- This topic has 8 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 12 years ago by Dan Maloy.
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August 23, 2014 at 7:47 am #32486tony zambosParticipant
Dan,
I don’t have a chassis recommendation, but something to consider and add to your dilemma. Chassis come with torsion tubes to stiffen them. The Intrepids have front and rear tubes. So you can stiffen a softer chassis with torsion bars but you can’t loosen a stiff chassis. Also seat stiffnes will affect chassis flex.
Hopefully some Intrepid drivers will post on this topic. -
August 23, 2014 at 8:46 am #32487Michael BartholmewParticipant
Dan,
Your best place for a answer is to call Rodney Berryhill at champion racing he is the importer and could tell you more.
I’ve been running the raptor this past year and we like it, it’s very responsive and has a lot of front end grip. I run tag sr at 360 and the raptor is a great kart the Sirius may be to stiff for someone your weight.
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August 23, 2014 at 9:31 am #32489Dan MaloyParticipant
Tony –
Ahhh…..torsion bars. I’ve seen them in some kart pix. Don’t know why I didn’t think about actually using them, ha! ha! The Raptor moves up the list even more!Michael –
Do you mind if I ask, if you race at 360 lbs how much of that is the weight of your kart? Are you and I close to the same weight? Champion Racing: already talked to them. They said they sell a lot more Raptors than Sirius Vs. If it were simply a question of “go as fast as you can” I’d get the Raptor without hesitation. But since my main goal is to instead enjoy karting (which also means to not go $$broke$$ while doing it) I wondered if maybe going a tiny bit slower in a kart that would perhaps last substantially longer (the Sirius V) was the way to go. Stu told me that at my weight of 175-180 the (primarily) 30mm Raptor chassis should last just about as long as the 32mm Sirius V, i.e., maybe not quite as long as the Sirius but not so much as to really matter.Because of Stu’s years of experience and his unbiased opinion recommending the Raptor, unless someone can convince me otherwise, I think that’s what I’ll go with.
(Comments, positive or not, from current / past Intrepid drivers are still welcome.)
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August 23, 2014 at 4:45 pm #32500Michael BartholmewParticipant
I weigh 160 so you would be fine at 175-180 the other question to consider is what class your running, the raptor is all around a good kart the Sirius can be a bit more difficult to tune depending on the weight you have to run.
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August 23, 2014 at 5:54 pm #32502Walt GiffordParticipant
Get the big chassis. At 6′ 180 you’re at the max driver size and weight. Don’t listen to guys that think an extra 20 Lbs and a few inches of height don’t matter. Tell them to add 40 Lbs. to the top of their seat then you’ll be 20 lbs. heavier and more top heavy than me and let race again. Even then you still have more aero drag.
If you want a fun chassis that will last forever go back to 2000 before they started making flimsy frames that get punched out in one season. I hear the big teams change frames every 3-5 races and they straighten them on special jigs at the track.
Gif
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August 25, 2014 at 3:36 pm #32593Dan MaloyParticipant
Walt Gifford – “Get the big chassis. At 6′ 180 you’re at the max driver size and weight.”
Walt, at the max driver size and weight for what? The Raptor chassis or a particular racing class?
No doubt on my part that 20lbs in karting can make a lot of difference.
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August 27, 2014 at 10:24 am #32734Walt GiffordParticipant
For karting in general. At a certain size and weight you can no longer get a front to rear weight balance that works and your vertical center of gravity is too high. This means your rear tires are stuck which requires too much steering input (toe out) which is like putting on the brakes in wide turns and you get a dramatic snap oversteer in tight turns which is hard to control. Also can’t run tires with grip because you’ll bicycle up on two wheels. If your frame is too light it will feel like a wet noodle jumping all over the place under heavy braking. Anything bigger than 1/4 mile track where you’re up over 50 mph for more than a few seconds and you have a big aero disadvantage. Kart racing is Napoleons revenge.
Don’t stress too much over what to buy, just get something in good shape with 32mm frame, med hard axle, MG reds and get out there.
Gif
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August 27, 2014 at 5:05 pm #32750Dan MaloyParticipant
Gif and everyone else who commented: thank you for your help to make me a smarter kart racer.
Definitely learning a lot!
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