Post by alleyoop on Jun 6, 2014 14:41:17 GMT -5
Since there was a lot of confusion about this on one of the threads on here I thought I would put it all together as one to explain how it all comes together.
A question was asked if he was getting all the top speed out of his Variator. I told him to mark his variator and see how high the belt was climbing and he had 1/4 of an inch left on the mark after a WOT run. Then he came back with a good question asking IF the belt was as far down in the CLUTCH PULLEY as possible for the best TOP END SPEED. So I wrote this up for him and thought it actually is a very good tip.
Now where ever the belt is does not matter, but at least 1/4 from the edge.
In his case the mark left was 1/4 away from the edge on the variator.
If the belt is sitting 1/4 from the edge and it has pulled the belt all the way down as far as possible in the clutch pulley THEN with the current belt you will not be able to get the belt to climb any higher on the variator pulley for more top end speed. So now you know to get more top end speed more rpms are needed to turn the Variator faster.
Also you have another choice you could get a belt that is say 1/8 longer to have the belt climb higher for a little more top end speed. As you know or should know a bigger wheel will turn a smaller wheel faster.
BUT, if you find that with the 1/4 left on the Variator IT HAS NOT pulled the belt down as far as possible then you know all that is needed is possibly with just a little heavier weights or just more rpms you can get the belt to climb higher in the variator and have the belt pulled down further in the pulley and thereby get more top end speed.
But to determine that you need to find out how far the belt has been pulled in the Clutch pulley to determine what is needed for a little more top end speed. And the only way is to MARK the bottom of the Clutch pulley face and see how much of a mark is left at the bottom.
Now the clutch pulley only OPENS SO FAR so you FIRST need to open it up and push the belt down and see how far the belt will ACTUALLY drop in the pulley. THEN put a mark on the pulley from where the belt is sitting just like you did on the variator. That way you will know if the belt is being pulled down as far as the pulley will allow. If a mark is left you now know a little more top end can be gotten if you can get the Variator to climb higher and pull the belt lower in the Clutch pulley.
It also depends on the Variator not all Variators are the same, the curvature of the pulley face and the angle of the ramps may be cut to give you good low and mid-range and you will never get the belt to climb near the edge. Now the Prodigy Variator is a good one for top end due to the ramps angles and the pulley face surface. Your bottom end is not as strong but it will push the belt high. The belt will never reach the edge of the Variator due to the angle on the edge and that is for safety so the belt will not come off. The highest it will go is about 1/8 from the edge and no more.
If you are already using the right belt, and more RPMS are needed You may be in a catch 22 as they say. If you put in little heavier weights to squeeze the Variator more to push the belt up higher in the Variator, Heavier weights will cause you to loose rpms. So now your in a pickle you got the belt up higher but because you lost some RPMS now the Variator is NOT TURNING as fast as before and you will actaully loose top end or run the same. If you put in lighter weights you need more RPMS to get the belt to climb as high as before and even more RPMS past that point to get the Variator to squeeze together to get the belt higher than before. OH BOY OH BOY what to do
You have to know how this all works to get the best out of your CVT you can only go so far with it and then its time to attack either the tranny gears or the motor. Because You do not want to be running at WOT at high rpms, high rpms is what blows motors.
And by the way in either case you can get more top end by putting in taller Tranny gears and or a different Cam or Big Bore Kit for more power.
As far as the gearing one can go mild 1 up and 1 down for a 3-4 mph gain on the top end. The most I recommend for a stock motor is 2 up and 2 down and it will still pull pretty good. Once you go more than that with a stock motor then it will be sluggish on the low end.
Here is my prodigy variator this is before I put in taller tranny gears notice the mark 1/8 from the edge and that is a 115mm variator with 12 gram Dr Pulley Sliders.
Alleyoop
A question was asked if he was getting all the top speed out of his Variator. I told him to mark his variator and see how high the belt was climbing and he had 1/4 of an inch left on the mark after a WOT run. Then he came back with a good question asking IF the belt was as far down in the CLUTCH PULLEY as possible for the best TOP END SPEED. So I wrote this up for him and thought it actually is a very good tip.
Now where ever the belt is does not matter, but at least 1/4 from the edge.
In his case the mark left was 1/4 away from the edge on the variator.
If the belt is sitting 1/4 from the edge and it has pulled the belt all the way down as far as possible in the clutch pulley THEN with the current belt you will not be able to get the belt to climb any higher on the variator pulley for more top end speed. So now you know to get more top end speed more rpms are needed to turn the Variator faster.
Also you have another choice you could get a belt that is say 1/8 longer to have the belt climb higher for a little more top end speed. As you know or should know a bigger wheel will turn a smaller wheel faster.
BUT, if you find that with the 1/4 left on the Variator IT HAS NOT pulled the belt down as far as possible then you know all that is needed is possibly with just a little heavier weights or just more rpms you can get the belt to climb higher in the variator and have the belt pulled down further in the pulley and thereby get more top end speed.
But to determine that you need to find out how far the belt has been pulled in the Clutch pulley to determine what is needed for a little more top end speed. And the only way is to MARK the bottom of the Clutch pulley face and see how much of a mark is left at the bottom.
Now the clutch pulley only OPENS SO FAR so you FIRST need to open it up and push the belt down and see how far the belt will ACTUALLY drop in the pulley. THEN put a mark on the pulley from where the belt is sitting just like you did on the variator. That way you will know if the belt is being pulled down as far as the pulley will allow. If a mark is left you now know a little more top end can be gotten if you can get the Variator to climb higher and pull the belt lower in the Clutch pulley.
It also depends on the Variator not all Variators are the same, the curvature of the pulley face and the angle of the ramps may be cut to give you good low and mid-range and you will never get the belt to climb near the edge. Now the Prodigy Variator is a good one for top end due to the ramps angles and the pulley face surface. Your bottom end is not as strong but it will push the belt high. The belt will never reach the edge of the Variator due to the angle on the edge and that is for safety so the belt will not come off. The highest it will go is about 1/8 from the edge and no more.
If you are already using the right belt, and more RPMS are needed You may be in a catch 22 as they say. If you put in little heavier weights to squeeze the Variator more to push the belt up higher in the Variator, Heavier weights will cause you to loose rpms. So now your in a pickle you got the belt up higher but because you lost some RPMS now the Variator is NOT TURNING as fast as before and you will actaully loose top end or run the same. If you put in lighter weights you need more RPMS to get the belt to climb as high as before and even more RPMS past that point to get the Variator to squeeze together to get the belt higher than before. OH BOY OH BOY what to do
You have to know how this all works to get the best out of your CVT you can only go so far with it and then its time to attack either the tranny gears or the motor. Because You do not want to be running at WOT at high rpms, high rpms is what blows motors.
And by the way in either case you can get more top end by putting in taller Tranny gears and or a different Cam or Big Bore Kit for more power.
As far as the gearing one can go mild 1 up and 1 down for a 3-4 mph gain on the top end. The most I recommend for a stock motor is 2 up and 2 down and it will still pull pretty good. Once you go more than that with a stock motor then it will be sluggish on the low end.
Here is my prodigy variator this is before I put in taller tranny gears notice the mark 1/8 from the edge and that is a 115mm variator with 12 gram Dr Pulley Sliders.
Alleyoop
..BAD TO THE BONE..
