iron chef

With all of the options out there, whats the difference really? To complicate matters, some cars let you run any front diff option plus one way or direct drive center shaft as well. Is any combination better suited for stock or mod? Shaft or belt? Asphalt or carpet?

Cole Trickle

It's about driving style and grip.

With a one-way, the car got a lot of grip in the front, when off throttle. But you can only brake with the rear wheels. So with a one-way, you can go faster and tigther through corners. The difference between a center one-way and a one-way diff, is that with the one-way diff, you can apply throttle earlier, when going out of corners. Also called more on power steering.

It seems to me that either people hate them or love them. It's not unsual to gain a lap or two, while the proper driving style is learned. One-ways are best suited for high grip tracks.

Here are some more details: http://www.rccaraction.com/articles/oneways.asp

alcyon

iTrader: (8)

you know, with so many set up books out there, none of them mention what kind of seting should we use for one way spool or ball diff.
i mean if i were using a spool the suspension should be set up
front soft, rear hard?
if front one way, back soft front hard?
if ball diff front and rear same?
anyone knows the general idea?

Micro-E

iTrader: (4)

I look forward to reading what other more experienced racers have to say about this.

My experience -

Setupwise, I could not get a spool to 'feel' good enough over a diff in my first attempt at using. Then I found a tip about 'reverse tuning' from a guy John Stranahan(?) - seems to really know his stuff. With a spool, i had horrific push and I tried to go softer in the front to get more grip. Turned out going stiffer actually was the ticket. So I went up two spring rates up front, no change to the rear from my diff setup. That was one car.....a Losi XXX. (I run a one way right now in that car)

My second car (Cyclone S), I just swapped the spool in and made no setup changes - worked great.

I guess not only do you have to adjust for driving style, but each car will react differently as well.

Foxxrocket

I run only spools, and they have a lot of pull. You want to straighten out the car before punching the trigger.

JR007

It depends a lot on the track you are running on as much as car set-up. When I first started I was diff front, then one-way, now spool. We run on a large outdoor track with some fast corners, but also a few tight hair-pins. With a one-way it's very difficult to brake, so the hair-pins were an issue. The diff was fine as it rolls through the corners better than a spool, but with the spool, you can really drag the car out of a corner without diffing-out.
That's the biggest difference for me. A spool creates under-steer, but when you accomodate for that with set-up, you can throw the car around a lot harder, and you don't have to worry about the diff tightness changing.
Like the original post says, there isn't a lot of set-up info on adjustments to make with edifferent front diffs, but that's why you talk to the fast guys at your track, that's what I do

Foxxrocket

If you run a front one-way, you want a lot of drag brake set into your ESC. That should help the car slow down into a tight turn.

alcyon

iTrader: (8)

so far this is the only answer i got regarding suspension stiffness for the front and the rear when using, ball diff, one way or spool. Anyone else?

Dragonfire

iTrader: (1)

As the post also says it will depend on your chassis, and where it is strong or weak, and how that works with your particular track conditions. Basically you need to go out and try it yourself and see if it works FOR YOU.

JR007

There are far too many variables to be able to isolate any individual or group of settings that will chage the handling of a car with diff vs spool vs one-way.
If you look at things like track variables, you have surface type, size of track, technical or open, grip levels, track temp, air temp, humidity, all palying a part in handling.
Car variables include, settings of tire type, camber, caster, roll centre, ride height, spring stiffness, shock oil weight, wheel base, toe, all of which are inter-linked and change handling.
The long and short of it is, aside from giving general characteristics of the effects of each diff type, it is near impossible to say what would need to be adjusted in a hypothetical situation.