I’m intrigued by the concept of an all-mechanical antilock braking system in karting. Does anyone have the new RR or other chassis with this setup? How does it operate, & how well does it work?
I have a KT5 with the ABA system
As I bought the kart brand new - I assumed that the aba was doing its thing as I couldnt lock the wheels on oem black brake pads. Didnt want to mess with aba until everything else on the kart would be in the ballpark. Just switched to red pads and after that was able to lock the wheels. At the end of the season had a look at the aba and to my surprise the aba was set up from the factory fully closed ie the force applied to the pedal is the force that goes to the calipers
So it works just like a normal system - perfectly fine - if you dont want to use the aba. I have to try the system next summer and see if theres any advantage
I know it’s strictly mechanical in operation, but any idea how it works?
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Anybody you guys driven a race car with abs? What’s the deal there? I assume once it kicks in you’d be releasing a bit like you would in a kart with brakes locked, trying to get to the almost lock. Or is abs so effective you let it do its thing and profit? Just curious.
ABS works only when the pedal is pushed down, you basically mash it and the system takes over. If you let go, car stops braking and the whole thing disengages. Same with motorcycles.
As to ABA from CRG, it has a compensator spring/piston/chamber in the front, 90 degrees angle to the main piston/spring. The spring tension is adjustable (that’s the protruding bit you see from the outside). When you press the brake pedal, part of the oil volume and pressure is taken up by that piston/spring which acts as a chamber with variable volume (regulated by the spring), which is reducing the effective pressure out of the pump to the calipers, until you press hard enough to overcome that spring. In this way you reduce the tendency to lock up as some of the pressure is now dampened, resulting in a less abrupt braking action. The more you pre-compress the spring via the adjustment, the less “dampening” effect you will have.
Interesting solution for sure but contrary to ABS, which essentially works with wheel speed sensors that provide a lockup signal for the system to decrease hydraulic pressure and let wheels regain speed/traction, the ABA is a dampening system that works by modulating the pressure differently, reducing the abruptness of the lockup action, but it will not prevent it as you keep pressing the brake pedal. I’m very curious to test it and see if a driver can feel it and adjust the braking technique accordingly…
Ok now I’m talking myself into buying a CRG, great
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I can’t find a record of it, but I’m almost certain there was a kart in the 60’s that had a mechanical ABS system. It used a combination of centrifugal weights and a cam of some sort.
Very interesting. Seems like it would be of little value to drivers that are already getting the most out of the standard braking system.
I have noticed that some of the CRG factory drivers (Iglesias/Carbonnel/others) do not use the ABA system.
So it essentially works by generating rising rate resistance to pedal-piston compression approaching the braking limit. Makes sense.
Will be interesting to see if/how other mfgers respond to this.