[Azimov]

No, it is a motor used to align the laser head inside the Playstation that reads the disk. The motor that spins the disk is very similar to the type found in portable Walkman type casette players. They're large, about the diameter of a quarter and a half inch thick. The laser positioning motor is roughly twice fatter than the original Bit/Zip motors, same length, but has two flat (trunkated) sides. They look very similar to the motor used by that smart fellow that made the Bit powered airplane. These little motors are some of the most efficient I have seen to date. The average motor in these micros (and this is an average example as all the different varieties have different specs. This is how a 1.0 is so much slower than a 2.6 running on the same load for example) has a rating around 1.5VDC @ 80-100mA. The motor out of the Playstation is rated around 1.5VDC @ 10-30mA.
Yes, more efficient motors would make quite a difference in how these micro cars perform. They can be compared to athletes that use their stored energy in the most efficient way possible. Allowing them to run longer and faster with the same fuel supply.
Here's how I discovered these little jewels are so powerful. I once built a solar powered slot car. I powered it with a pager motor because they are much more efficient than the sguare motors that come with the cars. When the solar engine fired, the car would scoot along for about 10 ft or so until the capacitor bank was depleted. I then replaced the motor with one from the playstation. It now scoots for a good 50-100 ft on the same charge at several times the original speed! I don't know exactly as I don't have a straight stretch long enough to let the thing go all at once. This was accomplished at a rating of 3VDC@ 18mA supplied from the capacitor bank. At the V/I rating supplied by the PCB in these little cars, this motor would literally scream down the track. I keep eyeballing that slot car and wondering if I should take that motor out and put it in a zip, but I don't want to destroy it. I might just put a pager motor back in there and have a go anyways.