TonyPaul,
As I understand, the V-Drive setup is popular in the Trophy Truck desert racing industry when the mid-engine is desired... granted they have more room to play with than what these vehicles would have. Those pictures you've posted look like you indeed gave it a great shot, I wonder if a slight change in design would have offered different results. Regardless, I've seen a picture and brief description of your current setup, maybe we can discuss more about what is proven to work for you in a different thread or through PM?
76mx,
I like the "out of the box" thinking with regards to going into a belt drive set up, I'm sure I can engineer something that would prove the Gilmer belt plausible... and a good option for noise reduction, cool idea!
-Active