ICT

and also i want you to realize that you can put 6.0, 3 layered battery's on the makita and therefor have twice the potential of the others. a higher voltage also helps reduce amp draw and therefore heat witch makes more potential possible...

the advantages of makita are these and others

basically you get the Cadillac with the better motor if you get the 170

I have this impact driver... took mine apart and saw all the ways they improved this thing over the 148...it has more power because of the bigger wires to motor and circuit board ...bearings are bigger...can't fit the 1.5Ah battery...uses battery like crazy....but i would rather that then sacrifice performance for run-time on a tool like this....the grip is smaller than the 148 and if you insert a bit in both the 148 and 170 and measure---1/4" shorter!!!!!!!!!! the bit sticks in further... the light is a lot brighter and goes around your bit better.... seems to have unlimited power... for instance pared with a 6.0 tipple stacked off brand battery this thing tries so hard and fast that you feel as if you should slow down to not hurt the tool....but seems to have better inside design to better withstand impacts and water and dust....and battery vibration...soft start only on high..quick start on all other modes...faster in reverse only in 3 and 4 speed.....also a difference on tek mode---impacts slower than 148 and reverses in full speed unlike the 148 and t06 etc...the easy mode speeds up proportionally to the applied torque,,or seams to... and reverses in full speed............slightly lower gear ratio than t06 and therefor is equivalent to t06 in mode 3 even if 3200-rpm vrs 2800-rpm,,/ reverse is faster....