I currently run Junior Rotax (in the UK)at club level and are looking at going regional/national.I was wondering whether its more expensive to run at the front of rotax or X30.I was having a chat with the team boss(rotax team) about racing in the PFI championship and to quote him “your gonna be spending alot to race at the front since they all run shit hot motors”.I was wondering whether it would be more cost effective to run at the front in X30 compared to £2500 plus for a national level Rotax short motor.
Cost is dependent on who is racing and what’s in fashion. The big spenders have spent a few years in X30 bumping up the prices of good motors. We’ve seen a migration this year from X30 to towards Rotax, and after a few years of being in the wilderness, Rotax prices for good motors are starting to go up again.
Unfortunately the question you ask… the answer is pretty much down to what the big motors are selling for. Now with a few big spenders going into Rotax, all bets are off again. So in reality the answer is either could be real expensive if you want to GUARANTEE performance. You might get lucky with an off the shelf motor.
I think, you must also consider overhaul costs. I’m guessing the front runners use a fresh engine every race. Second practice engine also. Maybe more. Are Rotax sealed at national level?
Just curious sorry I’m not of much help, haven’t set foot in uk for years
U.S. (at least near me) seems to be in reverse commute, moving away from Rotax towards the X30. Interesting to hear whats trending on the other side of the pond.
It’s the same old story. Drivers jumped ship to X30 because Rotax spending got out of control due tot he big motors. IAME X30 were really consistent. But as a class grows you get more chances for ‘big’ engines to happen and this happened with X30. X30 was a better driving experience, so can’t ignore that, however the engine spending is why people moved. I don’t think EVO helped Rotax in the early days either.
However due to the lack of competitiveness in Rotax and new upgrade, the Rotax product suddenly looked low-cost and afair because there wasn’t any big engines about. So people move into that… and guess what? Big motors start appearing and the cycle continues.
Rotax blew it in the US and it was shameful of what they did. Rotax died in the US because of a poorly managed upgrade to the motor. The new bits, carb, power valve and associated wiring were being introduced to simplify tuning but the package was so poorly developed that Rotax was handing out the latest parts on race weekend to keep engines running decently. My theory is that there were select EU kart teams that did the development prior to introduction in the US. These teams figured out how to make the new mods run but chose not to inform Rotax for competitive reasons. The US never got a chance to validate the new bits before the racing year with the new motor specs.
It’s not a bigger enough difference to worry about if your aim is to run at the front. Rotax you get a little more life out of, but you have to get work done by a sealing agent.
Just to add to the my prior comments. I ran Rotax for 6 or 7 years, reasonably competitive, the driver probably being the difference. I had two motors, one was the race motor maybe 1 to 2 tenths faster than the practice/club motor. Based on a 15 race days and 20 practice days season, the bottom end was rebuilt every two years and the top every year.
The pre-EVO motors before I moved to shifters were very reliable and relatively maintenance free. The exhaust packing had to be replaced and the power valve needed to be taken care of.
Rotax motors would make a great hobby motor, probably last forever.
If you can do most of the work yourself, as I do, X30 also does. As Alan mentioned I do find it a nicer drive, more even power delivery across the range. The shorter run between rebuilds is a small trade off.
I never raced Rotax though, mainly because they weren’t offering any kind of deal to upgrade to Evo, IAME offered 50% discount at the time on a brand new package to switch. So I did and I’m happy I did.
