Drive train noise (sound) differences…

[Sogogi]

Last few days, I have been running GF-01 and realized its gearbox noise is significantly lower than other cars I have. I put lots of grease for all gear boxes, all of them have full bearings. (Other cars include hornet, cc-01, dt-03, tt-02, thunder dragon etc)

 

Maybe because there are no 90 angle gears? (Just trying to think differences).. but hornet (or many 2wd cars) also do that.

 

 

[TurnipJF]

There are many variables that can affect gearbox noise, including but not limited to the number of gears, the pitch of the gears, the angle at which they are cut/moulded, the tolerances to which they are moulded, the tightness of mesh, the acoustic properties of the gearbox moulding and how well it works as a resonating chamber, the amount of power you are putting through the gear train, etc. With the above-average number of gears in a GF-01, one would expect it to be on the noisy side, but I guess enough of the other variables are acting in its favor to counteract this?

[Nikko85]

I have also found the GF01 pretty quiet. One thing  in its favour is the fixed gear mesh, which means it's almost guaranteed to have a good mesh, which is a large component of how noisy as car is.

Perhaps the tolerances are really good for the car too?

I really enjoy quiet cars, and find a car that screams quite hard to enjoy. I have also found my MF01x don't make too much noise when the gear mesh is perfect, although I must say my Pumpkin is also not too noisy either.

The only cars I've got that are noisy are my QDs with sensorless brushless motors - especially in reverse. I've got a brushed QD that's much nicer to drive, although half the speed as it's just quieter and smoother.

 

 

 

 

 

[OoALEJOoO]

I also dislike noisy cars!

I think a large contributor to why the GF-01 and G6-01 are so quiet might boil down to:

1. They have a relatively high FDR and therefore the gears actually turn a lot slower than in other cars
2. Most of their gears are wide and thus have a large contact area

Doing a quick recollection, the two above points seems to be a trend among all my Tamiya cars. The taller (smaller) the FDR and the thinner the gears, the noisier they tend to be. Cars with slim gears and short FDR are the worst, TT-01E I am looking at you!

By a long shot the car with the nicest sound so far is the CR-01. That planetary gear is almost like mechanical music...

[Nikko85]

Although with all of my Quick Drives and Nikkos with two gear options it's always the low gear that sounds much louder.

Edit: Just had a play and my GF01 is pretty quiet, but the MF01x seems to be winning. Really really quiet with a silver can.

[one_hit]

The XV-01 with normal on-road tires is also quiet, just a nice whoosh sound when going flat out. With front and rear gearboxes in the XV-01, I’m surprised it’s quieter than my other belt driven cars with the diffs directly driven by the belts

[Willy iine]

GF01's rock.   They are such all rounder fun cars and they are relatively quiet for the many gears it has inside, as @Sogogi mentioned. 

My Kyosho a FazerMk2 chassis are significantly louder, but they drive so nicely I don't mind the extra noise.  I am a guy that plays with nitro RC and real cars with aftermarket intake/exhaust systems so my threshold for car noise might be higher..(?).  I mean I know what a gearbox should sound like so gear mesh too tight noises I can usually figure out it's not supposed to be like that.  

[Pablo68]

I think that noisier gearboxes tend to have coarser (or larger) pitches on the gears inside them. Like my Hornet for example, that high pitched whine is pretty distinctive.
Some of my large scale cars/trucks are very noisy and there is not much you can do about it.

The racing buggies I have all run the finer gear pitches and are quieter as a rule.

[Rinskie]

I see the GF01's are popular. Does anyone have any experience with the 2wd models like the Comical Hornet vs the AWD models like the FJ40? Which is more fun if you were to only have one? 

[BuggyDad]

7 hours ago, one_hit said:

The XV-01 with normal on-road tires is also quiet, just a nice whoosh sound when going flat out. With front and rear gearboxes in the XV-01, I’m surprised it’s quieter than my other belt driven cars with the diffs directly driven by the belts

My XV-01 has got noisier over time. It has a very high pitched whine now, although it seems to run as freely as ever. If anyone has any theories as to what that might be I'd love to hear them. It's also my first belt driven car, so I can't help but wonder whether it might be related to that. Sometime I will open the car up and check it all over. 

[El Gecko]

Not sure about GF01s, but the Hornet/Grasshopper and DT02 seem about the same to me, both nice and smooth and relatively quiet.

However, a properly built ORV gearbox is on a different level, nearly a whisper. Which seems to be because of the smaller, thicker gearbox casing with less room to echo.

In contrast to the old Traxxas cars from the 90s, where you can hear the gear whine from half a mile away, but in fact everything's tuned properly and running normally

(all 32 pitch gears)

[moffman]

I’ve always thought right from day one of the hotshot family of buggies they had ridiculous noisy gearboxes excellent buggies but cheap sounding gearboxes and the thunder shot family of buggies isn’t far behind (sorry fans of those series of chassis) but I’ve just built the db01 (double belt drive system) and it’s so smooth and quiet it sounds really slick!

[Sogogi]

1 hour ago, moffman said:

I’ve always thought right from day one of the hotshot family of buggies they had ridiculous noisy gearboxes excellent buggies but cheap sounding gearboxes and the thunder shot family of buggies isn’t far behind (sorry fans of those series of chassis) but I’ve just built the db01 (double belt drive system) and it’s so smooth and quiet it sounds really slick!

Haha i totally agree in thunder shot family… my thunder dragon is so fun but quite noisy… are DB-01 buggy parts hard to find? Really interested in db-01 (since i really like buggies + never had one with belt drive)

[moffman]

1 minute ago, Sogogi said:

Haha i totally agree in thunder shot family… my thunder dragon is so fun but quite noisy… are DB-01 buggy parts hard to find? Really interested in db-01 (since i really like buggies + never had one with belt drive)

Yeah they aren’t impossible to find but not readily available as it was discontinued a fair few years ago I don’t know if it will make a reappearance but then I’ve been told certain parts are shared with other chassis? I’ve got a few belt driven buggies but the db01 make a really cool noise and is super smooth and drives like it’s literally on rail a bit like the top force but a lot smoother because it’s centre of gravity is superb! 

[Kowalski86]

Since the chassis doubles as the transmission the gears are pretty well sealed and buried, and the mesh is pretty tight, that probably contributes to it being quiet.

14 hours ago, Nikko85 said:

I must say my Pumpkin is also not too noisy either.

The transmission in my Pumpkins nice and quiet, but otherwise it might be the noisest RC in my fleet!

[one_hit]

9 hours ago, BuggyDad said:

My XV-01 has got noisier over time. It has a very high pitched whine now, although it seems to run as freely as ever. If anyone has any theories as to what that might be I'd love to hear them. It's also my first belt driven car, so I can't help but wonder whether it might be related to that. Sometime I will open the car up and check it all over. 

I’d check the pinion and spur for wear, and if you have the slipper clutch, make sure the pinion you are using is 48dp

[Pizza Frog]

I love noisy cars, I love that spluttering skipping sound that Hornet rear wheels make as they fight for traction

And the Blitzer Beetle gearbox has a pleasing high pitched whine.  
 

 

[Willy iine]

16 hours ago, Rinskie said:

I see the GF01's are popular. Does anyone have any experience with the 2wd models like the Comical Hornet vs the AWD models like the FJ40? Which is more fun if you were to only have one? 

GF01 hands down.  But the comical buggies are fun to own too if you have the space..

[BuggyDad]

On 5/3/2023 at 7:36 AM, one_hit said:

I’d check the pinion and spur for wear, and if you have the slipper clutch, make sure the pinion you are using is 48dp

Bingo. Thanks! Pinion had shifted along the motor shaft a little and then worn because less engaged tooth area. It'll still run fine but I will replace spur and pinion. My XV-01 is what gets picked up first for a quick run or a go at postal racing, so a strip down and inspect is both least likely and most overdue!