carbonfiber driveshafts

[tyroneveee6]

are they worth it? weight diff? do they free up any considerable power?

 

[trailinjake]

Any lighter rotating mass will free up some HP. Not sure if the cost is worth the hp gains though. Think they are quite pricey

 

[m233roller]

I took a Denny's aluminum one out of my car that weighed 12.4 lbs. loaded (with U joints and slip yoke) and installed a carbon fiber that weighed 7lbs. loaded.
Car went absolutely NO faster.

 

[trailinjake]

I took a Denny's aluminum one out of my car that weighed 12.4 lbs. loaded (with U joints and slip yoke) and installed a carbon fiber that weighed 7lbs. loaded.
Car went absolutely NO faster.

Good comparison! Do you have any idea what a stock DS weighs? I'd guess high teens or better??

 

[tyroneveee6]

I took a Denny's aluminum one out of my car that weighed 12.4 lbs. loaded (with U joints and slip yoke) and installed a carbon fiber that weighed 7lbs. loaded.
Car went absolutely NO faster.

So as modded as ur car is to feel a diff ud need 50 hp gain. I assume u mean at the track u did not mph any higher than before?

 

[lightningdan]

it depends on the company, i had a friend whos CF drive shaft shattered, he drove it on the street and we believe the rocks chipped it enough to weaken it and shattered it.

i just got into a debate the otherday (on another forum about this subject) and a forum member informed me its different now, ford has even put them in production on the 2013 gt500s

i just dont like the idea of CF street driven shafts, all i need is that to blow up at the end of the 1/4 mile and have that crap go under the rear tires...

i want a CF shaft, dont have the balls for it so i stay with my moly

 

[0-60n4]

The only performance gain is the weight reduction. The rotational mass reduction is minimal due to the small radius of the mass. So compare the cost to reducing the overall weight fo the car by 5-10 lbs. (or about the same as running with 1 less gallon of gas in the tank. probably not work the cost for weight reduction alone. other benefits: Looks really cool, you can brag about it to your friends who still have steel drive shafts, eliminates the requirment for a drive shaft loop if you are that fast because they splinter if something breaks, and it's not going to come through the floor if something breaks. I love carbon fiber and have been wanting one of my Typhoon for years but have never been able to justify it to myself.

 

[turbo nasty]

IMO the chance road debris owning a CF driveshaft in a street car enviroment just isnt worth it.

 

[Saywhen]

We use one in our Mustang.

At first we were buying the shaft for the weight savings and for safety. After getting the CF shaft and comparing weights to the aluminum shaft it was noticed that there was no weight savings. As for safety, the CF shaft is far safer than a steel or aluminum shaft. Many people including us have broke a CF shaft, instead of ripping through the steel floor they splinter in small pieces.

Now there are a couple of down falls to CF shafts, first is the cost. Some people have had bad luck getting the CF shafts to hold up in any horsepower combinations. In fact we twisted the aluminum yoke inside the CF shaft on the first outing with it. The next issue which is the biggest problem. The CF shaft is extremely fragile to any impact, not so sure about rocks but any banging into a solid object will cause a weak point. Because of this impact next time you use your driveshaft, it will splinter into pieces. As for safety of CF splinters getting underneath the tires at the big end, this hasn't been an issue with any of the cars. Typcially, they will let go at the first 100ft of the track.

As for performance gain there is none.

Jeff Jr.

 

[earlbrown]

I was thinking the performance benefit of carbon was that it would load a little and store energy. Absorbing some initial shock on launch and giving it back after the car was moving.
That's as far I did any research into it as I could care less about an extra .0000001 off the line.

 

[m233roller]

40,000 miles on it and still going strong. No problems !!