SmartDrive vs E Motion ?!

hi chris....
Im sure some of the guys will offer their opinion on this..unfortunately ive never used either...

I tried both of them at a disability expo, but not on my own chair. The E-motion adds a lot of weight to the chair, and I would not be able to load chair without removing wheels. The hub motors in the wheels are heavy. Required extra heavy-duty camber rod is much heavier than standard one, and gear brackets to engage motorized wheel are heavy and would dig into car seat if you are sitting chair seat down onto automobile upholstery. Handling of chair seemed skewed to me, but I did not have the chance to try the same chair without the E-Motion, so it may have been some misalignment rather than the power assist.

Smart Drive was lightweight, easy to control after small learning curve, and even though small, did the job and allowed great speed on more level surfaces. Loved the "turbo boost" feature! People who are using it say the battery life is excellent. Battery is lightweight, quick and easy to remove for transport, and power assist wheel lifts off very easily and is also lightweight. You can leave wheel on when not using power assist, and it creates little drag, even on carpet. Smart Drive would my choice!

Thanks everyone! After reading all of your commentary, I'll most likely be going for the Smart Drive. The only trouble I had was when I tried it on a path that had a side angle, but I suppose you would have that issue with or without the assist.

I've had the SmartDrive for over a year and it's amazing, life changing. Getting in to the car I can remove the SmartDrive faster than I can remove my wheels. It has so much power it will go up any incline and has such a small footprint that it really hides under the chair. The motor's weight is partly supported by it's wheel which is in contact with the ground. The battery pack (eleven pounds) sits under the rider so the weight isn't felt as much. It does take some practice to learn to control the SD but it's changed everything for me. I can even go to my favorite restaurant which is inaccessible because of one high step. I use the parking-meter-technique to pull myself up and in and there I am.

I tried the E-Motion wheels and I liked their speed and quiet but they are very heavy IMO and I didn't think I could deal with that. I've been really happy with my SD.

wavewolf they're not the electric ones. I have the variable lever brakes as you've mentioned. The para level brakes definitely look more ideal for what you need but the potential of having the camber tube twist looks like it's still there so yeah mention it to the specialist and see what they say. I currently have 4 degrees of camber which I'd like to drop down to 2 because the base is so wide but when my camber tube got twisted I had like -2 degrees camber lol.

wavewolf my camber tubes are titanium and well they weren't actually twisted, I guess they rotated backwards from the force of the brakes.