Does anyone have a Carbon prop on their cars?

Does anyone have a Carbon prop on their cars?

Author
Discussion

Cactus

Original Poster:

12 posts

214 months

Friday 28th July 2006
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Im trying to find out the benefits of getting a carbon prop, Ive been in touch with a company in Banbury called CTG does anyone have experience with them?

egomeister

6,703 posts

264 months

Friday 28th July 2006
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I've no direct experience, but I know they supply a lot of race teams - I believe the Prodrive Ferrari 550's and Astons run them.

Cactus

Original Poster:

12 posts

214 months

Friday 28th July 2006
quotequote all
Yes i heard that they have been used on the tracks and that makes a difference, but i wonder if it makes a difference in a road/track day car?

mat205125

17,790 posts

214 months

Friday 28th July 2006
quotequote all
The idea behind a Carbon prop is exactly the same as having a lightened flywheel, i.e. to reduce the mass that the engine needs to accelerate that would otherwise arrive at the wheels.

Won't make a difference to the top speed of a car, however acceleration could be improved. This improvement for a road car would likely be immeasurably small however, and questions would need to be asked of the likely operational life in normal service.

Unless you are competing at the pinicle of a category where every 100th of a second counts, I wouldn't invest my money in this area where gains can be made with better results in other areas of improvements ..... bet it would look nice though, but I've never met an MOT tester yet who would come close to being in the catergory "wanna impress them"

Cactus

Original Poster:

12 posts

214 months

Friday 28th July 2006
quotequote all
That is a fair point, and the weight advantage is vast so it must make a difference when accelerating and braking?

egomeister

6,703 posts

264 months

Friday 28th July 2006
quotequote all
Indeed, if the car is for road/track use your money would probably be better spent on driver training and ensuring your basic car setup is spot on.

Cactus

Original Poster:

12 posts

214 months

Friday 28th July 2006
quotequote all
Ive just had a look at a website that was very helpful, check it out at www.torqline.com

I dont think they are that expensive and comes with a whole range of benefits.

that daddy

18,962 posts

222 months

Saturday 29th July 2006
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beleive it or not the early renault espace 4WD version had a carbon or polycarbonate propshaft to drive rear wheels,i was a bit suprised as well,a bit teki for a car that was a trublesome piece of s*it.

skinnyboy

4,635 posts

259 months

Saturday 29th July 2006
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350zeds have them stock, and i think the aussie Ford FPV's have them (my boss has one and has had a few problems with it)

agent006

12,040 posts

265 months

Saturday 29th July 2006
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Also consider that it would affect your centre of gravity, and not in the direction you'd want either.

Cactus

Original Poster:

12 posts

214 months

Friday 4th August 2006
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Those standard composite props are not as good as the after market versions. I spoke to sumo power about their pink 350Z and they have broken a couple!!!! Think they are looking at getting a higher performance aftermarket composite prop made, that company CTG are actually looking at making their own version. If its anyway near the top notch quality of their evo,impreza, skyline and S2000 shafts it should be amazing!

egomeister

6,703 posts

264 months

Friday 4th August 2006
quotequote all
What kind of spec are you building the car to? Got any pics?

You must be going for serious power if you have risk of snapping the stock prop!

Cactus

Original Poster:

12 posts

214 months

Friday 4th August 2006
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Havn’t bought anything yet, I was just looking at the options available to me before I commit to buying things. If it all goes ahead should be a pretty powerful monster!



Cactus

Original Poster:

12 posts

214 months

Tuesday 19th September 2006
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Hey i found some interesting information on carbon props here, worth a look www.blatchat.com/t.asp?Id=115417

jwb

332 posts

239 months

Tuesday 19th September 2006
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I have built a few carbon props for race cars, plus balanced WRC shafts. The main problem with carbon shafts is they are not resistant to impact damage, so the WRC shafts were tarmac use only. Apart from that they are reliable and light. One of my shafts was on a European Championship Winning car, cant say any more.

If you have a long one piece prop then you can get some static and rotational weight saving. I do know that CTG are good and I would trust their shafts.

JB

BadgerBenji

3,524 posts

219 months

Tuesday 19th September 2006
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The other thing you can do, is what the Focus WRC car did, spin the prop faster, therefore you can make it thinner, and hence it is lighter. The other trick they employed was that of making it out of tube, and increasing the diameter whilst making the wall thinner, again less weight for the same strength.

Cactus

Original Poster:

12 posts

214 months

Tuesday 19th September 2006
quotequote all
I know CTG did a carbon prop with a titanium sleave for better impact protection until WRC banned them, however they can still be used in many other rally applications