Those of you who have upgraded your V6 from a 1 piece steel driveshaft to aluminum, did you notice much of a difference, if at all from the seat of the pants?

 

from what ive read its only a good upgrade if you need a new driveshaft

 

I noticed a little SOTP difference but I did pick up a tenth in the 1/4mi and improve my 60' a bit. So they definitely help. My guess would be the equivalent of adding a cold air intake to one of the 93-97 cars (can barely be felt but it DOES help). It especially helps with shorter gears like the 3.42s you have in your RS.

 

Usually the people who buy the aluminum driveshafts are those looking to eliminate the carrier bearing and the two piece driveshaft all together

 

Yeah. But it's actually a noticable upgrade as well (from my experience anyhow). It weighs a good 20 lbs lighter. 20 lbs of rotational mass is like taking 80 lbs of dead weight from your car.

 

Thanks. Hard to calibrate the butt dyno, obviously... But I wonder when folks say they improved times, there are so many variables, how can you be sure this is what helped it -- maybe there was denser air when you did your alum. shaft run?

Why do you say it helps more with gears like the 3.42s as opposed to others?

Seems like a dyno would be the only way to accurately measure if there was a RWHP improvement... Anyone done that -- before and after?

 

3.42s rev much quicker so the lesser mass aids the gears to do their thing more efficiently.

I can tell basically because it showed through multiple runs on different days. My 60' was better every single time than it was before.

I wouldn't really pay to dyno my car once before and once after for 3 HP. Who's to say you didn't get a breath of cool air that 2nd run? What if the temp dropped a few degrees allowing you to squeeze out a couple HP.

Go dyno your car when it's 90F out. Then again when it's 30F... 20 bucks says you gain 10 hp or better =P

 

Well if my 1 piece steel is 16 lbs like the LT1 steel driveshaft, I will only loose 4.5lbs. Definitely a bigger deal for those with two piece ones!

"34 lbs – Steel 2pc V6 driveshaft including center bearing carrier
16 lbs – Stock steel LT1 driveshaft
12.2 lbs – 3rd gen aluminum 1LE driveshaft
12 lbs – LPE aluminum driveshaft
11.5 lbs – Stock aluminum LS1 driveshaft
10 lbs – RK Sport aluminum 1pc driveshaft"

http://www.lt1engine.com/tech/camaro...f-body-weight/

 

You should have a 2 piece in your 02 RS :$ You lose 22.5 lbs which equates to about 90 lbs of dead weight. I do believe that's a tenth, maybe a bit more, in the quarter mile to all of you who like the idea of weight saving as a power mod.

 

Weight difference between the two piece steel and one piece steel shaft is 18 lbs.
Not all of the 2-piece shaft is spun weight, as that also includes the stationary bearing pillow block mount, and the outer portion of the bearing.
Since the purpose of the two piece shaft was for V6 engine vibration dampening, has anybody who switched over to a one piece shaft noticed a difference?