There are two ways to transfer the power from your electric or nitro remote control cars motor to the wheels, while like most things RC this is down to personal preference. While I have experienced slight differences between the two, for the most part it doesn't really make all that much difference at the end of the day.

My personal preference is with belt drive systems, I find that they are a lot easier to work on than the typical shaft drive setup, and tend to be more forgiving should you set a gear ratio that too high of low. In this article I'll discuss the pro`s and con`s of both and explore which one is best for which situation.

Shaft Drive

Shaft drive is when the motor is connected to the differentials via a solid shaft, much the same as real cars, the basic kits include a plastic shaft, but it's possible to get aluminium or even carbon fiber shafts for most radio controlled cars. What this means for the casual reader is that there is nowhere else for the power to go but into the differentials, it also means that when the motor produces power it is sent directly to where it needs to be, as a result the throttle response should be quicker, I personally have never noticed this as the increase is tiny.

Depending on the type of shaft you use you will get a little flex in the shaft before it delivers power, this is negligible but every little helps in this game.

PROS

• Direct torque means no power is lost
• The throttle response will be faster
• Shaft drive creates less drag
• Carbon fiber and anodized aluminium are much cooler than any hopup belt
• Real cars use drive shafts
• A shaft drive helps lower the center of gravity slightly as the weight is right on the base of the chassis
• Generally shafts are more efficient that belts
• There must be a reason why 1:1 scale cars don't run on belts, maybe a power to weight ratio thing.
• Shaft drive is much better in less than perfect track conditions, they can be used in very dirty conditions without any serious problems. Small stones and other RC hazards don't get caught up like they do with belts

CONS

• The shaft is heavy, in RC every gram counts, dropping 1g from your setup is the real world equivalent of dropping 1kg from a real car, which is a lot in racing terms
• A lot less forgiving of bad gear ratio`s
• A shaft can get damaged on impact, a bent shaft is useless
• You often have to completely strip the RC car to do simple things like swap out a motor or tighten a diff, although this vary's from make to make it does seem to me the case

Belt Drive

This is where I have most of my experience, I didn't choose a belt driven rc car over a shaft driven car, it jut so happened that the one I liked the best was belt driven. The thing I like about them the best is how easy it is to maintain and modify a belt driven remote control car, now obviously this depends on what model you get, some of them can be a nightmare to work on, especially the belt drive systems that use different length belts, but for the most part you don't have to strip the car down to the chassis just to do some routine maintenance.

PROS

• One good thing in my opinion is that there is a little slack in the belt, it's not tight like a fan belt for example. What this mean for the driver is that when the belt suddenly stops accelerating and starts breaking there is a tiny delay while the belt absorbs some of the force, the same apply's when the car accelerates again. With a shaft driven car this a lot more direct and the force has to go somewhere, I find it's easier to lock up your wheels under braking with shaft driven cars.
• You can customize the amount of slack on the belts, although there is definitely an optimal amount, there is no real benefit to doing this, I just like adjusting things.
• Belt drive is much quieter, which always seems to make the car feel like it's running smoother
• You can design a belt chassis with the motor anywhere, this allows for optimal weight distribution, there are quiet a few MR type belt driven RC cars. (MR = Mid-Engine Rear-Wheel Drive, like the Mazda MR2, guess it should be M4 as 99% of touring RC cars are 4x4)
• On most models maintenance is a breeze with only a few screws to sperate you from any part that needs some love
• Belt driven rc cars tend to take less damage when they crash, as a lot of the impact gets distributed into the chassis and not you differentials

CONS

• Belt drive will be slower off the line, as the belt will absorb a bit of the power before it transfers this to the differential
• Belts stretch, most of them have a few strands of carbon fiber that stop this, but eventually they will need to be replaced, ( About 1 - 2 years in my experience, but they were slipping a lot near the end)
• A tiny stone can get caught in the belt drive system and bring your car to a halt, the way these systems work mean it'll get pull all the way into your differential, if this happens during a race it's game over
• Belts can slip slightly, causing a small loss of acceleration from a standing start
• Less efficient as force gets shed if the belts stop or change direction, this is also know as belt drag
• If the chassis flexes the belts can loosen and slip, although the chassis has to flex quiet a bit for this to happen

As with so many radio controlled hopups and options there isn't really a clear winner, it boils down to personal preference and driving style. There is no scenario where a belt driven rc car will out perform a shaft driven one, and vista versa

You need to decide how you are going to be using your RC toys before you commit to one or the other, if there are going to be a lot of little stones on the surface then shaft is the hands down winner, but if your experimenting with powerful motors and different gear ratios then belt will be a lot more forgiving. While you learn the ropes

I once ran a 10T double motor in completely the wrong ratio and managed to get a full five laps in before I felt there was a problem, on a shaft driven rc car this wouldn't have left the line without feeling completely wrong. This means that you can be off on your ratio slightly on a belt car and not feel the effect as much as someone who is using a shaft

I'm a firm believer that all rc racing and drifting is down to the drivers skill more than the setup, what's even more important is the synergy between you and your car and how comfortable you feel when out on the track.

Pleasant radio controlling

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