up right, the gear diff will be fine for far longer than a ball diff can....
