Seen that you were up front at Spring Water Saturday night Zac...id say if yall got to run the feature you would have ended up with the win there, the guy who qualified on the pole has a tough engine but it is nothing compared to that wankel of yours, I've ran against him alot. That track is something else though isn't it? Were you able to put the power down like you wanted to there or did you have to pull some power? I've never had a problem hooking up there but you know I run small blocks, not the typical RWYB or UAS engines
Return of the aixro
- Thread starter ZacLamb
- Start date
Track wasn't bad, I tried a set of burris in qualifying. Probably lost a few tenths with them (which is normal). Went back to my hoosiers for the feature, but endless delays prevented us from ever taking the green. We were on the track for a good 10 minutes and the track crew couldn't get their act together. Plus we had to wait on a few open drivers to get their karts ready.... Most of the opens were at the grid ready to go but the track officials said someone wasn't ready so they put another class in front of us, and what do you know it rained after that race. I've never seen a track adjust the running order with half the class on the grid already. To top it off, the open feature had a planned pit stop so a few 4-stroke guys could change their oil and take fuel after 10 laps. What?! That was a first on me in my 10 years of open/UAS racing. If you can't build an engine that can go 20 laps on oil, you might want to switch to jr. dragsters. As for having enough fuel, I always thought having a bigger tank with a higher horsepower engine was common sense. They're not expensive, comet karts sales has 2 gallon tanks for $55. I have nothing against the tracks owners/operators, but that was the most poorly organized attempt at having a race i've ever seen. I feel sorry for the guys that drove a long way to be there.
Man I could have saved you the drive down there if I knew you were going...ive won most of the open money shows there and know how they run things. The guys you were waiting on for the open race were the locals who race there every week it sounds like... the track favors those guys everytime. Bet it was a number 22 kart with a lime green engine, and a red #22 kart, id be willing to bet money on that. I've never heard of them having a fuel stop like that in the middle of the race though, they never have before so that must be something new they was doing. The track owners are really nice people, their son is who runs the show and is a hardheaded guy to get along with, he tries to run things so that his friends who race have the best chance at winning...not the way to run a racetrack. I was looking at the results from that race and that's the most karts they have had since September last year, usually they don't have but maybe 15 karts total, most of those being small block opens. At least you ended up in the money to help pay for your trip down there and back home man, I know you would have won that race if it had stayed green, I was told it was rained out after a few laps of nothing but cautions.
R&D will continue soon, returning from work in a couple weeks. I have a twin 32mm throttle body to experiment with. Will be testing equal fuel delivery on each port and maybe staged injection, in which I can vary the amount of fuel each port is given throughout the rpm range. Whatever runs best between the dual 32mm and the 43mm single will be used in the turbo setup.
I've also been speaking with the folks from Wolfle Engineering (company that makes the aixro), and they are interested in EFI as well. Mostly to adjust fuel on-the-fly to prevent the engine from overheating. They are making some temp sensors (NTC thermistor, not k-type like the mychron lead) that will be compatible with microsquirt, which will allow the engine temp to be monitored instead of the water temp.
Timeline for turbo? No idea. Still collecting parts, and looking for a good oil pump that I can run off the jackshaft (ideas anyone?). An electric oil pump will put too much strain on the battery.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/5n77okKv104HVBxt2
I've also been speaking with the folks from Wolfle Engineering (company that makes the aixro), and they are interested in EFI as well. Mostly to adjust fuel on-the-fly to prevent the engine from overheating. They are making some temp sensors (NTC thermistor, not k-type like the mychron lead) that will be compatible with microsquirt, which will allow the engine temp to be monitored instead of the water temp.
Timeline for turbo? No idea. Still collecting parts, and looking for a good oil pump that I can run off the jackshaft (ideas anyone?). An electric oil pump will put too much strain on the battery.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/5n77okKv104HVBxt2
CarlsonMotorsports
Site Supporter
Zac, look for a Nascar cup car rear end cooler -- single stage - very similar to an oil dry sump pump used on sprint cars, etc except they use multiple stages.
We used one of these (rear end cooler pumps) to make a dry sump flathead back in the '80s. Ran it off of a cog belt drive tacked onto the end of the jackshaft -- We drilled out fuel injector nozzles and threaded them in the block in various loctions to aim the oil.
In the end, it pulled more HP from the engine than running it oil-less ever did, but it was one of those projects that we just had to try.
We used one of these (rear end cooler pumps) to make a dry sump flathead back in the '80s. Ran it off of a cog belt drive tacked onto the end of the jackshaft -- We drilled out fuel injector nozzles and threaded them in the block in various loctions to aim the oil.
In the end, it pulled more HP from the engine than running it oil-less ever did, but it was one of those projects that we just had to try.
manyfunnies
New member
you could get an oiless turbo... never heard anything good or bad about them though. probably be more susceptible to thrust loading failures. although smaller turbos don't have that issue as much as larger turbos. We surge turbos at work all the time, the bigger the turbo the slower you go into surge. some larger turbos if you go hard into surge once, you get a big chunk of firey metal. It makes sense though obviously. the larger the turbo the more area the Dp has to work on. I have even see a precision turbo with a ball bearing in it blow at surge. that think went bad. it was also flowing 2600 scfm at 85 psi though. lots of power there.
manyfunnies
New member
They use grease packed bearings. no oil changes. thats the advantage of them. the center housing typically has cooling fins. you dont have to orient them top up bottom down like a conventional turbo. its funny to see people mount turbos however they want and then wonder why they blow up in 100 miles. well because you have it upside down and it wasn't feeding oil right.
Not sure if it would be a problem. But since it's just as easy to use the jackshaft, i'd use that since it's spinning whenever the engine is running. With the exhaust temps these engines put out, it would probably be a good idea to have the best cooling possible.
I was originally planning to use an electric pump for oil, but I already have a lot of draw on my battery which is a 12-cell lithium. In our last race the battery finally let go, it was about 5 years old and taken from our old starter, but mid race the voltage dropped down to around 9 instead of the usual 12v. Then at the white flag it dropped to 4 volts and the engine shut off. So, i'm a little hesitant to add something else with a constant draw to the battery. So i'm going with a new 12-cell for the efi, and an additional 4-cell for the water pump. Which are only about 4 pounds combined.
For mounting the turbo, it will probably be about 16" from the engine. Not because that is an optimal location, but because thats about the only place I have room to put it.
manyfunnies
New member
in 12v pump might be your best bet for multiple reasons. #1 being so you don't coke your bearings if your kill the engine or stop in the pits without idling.
Update: Turbo project cancelled (probably for good). Our main wankel lost a side seal and spring at clay city at the end of the season and we have been working to get it back together (4 years. It was time for a rebuild anyway). Adding an oil tank, oil pump, pressure regulator, and cooler adds too much complexity for the turbo to be worth it imo. I'd feel safest if we had a lower compression rotor to accommodate the boost but that would be big $.
In other news, talking with the folks at Aixro in Germany to get rebuild parts we landed on the subject of EFI. Long story short, I sent them all the plans and details of my EFI system and we may have an off-the-shelf EFI wankel some day. They are more concerned with controlling fuel to prevent overheating, but will be interesting either way.
In other other news, a different version of the 100hp wankel kart is almost done. At 588cc's it won't be UAS legal, but they're of plenty of big $$ RWYB races an hour from our shop. Innovation outside of the UAS, who knew.
When one isn't enough:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/OwlAJwgIqq1pjZM72
As a reply to Margay's debut of the Margay X2 powered by pitiful twin LO206's, i'm calling this one the Striker X2aixro. Going to start with the simple and proven dual methanol carb setup for now. EFI is doable, but i'm not sure the additional power is needed. Currently waiting on the left side engine plate to be finished, then the final assembly will begin.
In other news, talking with the folks at Aixro in Germany to get rebuild parts we landed on the subject of EFI. Long story short, I sent them all the plans and details of my EFI system and we may have an off-the-shelf EFI wankel some day. They are more concerned with controlling fuel to prevent overheating, but will be interesting either way.
In other other news, a different version of the 100hp wankel kart is almost done. At 588cc's it won't be UAS legal, but they're of plenty of big $$ RWYB races an hour from our shop. Innovation outside of the UAS, who knew.
When one isn't enough:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/OwlAJwgIqq1pjZM72
As a reply to Margay's debut of the Margay X2 powered by pitiful twin LO206's, i'm calling this one the Striker X2aixro. Going to start with the simple and proven dual methanol carb setup for now. EFI is doable, but i'm not sure the additional power is needed. Currently waiting on the left side engine plate to be finished, then the final assembly will begin.
darkside_racers
Member
Zac, i am sure you and your father will get the project the way you thought about it (look at the dual carb manifold) you came out with. ...watch out people he will get it right. .