Yes Mark, I have both a nitro buggy and truggy, belt and shaft snorer, belt and shaft buggy and a buggy.
Right, OK, it has the 'same' layout as an IC onroad car, but firstly, the belts tend to be thicker, wider and a more course belt profile. Also, the engine is roatating and producing power before the clutch engages to, to help things move alone.
OK, now lets get onto specifics that I see are 'inneficient' on the TM which all other manufacturers are moving away from.
Three belts means an extra two pulleys.
Small diameter pulleys, which means the belts have to run at a higher tension to stop belt skip, the front and rear belts both go around small pulleys, and so does the main belt.
When you compare to the likes of Tamiya/HB/AE/Schumacher I can't see this being taken up in the masses by the limited power classes.
'Vulnerability'
The belt is on the side with no protection, on small pulleys with small pulley fences, no belt guide, so a knock in the right place will dislodge the belt.
Also, that sanse of belt, with a thin 3mm pitch (or similar) will give lots of belt flap also, hence another reason for the greater tension to remove that issue.
I can appreciate the cars design, but they could of greatly improved efficiency by using bigger diameter idler pulleys on the centre belt system which would of, as I see it, improved efficiency by allowing belt tension to be reduced and still not skipped.
Is that a good enough explanation for you Mark, or do you need more.
The rest of the car in essence is just a bog stock tourer.
|