What is 50/50 drifting?
50/50 is the conventional way of drifting. 50-50 is distributing power evenly between the front and rear wheels. Any electric AWD RC touring car with drift wheels can drift 50/50.
What is Counter-Steer drifting?
Refers to over driving the rear wheels so the car is fighting to stay straight no matter if the front wheels are turned or not. It tends to look more realistic as it's comparable to having more power at the rear wheels than the front.
Which chassis is best for Drifting? Shaft or Belt driven?
There are 2 main ways to transfer power from your electric RC cars motor to the wheels, Belt driven and shaft driven. Which is better is a personal choice, but I will attempt to give you a few pros and cons between the 2 types.
SHAFT DRIVEN:
"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."
Pros: Direct Torque means no power loss.
Throttle response is faster
Less drag
Shaft driven helps lower center of gravity slighty.
Cons: Shaft is slighty heavier. - (not a big factor in drifting)
Minimal Counter steer setting options.
Complete breakdown to make minor drivtrain repairs.
BELT DRIVEN:
"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: Belt is quieter.
Drivetrain mainentance is easier.
More available options while setting up Counter Steer.
Cons: Belts stretch in time.
Slight lag in acceleration.
Which Differential is better? Ball, or One-way?
I explained in the Glossary what a ball diff. and One-Way differential are. Here I will explain pros and cons of both.
One-Way:
Pros: Advantage for extremely complex technical tracks.
Driver correction is made easier with a One-Way.
Front tires have maximun grip during corners and turns making for faster corner acceleration plus consistent steering
Cons: Disables any braking action in the front end of the car
Ball Diff.:
Pros: Smoother handling, better braking, and more control in turns
More Durable.
Ball diff delivers true variability to both front wheels.
Cons: Tends to slip.
Suffers from understeer.
What is a Brushless system?
"A brushless motor controller or brushless ESC (Electronic Speed Control) is used to vary the speed of a brushless motor. These function as an interface between the motor and the battery. Controlled by the throttle signal from an RC receiver, the brushless ESC provides variable power to the motor allowing proportional speed adjustments. Unlike a brushed motor, power cannot be directly applied to a brushless motor. Instead, the speed control intelligently powers each phase of a brushless motor in sequence, causing it to rotate. Brushless speed controls have three motor wires, allowing them to connect to standard three phase brushless motors"
What is Camber?
Camber angle is the angle between the vertical axis of the wheel and the vertical axis of the vehicle when viewed from the front or rear. There are three possible camber types, positive, neutral, and negative camber.
50/50 is the conventional way of drifting. 50-50 is distributing power evenly between the front and rear wheels. Any electric AWD RC touring car with drift wheels can drift 50/50.
What is Counter-Steer drifting?
Refers to over driving the rear wheels so the car is fighting to stay straight no matter if the front wheels are turned or not. It tends to look more realistic as it's comparable to having more power at the rear wheels than the front.
Which chassis is best for Drifting? Shaft or Belt driven?
There are 2 main ways to transfer power from your electric RC cars motor to the wheels, Belt driven and shaft driven. Which is better is a personal choice, but I will attempt to give you a few pros and cons between the 2 types.
SHAFT DRIVEN:
"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."
Pros: Direct Torque means no power loss.
Throttle response is faster
Less drag
Shaft driven helps lower center of gravity slighty.
Cons: Shaft is slighty heavier. - (not a big factor in drifting)
Minimal Counter steer setting options.
Complete breakdown to make minor drivtrain repairs.
BELT DRIVEN:
"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: Belt is quieter.
Drivetrain mainentance is easier.
More available options while setting up Counter Steer.
Cons: Belts stretch in time.
Slight lag in acceleration.
Which Differential is better? Ball, or One-way?
I explained in the Glossary what a ball diff. and One-Way differential are. Here I will explain pros and cons of both.
One-Way:
Pros: Advantage for extremely complex technical tracks.
Driver correction is made easier with a One-Way.
Front tires have maximun grip during corners and turns making for faster corner acceleration plus consistent steering
Cons: Disables any braking action in the front end of the car
Ball Diff.:
Pros: Smoother handling, better braking, and more control in turns
More Durable.
Ball diff delivers true variability to both front wheels.
Cons: Tends to slip.
Suffers from understeer.
What is a Brushless system?
"A brushless motor controller or brushless ESC (Electronic Speed Control) is used to vary the speed of a brushless motor. These function as an interface between the motor and the battery. Controlled by the throttle signal from an RC receiver, the brushless ESC provides variable power to the motor allowing proportional speed adjustments. Unlike a brushed motor, power cannot be directly applied to a brushless motor. Instead, the speed control intelligently powers each phase of a brushless motor in sequence, causing it to rotate. Brushless speed controls have three motor wires, allowing them to connect to standard three phase brushless motors"
What is Camber?
Camber angle is the angle between the vertical axis of the wheel and the vertical axis of the vehicle when viewed from the front or rear. There are three possible camber types, positive, neutral, and negative camber.
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If the top of the wheel leans into the center of the car you have negative camber. If the wheel is vertical you have neutral or no camber and if the wheel leans out you have positive camber.
If you were to drive your RC car round a fast right-hand corner, the body rolls to the left. This reaction also happens to the wheel, if there is no camber on the wheels the top of the left wheels will lean out and you will end up running on the outside tire. To counteract this you would need to put negative camber on the wheels. This allows the wheel to tip over in corners but still maintains full surface contact on the track giving maximum grip on corners. Camber is adjusted by lengthening or shortening the top wishbone.
What size offset wheel for the “hellaflush” look?
Yokomo, Tamiya and ABC shells are 190mm in length. HPI are usually 200mm with the exception to the Trueno and Levin shell, which are also available in a 190mm size. There are other companies that offer shells slighty smaller than 200mm shells. (Topline, Drift Stage D-Like, Pandora RC and RC-ART) to name a few.
Most Yokomo and Tamiya shells can us up to a 6mm offset. Some camber adjustments may be needed. HPI shells can use a 6mm offset up to a 12mm offset. Shells that have a wider body (ie: HPI Subaru Impreza) can use up to a 12mm offset for the rear with camber adjustment).
If you have any doubts, dont be afraid to ask. There is no combination (shell/wheel offset) that hasnt been done yet. Someone will have the answer.
Have to thank DRCcentral, ThinkRC, RCTech, RC gawkers and RC Legends for helping assist with some of the answers.
If you were to drive your RC car round a fast right-hand corner, the body rolls to the left. This reaction also happens to the wheel, if there is no camber on the wheels the top of the left wheels will lean out and you will end up running on the outside tire. To counteract this you would need to put negative camber on the wheels. This allows the wheel to tip over in corners but still maintains full surface contact on the track giving maximum grip on corners. Camber is adjusted by lengthening or shortening the top wishbone.
What size offset wheel for the “hellaflush” look?
Yokomo, Tamiya and ABC shells are 190mm in length. HPI are usually 200mm with the exception to the Trueno and Levin shell, which are also available in a 190mm size. There are other companies that offer shells slighty smaller than 200mm shells. (Topline, Drift Stage D-Like, Pandora RC and RC-ART) to name a few.
Most Yokomo and Tamiya shells can us up to a 6mm offset. Some camber adjustments may be needed. HPI shells can use a 6mm offset up to a 12mm offset. Shells that have a wider body (ie: HPI Subaru Impreza) can use up to a 12mm offset for the rear with camber adjustment).
If you have any doubts, dont be afraid to ask. There is no combination (shell/wheel offset) that hasnt been done yet. Someone will have the answer.
Have to thank DRCcentral, ThinkRC, RCTech, RC gawkers and RC Legends for helping assist with some of the answers.
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