we didn't use the chiaphua motors, we used 2 drill motors and 2 fisher price motors for our drive system.

I suppose you voted "Bad" althought it is 2:35 am on sunday morning and im not totally awake

I voted Bad. I wouldve voted a different answer but there were only 2 "YES and NO".

For the 8 - Wheel Drive train my team used this year on "Dorothy" the Chipaqua's would've been useless. WE chose the Drill's because they were a much stronger motor. The Drill Motors were tested about 3500 RPM's compared to the "Chulapas" where they were tested about 1500 RPM's. Our team ddin't find much use in using them. The "Big Motors" or Chulapas still currently sit in the Kit of Parts Box. :D Next Year however we are developing an improved Drive Train so that we don't have to use the Drill's. Which motors would have I chosen this year: Drill / Fisher Price / Chalupas I would go along with Drills:
A: there lighter then the Chulapa
B: There Stronger
C: They have a clutch which sometimes when not broken prevents the other teams from pushing us around all that mcuh.

The bad point. They wear out two quickly. The chulapas are long lasting but the Drills prove to be stronger. Maybe next year our team will move onto a stronger motor if FIRST gives us any but until then we will stick to The drills for Strength.

I meant to say "GOOD or BAD"

Are you sure about this cause it does not sound right. THe chips are rated for 145 oz-in at max efficency and 321 at max power and 208 at normal load.
The drill is between 200 and 500 mN-M 5000-10000rpm and through the gearbox becomes 225 ft-lbs at 400 rpm.
Now if someone could give me the conversions forft-lbs mN-m and oz-in i could figure it out for sure but i think when i tried it i found that the chips were 2-3 times more powerful than the drill.

The chalupas have a free speed rating of 5500 RPM. I think the drill motor with gearbox in high is 1200 RPM. I have no idea what it is sans gearbox.

My coach might have tested the motors a different way then you did. They used a device that measures its RPM's. The powered the motor straight from the Exide Battery. Ill try to get some definite answers on what the motors tested. we tested the motors with no load and not attached to a Gearbox.

Well... RPM's arn't really a good measure of the motors power. It's really only half the story.

I have a little motor i ripped out of a tape deck, thing probably spins a couple thou off a single AA battery. But, i can stall it with two fingers pinched on the output shaft. Try that on an Atwood. Either you'll bearly be able to stall it or it'll rip your fingers off, im not sure which, i never tried (i feared for my fingers). Now put a good gear reduction on it and you'd need a long pole to stop it. The atwoods are just big bad muthas, they use them to lift up RV's after all. The drill motors drive screws.

Trust me, the Atwoods have some serious power.

-Andy A.

Just to let you know....

Last week I was hooking up the new drill motor to the speed controller and yes i made a silly mistake and hooked it up backwards... so when we turned it on to test it the drill motors and the Chiaphua were turning the opposite direction and fighting each other and eventually (like 2 or 3 seconds later) the Chiaphua won and the tracks spun the correct direction......

This really wasnt proper testing but it gives you some idea what those babies [Chiaphua] can put out :D

Pneumatic Shifter Follow-Up
 

Here is a follow up on the post i put earlier about the pneumatic shifting. These are actual pictures of the shifting mechanism, sorry i'm cheap so you'll have to copy and paste the pictures if u want to see them :)

http://www.theforumisdown.com/upload...2/DSCF1265.JPG

http://www.theforumisdown.com/upload...2/DSCF1260.JPG

http://www.theforumisdown.com/upload...2/DSCF1259.JPG

http://www.theforumisdown.com/upload...2/DSCF1262.JPG

Chias are great. They could use a few more RPMs though. My only real complaint about the Chias is that splined armature and little cluster gear. It makes it kind of hard to mount and get gears to mesh right.