Originally Posted by
TAorama
Guys, I realize this is a stupid noob question, but that never stopped me before.
Can you explain to me WHY you would run specific front axles for different tracks? I searched and found a lot of setups listing WHAT people ran, but not necessarily WHY. I assume in most cases people run a diff in the back, but if you have a reason for running something else, please let me know!
For example, apparently spool is the way to go in front for an asphalt/rubber track, which is what I plan to run primarily. How is having basically a solid axle an advantage over a diff? Is it for better braking? I would think it would cause oversteer when accelerating and exiting curves. I get the more power to the tires part, but don't you get slippage for one tire because it's a SOLID axle??
Why run a one-way? That would give the power of a spool, but no braking up front, right?
Just trying to get my mind around it. Please be gentle... (and speak slowly and use small words!!)
The type of front axle is mainly still down to personal preference, I know a lot of fast guys who still run diffs on asphalt. As for the differences, I look at it like this;
A front diff will make the car drive 'neutral', i.e. it will brake, turn in and exit the corner as you would expect, it is preferred on high grip surfaces, mainly foams on carpet because a spool will wreck your drivetrain pretty fast and you benefit less from the turning of the spool.
A spool is generally considered to be faster on asphalt and perhaps rubber on carpet however you have to chage your driving style quite a bit to get the most out of it. Since the front axle is locked with a spool, the car doesn't want to turn into a corner, or turn off-power. However on-power the car basically goes where you point it, and turns much more than with a diff.
You have to then brake normally, the car will understeer a bit and as soon as you are done braking, get back onto the throttle mid-corner, not full throttle, maybe half and the car will react by turning more. On corner exit you you can get on the power much earlier as the front drags the car round and out.
In my experience this gets you round the corner quicker. In addition you should have stronger braking with a spool though if your diffs are tight enough you probably wouldn't notice the difference.
A one-way is another beast altogether, it has better turn-in than a diff and the mid corner and corner exit benefits of a spool however you can't brake hard at all, since the front wheel dont brake. If you do brake too hard the car will just spin. In my experience, very hard to drive if there are any reasonably hard braking points at all.
The super turn in and lack of braking makes this very different to drive again, but drivers can make them work.
So all in all, a spool is faster for most tracks, but it is ultimately down to driver style and preference.
Regards
Neal