Car tuning tips:Carbon fibre driveshafts"
The driveshaft takes the power from the engine and takes this to the rear diff where it is transferred to the wheels. The driveshaft rotates at a fair rate and will to some extent act like a flywheel, resisting change in the rotational speed.
A carbon fibre driveshaft has the following benefits.
- It is much lighter than its metal counterpart. So the engine revs more freely. A lighter car will also be quicker and have better handling.
- It flexes along its rotational length absorbing both spikes in power from the engine and traction losses from the diff.
- It breaks into a harmless broom of fibres so is unlikely to cause injury to the occupants in the event of catastrophic component failure.
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There are a lot of benefits with a carbon fibre driveshaft but what about the drawbacks? well the price, especially if you require a custom build can be 100 times the price of a standard driveshaft.
The benefits it gives, especially on highly tuned engines makes this worthwhile. A car with a carbon fibre driveshaft will have a smoother power delivery and quicker acceleration/deceleration response.
Front wheel drive cars do not have a long enough driveshaft to make a carbon fibre replacement a viable option.
In Rear wheel drive and 4 wheel drive applications the benefits are well documented.
In a rally environment where there are additional vertical shock forces a carbon fibre driveshafts flexibility will offer enhanced reliability.
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