ZeroClient
New member
My 6-year old is having the time of his life out there! He has actually won 3x 1st place trophies and is having soo much fun in doing so. He thinks he is a professional racecar driver, "Its what I do, dad!" Oh the joy!
So, this past weekend, he did wonderfully. His lap times are significantly consistent and his level of errors is very low. We had a great time and we're very proud of his accomplishments. We're doing this also with very little outside help as the track has low Comer Kid Kart attendance, and is mostly 4-stroke track.
Then another C50 Kid Kar showed up and really surprised me. Although my son won 1st place in the race, I wanted to have a better understanding of what the heck was 'up' with this other kid's speed and his C50 engine.
SO, the other kid's father said he just had his C50 rebuilt and freshened up. I noticed at the grid that his kid's engine idle was highly erratic with a very high idle. The kid had to hold the brake to keep the kart from moving forward meaning his idle was so high that his clutch was engaging. I did peer down at this kid's idle screw but it didn't really seem to be screwed in more than my kids. Maybe twice the idle speed of my son's kart. They had some trouble keeping the engine running too. All the while my kid's kart engine was idling rock stable at about 2400rpm; this other kart was struggling at probably 4000rpm idle and it died twice in staging.
Then at the starting line I watched closely. Green flag and the gas pedals went down at the same time. Then I say to myself, what the hell??? The other kid's kart takes off from the stop like a bat out of hell compared to my son's C51. I mean, by turn #1 my son was already about 30 feet behind his contender, and this kid was keeping up with the LO206 Kid Kart (Class was put together). I mean, no way driver skill was involved here. They both put the pedal down at the same time. It was obvious the kart was faster. Then around the track the other kid was gaining more and more distance. Maybe he was a better driver? I don't know. The other kid's qualifying lap time was about 3~4 seconds faster than my kids. Then around the front straight they both pass me and I can tell the other kid's kart must have been reaching closer to 11,000rpm. Maybe more? The engine pitch was quite a bit lower on my kid's kart. At the end of the race my kid's kart engine indicated a peak rpm of 9600rpm on the tiny tach.
Now, I said my kid won the race, and he did. The reason being, this other kid who was going a lot faster was not consistent. He spun out twice, and the second time his engine stalled and a corner worker had to run and pull the cord 4 times to get it re-started. His father said that always seems to happen when kid lets off the gas coming to a stop. My kid cruised on past and made about a 100' lead and took the win, but the other kid ended up only being just behind mine cross the finish; meaning the other kid made up the gap in less than 2 laps.
So, whats up here? To the best of my ability, we are totally legal with gearing, engine, carb, 87 octane per track rules, etc.
Is someone cheating?
Gearing?
Engine seals? (This sounds like a strong possibility with the extra RPM and stalling at idle?)
Engine porting?
Clutch?
This made me think more. Maybe I should check and set my ignition timing on my engine. Maybe do a leak-down test of my own?
So, this past weekend, he did wonderfully. His lap times are significantly consistent and his level of errors is very low. We had a great time and we're very proud of his accomplishments. We're doing this also with very little outside help as the track has low Comer Kid Kart attendance, and is mostly 4-stroke track.
Then another C50 Kid Kar showed up and really surprised me. Although my son won 1st place in the race, I wanted to have a better understanding of what the heck was 'up' with this other kid's speed and his C50 engine.
SO, the other kid's father said he just had his C50 rebuilt and freshened up. I noticed at the grid that his kid's engine idle was highly erratic with a very high idle. The kid had to hold the brake to keep the kart from moving forward meaning his idle was so high that his clutch was engaging. I did peer down at this kid's idle screw but it didn't really seem to be screwed in more than my kids. Maybe twice the idle speed of my son's kart. They had some trouble keeping the engine running too. All the while my kid's kart engine was idling rock stable at about 2400rpm; this other kart was struggling at probably 4000rpm idle and it died twice in staging.
Then at the starting line I watched closely. Green flag and the gas pedals went down at the same time. Then I say to myself, what the hell??? The other kid's kart takes off from the stop like a bat out of hell compared to my son's C51. I mean, by turn #1 my son was already about 30 feet behind his contender, and this kid was keeping up with the LO206 Kid Kart (Class was put together). I mean, no way driver skill was involved here. They both put the pedal down at the same time. It was obvious the kart was faster. Then around the track the other kid was gaining more and more distance. Maybe he was a better driver? I don't know. The other kid's qualifying lap time was about 3~4 seconds faster than my kids. Then around the front straight they both pass me and I can tell the other kid's kart must have been reaching closer to 11,000rpm. Maybe more? The engine pitch was quite a bit lower on my kid's kart. At the end of the race my kid's kart engine indicated a peak rpm of 9600rpm on the tiny tach.
Now, I said my kid won the race, and he did. The reason being, this other kid who was going a lot faster was not consistent. He spun out twice, and the second time his engine stalled and a corner worker had to run and pull the cord 4 times to get it re-started. His father said that always seems to happen when kid lets off the gas coming to a stop. My kid cruised on past and made about a 100' lead and took the win, but the other kid ended up only being just behind mine cross the finish; meaning the other kid made up the gap in less than 2 laps.
So, whats up here? To the best of my ability, we are totally legal with gearing, engine, carb, 87 octane per track rules, etc.
Is someone cheating?
Gearing?
Engine seals? (This sounds like a strong possibility with the extra RPM and stalling at idle?)
Engine porting?
Clutch?
This made me think more. Maybe I should check and set my ignition timing on my engine. Maybe do a leak-down test of my own?
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