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Shaft Driven & Belt Driven RC Drift Cars

RC Drift Chassis

In general there are 2 types of Chassis Designs available in the market:

Touring Chassis that can be adjusted to Drift Chassis(i.e. Both Touring & Drift) for example TAMIYA TRF 416, TA05, TT01, HSP Flying Fish, hpi E10, HL 518 etc.

Drift Only Chassis which are not preferred for touring use for example TAMIYA TA05 VDF, Street Jam OTA R31, simply because of the weight distribution of the electronic/ electrical components(Positioning) to encourage easy over steering effect.

 To select  a car chassis for drifting, one of  the decisions have to make in the process is simple:
shaft or belt drive? What's the cost difference? Does one perform better? What are the pros and cons of each type?

Shaft Drive:

In principle a shaft-driven 4WD RC car chassis usually transmits power to both axles via a main drive shaft that runs along the center line of the chassis. The power movement is as follows: motor to pinion gear -> pinion to spur gear -> spur gear to center drive shaft ->center drive shaft meshes to the front and rear differentials via conical gear that is attached to the gear differential.

Belt Drive:

In principle a belt-driven 4WD RC car chassis usually transmits power to both axles via 1 -3 drive belts that run along the center line of the chassis. The power movement is as follows: motor to pinion gear -> pinion to spur gear -> spur gear to pulleys attached to it ->center pulley has 2 belts rotating around it -> each belt transmits power to the front and rear differentials via belt pulley that is part of the differential.

Pros and Cons about shaft-driven chassis for drifting:

The GOODs...

1. Less Maintenance:

Shaft cars have more enclosed gear components, which is better since most RC drifting is done on unprepared surfaces with pebbles and dust, etc. stuff that can ruinball bearings and diffs, etc. Thus with covered gears less cleaning is required.

2. User Friendly:

Shaft cars are more user friendly when come to regular cleaning/maintenance as we don't have to deal with belt tension, frayed belts, skipping teeth, and any otherpossible problems related to a belt-driven chassis. Parts/gears are mostly fix at the exact designated position so is good for beginner who have less experience in car fixing/regular maintenance.

3. More Direct feel?

Shaft car get power to the ground quicker as there is a solid transfer between motor to pinion to spur to gear to shaft, etc. whereas there's arguments regarding belts strectching at first trigger pull.  i.e. no slight elasticity compare to a belt driven car

The BADs...

1. Overdrive ratio modification(CS Mod)

The overdrive% can be achieved by altering the front or rear(or both) to get the rear overdrive effect  ,  to simulate rear wheel drive effect in rear car.(Which is commonly called CS Gear)

With shaft car a specific gear set is required from the original manufacturer or 3rd party hop up manufacturer which produce gear set that is specifically for thespecific car model. Which make overdrive modification either costly or almost impossible.

2. Torque Steer

Here's the bad part  about  shaft- driven chassis tourque steer . In principle shaft car are running better with motor turn not more than 27T(Brushed Motor)/12T(BrushlessMotor) as shaft-driven chassis transfer motor torque laterally.

When using a high-powered motor, this will twist the chassis because the motor's tourque if over-powering the suspension. The spur gear and main drive shaft then spin in the opposite direction (so motion, in turn, has just changed direction), and then motion changes direction once more 90-degrees to the front and rear diffs.

Momentum is lost with each change in direction. Since this directional changeis happening laterally (side to side) then it's chances that the motor is rocking the chassis side-to-side. This means that at a certain point in time, more torque/weight will favor one side of the chassis over the other.

This can easily cause torque steer because weight transfer affects how much traction each tire has. If you rock the car to the left, then the right side tires will lose traction, and vice versa.

To put it simply, on shaft cars the motor itself is sitting inline, thus whenever you pull the trigger, motor torque is transferred left-to-right, or vice versa. This effect is felt more with mod motors, is inherent to all shaft cars, and produces unwanted torque steer.

Pros and Cons about Belt-driven chassis for drifting:

The GOODs...

1. Smooth Running

Belt Cars run smoother and quieter, plus there's less drive train lost because there's less drivetrain weight overall(belt weight vs. shaft weight)

2. Better Weight Distribution for Drift

Some belt cars (i.e. TA-05) move the motor closer to the center of the car (more centerd between the front and rear axles) for better balance (especially when going sideways), whereas shaft cars almost always have the motor biased toward the rear.

3. Over Drive Modifications(CS Mod)

Belt driven car gear ratio can be modified easily just by changing pair of pulley gears be it front set , rear set or both front and rear to get the exact overdrive ratio required. Pulley are mostly common among different manufacturers thus make the modification easy and less costly.

4. Less Torque Steer

Belt cars transfer motor torque inline with the chassis movement. This does not give the chassis side by side 'torque steer' which is common with shaft cars since the direction of the movement is similar. e.g. motor spins in the same direction as the wheels and also pulleys.

For belt driven car the pinion gear rotates spur gear, motion changes from going backward to going forward. The layshaft pulley moves forward, rotating bothdrive belts (front and rear) forward as well. Motion is still the same once the belts reach both diffs.

The BADs...

1. More Maintenance

The problems with belt-driven chassis are belts that will stretch over time (requiring belt tension adjustment or belt replacement. Also,since the pulleys aren't usually enclosed (like the differentials on a shaft-driven chassis are), pulleys are prone to sucking up rocks or pebbles in between the pulley teeth.

2. Less User Friendly for Newbies

Due to the chassis design, one have to deal with belt tension, frayed belts,skipping teeth, and any other possible problems related to a belt-driven chassis thus make it harder for beginner to service or do regular maintenance.

Verdict...

Both platforms are capable for drifting. As stated above,each style has their own advantages and disadvantages so is very much dependent on an individual what type of cars is more suitable for him after considering various aspects of each car type.