For teams that run belt drives

[J. Cheng]

As I mentioned earlier, I used a belt for final drive since 1995. The drive and driven sprockets (in aluminium) are available from any Formula 440 dealers. The belts are available in a whole range of sizes. The only thing about using a belt is that if it breaks, you need to remove the diff to put the new one on. As far as efficiency goes, I noticed the 2002 UTA car has no grease seal for the front hub bearing. I was told by a team member that this would eliminate the friction between the seal lip and the spindle. I guess the top teams are worrying about efficiency.

Joe

[cdorneman]

Joe,
I was not trying to imply that efficiency is a non-factor in FSAE...I'm just adding that factor into the equation containing packaging, maintenance, weight...it becomes a lot less important to me to gain a reported 3% less friction when I can't change my belt between autocross runs. Or to have less friction in my wheel bearings when they could get junked because we go off-track in testing and get sand in them...
I'm an engineer, so I'm a pessimist [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]
--Casey

"I get to go to lots of overseas places, like Canada." - Britney Spears

[Angry Joe]

Nigel, what kind of engine are you running? I'm curious because adapting a CVT to a typical bike engine/transmission package is no simple task...

Lehigh Formula SAE

www.lehigh.edu/~insae/formula