Hi guys,
Who of you has a "reparto corse " chassis ?
This is a new thing to me. Can you tell us a little more about what you know so far?
For the same chassis , example a CRG Road Rebel there are 3 types of pipe , Braga, Zuera and Zuera b.
The one that you can buy from any shops is the Braga. The Zuera is made for the factory team , it has a completely different metal , a good metal.
There is like 0.3-0.5 second from a the same chassis but with different metal which it’s a lot.
3 Likes
We used to have this on the Merlins when I was driving for them. They had a special “soft” chassis for a few of us. Same tubing diameter as a standard chassis, but Umberto told us “this is special tubing”.
When I drove for ART there was a couple different tubing materials as well, which they didn’t advertise, but was marked with different stampings on the steering fork. I had different material as a factory driver than was available to the general public.
2 Likes
Do you think it was different as in faster, or different experimental?
In my experience it’s been softer. A lot of the Merlin stuff we ran was experimental tubing and stuff, because we were constantly developing the chassis and many of our karts were one-offs.
Most of it is probably down to softer materials that have a shorter lifespan, and so would wear out too quickly for the general public who are expecting 1+ seasons out of a frame.
I have to agree with you. The life of the special pipe is very short… about 5-6 weekend …
1 Like
I have one of those 09 Intrepids that are non-magnetic. It cracked in weird places.
2 Likes
that chassis was freaking fast… but very short time life…
Yeah, I believe we got about 4 national weekends out of the “special” ART before it got noticeably slower. Unbelievable chassis when it was good though. Probably my favorite kart.
1 Like
All the manufacturers do it, just some are better at hiding it then others.
Back in the early noughties (when i raced euros) the only team who could be bothered to paint the chassis for the big races was tonykart. We’d (at Topkart) often turn up with different experimental chassis (one was a blatant Road Rebel rip off).
You look through photos from the cik events and some of manufacturers still turn up with unpainted experimental chassis.
I imagine Mad Croc have similar characteristics to the ART as its made in the same place and designed by the same guy. I also believe Birel found its way because of that little link up.
2 Likes
Yeah I remember a few guys who were slightly older than me racing for Birel at the highest levels in the 2000s and how they cut up all the frames before they left the track for the weekend.
From what I hear the Mad-Croc isn’t quite as good. It’s a different design than the kart we ran. Of course it was to be the next iteration of the ART before the Birel merger.
2 Likes
The difference between the Zuera and Braga chassis was not in the tube but in the front height. The standard Braga chassis sat a little higher than the standard Zuera. The difference in real time was minimal, certainly not more than two tenths of a second per lap in the hands of a first class pilot.
The different material on the CRG and Maranello chassis is indicated by a series of dots and dashes inside one of the front yolks.
I agree with the above in that a soft chassis didn’t last longer than a few race meetings before they either broke or just bent so badly that it was pointless trying to straighten them as they bent right back to some useless settings in the front geometry. For that honeymoon period though, the soft chassis offered a lot more mechanical grip which obviously was an advantage if you knew where you could use it, not at every track or for a driver who didn’t know how to manage his tyres… The tyres were worked much harder.
It’s a former hammer chassis, so it was completely done when I got it. The 3rd rail was broke at some point and welded back together wrong, both seat stays were welded back on. The middle tube in front of the seat broke after getting brake checked at mac gold cup. Then it broke a couple more times on me before I finally got my current chassis. I did run supernats 19 on it and finished a pretty good 6th place at a couple PKC events last year.
1 Like
I can tell you that the tube is different from Braga and Zuera, also the height .
There are from 0.2 to 0.5 seconds between standard Braga and Zuera B.
I’m actually have 2 Maranello rs10, one comes from Zanchetta and one from Tommaso Mosca. One is Zuera B and one is Braga but it is not standard tube. they are different, Braga has lot of grip more than Zuera B. Zuera B is an IMPRESSIVE chassis when there is a lot of rubber on the track.
Andrea, look inside the ‘C’s’ (yolks) of your kart. That’s how you tell if you have a standard Zuera or Braga(+).
1 Like
that’s why everything I have it is from Sg Race ( I think you know Stefano Griggio) .
When I need something, my dad goes under their tent …
Yes, I know who Sg Race are, don’t know them personally.
So on the non ferrous chassis. Was that raced at a CIK event? I thought they checked for non-ferrous materials?