- 2,980
- Brankston
- gokartman
Does your Rotax have a power valve on it?
Karting Thread
- Thread starter lbsf1
- 1,546 comments
- 93,152 views
- 4,887
- Los Angeles, Cali
- JoeTruckV8
Yea, and I bet I know what you are going to tell me next. Honestly these motors are fun; you know being that they have an ignition button and all but i would love to have at least 1 shift gear if not 2. But 1 extra gear would be awesome fo these types of motors.
I just found out the Rotax, Leopard, Rox TT, and others are roughly 28hp, while the PRD which I have too is only roughly 22hp. Our Pro tour has once again changed the eligible motor to the X30 only. The PKC (US Pro Series) is costing us drivers madd money by allowing current motors to race and changing which motors are legal every year. I almost bought the wrong motor twice now, and they are too expensive for all this back & forth with the allowable motors. I'm about to go back to spec Honda and call it a day!
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- 2,980
- Brankston
- gokartman
If you want a shift gear on a Rotax look at DD2. It uses the Rotax 125 motor as a base, but has a small gearbox built in with 2 gears. It also has a little morepower, I think the top end ones get around 33 HP, out the box the normally reach 32.5. With regards to having little power off the corners, try running a lower jet or lower clip in the carburetor. It makes it more responsive and give you more speed of the corners, at the cost of speed at the top end. If that doesn't work try opening the power valve a bit, turn it outwards so it kicks in at lower revs.
http://gorotax.com/dd2-max.html
The X30 has started catching on over here as well, and personally I don't like it. The only people doing well in it are the people spending the time testing and running the engines, getting data and an understanding of how it works etc. I understand that karting has to move forward, but they have bought in an engine to rival the Rotax, the most popular class over here in the UK, and possibly the most driven in Europe. If they wanted to make an impact they should have aimed it at the elite tier, making a more cost effective version of the premier class would make people join that. Instead they have divided the 'clubman' (2nd tier, not really clubman prices) classes and caused a split, so now instead of a grid of 35/40 you get two grids of 18/19 which is no-where near as fun or competitive.
- 1,256
- Gippsland, Victoria
- BDR-Binky
- MadRacer38
I hate it when that happens. They think they are the best driver because nobody can get past but in reality they are just swerving all over the road whilst driving like they have gone shopping...Well, yesterday as I was racing the best kart they had, it broke down. And they gave me a crappy kart, so I clocked a pathetic 34.75 (as opposed to my record of 31.06) Also, scumbag karter: Slowest on track, drives in the center so no one can pass.
Better luck next time!
Also, I have clubday this weekend so hopefully I can maybe get a sneaky win, but it's unlikely.
- 1,256
- Gippsland, Victoria
- BDR-Binky
- MadRacer38
- 4,887
- Los Angeles, Cali
- JoeTruckV8
Can you hook up a DD2 gearbox and padels to a pre existing Rotax motor?
- 5,204
- Finland
Yes, but that requires some skill.
- 4,887
- Los Angeles, Cali
- JoeTruckV8
- 2,247
- Athens
- VQS_Ntinoskonsta
Well.
A month and a half ago, I was still driving 270cc karts. I qualified for the 390cc category on the 14th, and yesterday I entered the realm of the Rotax karts.
Today was my first Rotax run. It's so different from the 390cc karts, I can't even describe it.
A month and a half ago, I was still driving 270cc karts. I qualified for the 390cc category on the 14th, and yesterday I entered the realm of the Rotax karts.
Today was my first Rotax run. It's so different from the 390cc karts, I can't even describe it.
- 2,980
- Brankston
- gokartman
Not 100% sure, the bottom end looks very different from the outside, but there must be a way to do it. Not many people race them anymore, they race them in Euromax (European Rotax championship), but other than that I rarely see them used. Is Rotax big over there in the US?
- 4,887
- Los Angeles, Cali
- JoeTruckV8
Yes there's always a Rotax class, a TAG class, and we have a Rotax championship series that's Rotax racing engines only here in America also,... Willow springs & California Speedway are my home tracks.
- 5,204
- Finland
Really? I have seen S1 Rotax championship from Motors TV. It looks like it's quite big over there.
Well, I'm doing some final preparations for, without a doubt, my biggest race yet. Race of Stars 2014. I was there last year, and I loved it. This year, it's gonna be whole lot different. Last year there was 32 of us in Junior National Pro, this year there is 34. But unlike last year, the class of competition is whole lot different. I think there are only 4 people returning from last year. And a large majority of them are either a national champion or a dual state champion. Unlike me who has only one state championship and it wasn't much of a victory, to be honest as I didn't have to fight for it. Anyway, I'm not expecting much but I just hope that I can repeat my form of last year.
The class is barely used, it's basically an mid-point class for Junior National Light and Junior National Heavy. Rotax classes are quite fun to watch in my opinion, and something I would like to do. The closest I can get to a Rotax is either Junior Performance or Junior Max, but it'd just be a once every two months thing as my local track is too short to put the power down to it's full potential.
I'm a bit bummed that all the CIK classes aren't gonna be at Race of Stars this year as I thoroughly enjoyed watching Pro Gearbox go around last year's track. However, a thing I can credit the Race of Stars concept on is that the track is not officially known until the day (unless you do research like me and find out which track we'll be using) as it eliminates the home track advantage which always bites me in the you-know-what.
- 1,628
- RP
- "Ask me first!"
Well, I went karting just two days ago. First of all, I tried out a new track and tried out the rental karts. Big mistake. I chose the best one, and it had no brakes, and it sent me crashing into the tyres head on. After the crash, I changed to another kart, but this kart's RPM and speed was limited and paired to a guy who keeps on crashing and spinning out and constantly smashing my kart. Still managed to go under a minute and complete the track in one piece though..
- 5,204
- Finland
The great thing about Rotax series is that everyone is having an competitive engine and racing is mostly about chassis, set up and driving skills, that gives close racing everywhere in the grid. But I understand that it doesn't make much sense to buy an engine if it won't get used very much.
CIK classes aren't really used much here anymore. Finnish Auto Racing Association ruined the whole thing by raising the costs so much that National Karting Championship is basically replaced by Rotax Max Challenge Finland. There was 45 entries in my last Rotax Junior race and 15 entries in last KF3 race, IIRC.
That sound like an interesting system.
Yeah the fact it's mainly down to chasis, setup and driver skill is why I'm interested in it so much. Mainly because the people I race against, their budget for a race meet is my budget for a year, and somehow I still manage to run in the top 10 in Central Queensland.
CIK here in Australia is mainly about 'who has the biggest budget'. Something I found out when I went to Race of Stars last year when the first thing you see when you walk down to the pits is all the CIK team's flashy transport trucks and their supercar to go with (usually a Ferrari but I saw a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG!) it. That alone turned my Oma, who never had went to a karting event prior to Race of Stars, off completely. Her exact words when she reached my pit; "Jeez, you need a lot of money to do this!". Gone, turned her off karting completely. A bad move by Karting Queensland there.
I'm interested to see what the finalised rule changes will be for these new engines, classes, etc. A few people don't like them as it is nearly a carbon copy of what karting in Europe is. However, one thing I can credit it on is the parity between each engine. Apparently you can do next to nothing with these new engines aso the best in Australia for the JNL class will be the same as say the back runners, making the racing closer and more financially available for everyone (after a few years of test & trial, that is).
- 5,204
- Finland
That happens here too. Some guys chance chassis between every race weekend while I had same Mach1kart chassis for three seasons. Top 10 is still very good achievement in almost every bigger race.
Here all transport trucks and bigger tents are owned by chassis importers, good thing is that only one of them is hard to beat, mostly because they have the best chassis available at the moment. Budget can still make difference, because people that have more money can practice more and hire some professional to work with their setup.
I've never seen any supercars in karting event, even when I saw Mika Häkkinen and his son at practice day once (he had VW Transporter van). In Finnish Rotax events many people come by camper vans or some other cheaper cars, but some do come with more expensive sedans or estates.
There are many different ways of Karting in Europe many CIK series and even some Rotax series have become way too expensive for beginners.
Just got word that the entire Race of Stars event is going to be broadcasted live on Speedcafe.com! What a way to get the event out there even more. I haven't heard if any of the V8 Supercars' drivers will be there but they should be as the event is part of the lead up to the Gold Coast 600.
