Intrepid is really strong in this area and lots of support, so my son’s next chassis will likely be Intrepid, he however, is a huge Will Power fan, so he wants me to buy him a WP kart, but I dont know of any support for them up here in Ontario.
For chassis stuff, metric fasteners are easy to come by, & I’ve not had issues with ordering more specific parts like tie rods & such, other kart-specific parts being generic enough (wheels, tires, airbox,…) that you can go it without that direct support, but it really depends on your comfort level with that. Chassis aren’t overwhelmingly complex for a competent shop to help you with to some degree, irrespective of brand.
Personally, I’m more about keeping it local in the engine department.
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Yeah that stuff is simple, tie rods I just make my own. Its more the fact that as far as I can tell there isnt a dealer up here for WPK and I definitely don’t want to get into importing a chassis just so he can have the name. Hopefully a dealer will pop up and I can check into it.
Okay, I didn’t know it was not imported where you’re at. Unless it’s a rebrand of a foundry mfg, that’s definitely going to make it a stretch.
Mad Croc KALO-100.
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Intrepid chassis are barred from entering Rotax series over here. Not sure why……what’s different about them?
Those might be the non-magnetic ones.
Intrepid tried to pull a fast one a few years ago, and made the frame out of some non-magnetic alloy (against the rules), but they painted it with some high-content metal flake paint to make it magnetic. The paint had so much metal in it that it hardly stuck to the frame and was falling off and they were found out. IIRC.
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Any idea why magnetic vs non?
Rules out a bunch of expensive exotic materials.
Intrepids attempt of skirting the rules was one of the more interesting controversial moments in karting history IMHO.
Funny, I am the only Intrepid racer around and mine looks nothing like an Intrepid because let’s face it they don’t give me support or money.
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Yup, remembered when in 2008 Intrepid and Maranello chassis were the fastest because of that.
Better at using the tyres, slightly faster in turns
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I’ve heard about this. What was the specific chemical composition “trick” of the material in question? I’ll guess it was more of a low conductivity property, rather than being entirely non-magnetic. If it was low iron content, then what would be the substitute? More to the point, what would be the benefit of low conductance materials in a chassis?
It is not a question of conductivity. The alloy they used wasnt magnetic, which meant it wasn’t legal. They painted it with magnetic paint, which made the magnet barely stick to the chassis.
Their alloy was just better to generate grip
That would be an interesting thread topic in its own right. Especially considering how long some people around here have been karting and their expertise overall.
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My point is, what’s the advantage of using a non-magnetic alloy? It must behave differently, but how & why?
I doubt many know. From what I was told from a kart designer, true or not, is that “regular steel” is more damped than chromoly. Maybe they design something even more damped. Maybe they design something that has reverse spring rate behavior to help keep from over lifting inside wheel on tight corners. Or dual rate like a lot of spring is cars to handle bumps and be stable under braking, but stiff enough to work well in high grip situations.
I think the possibilities are endless. The rules makers are just trying to avoid the arms race. Suddenly someone is winning on kart made from unobtainium and every one else feels compelled to spend to compete
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Does anyone remember the italian rally cars using painted cardboard tubing for rollover cages back in the day, aesthetically correct, incredibly lightweight…but obviously useless? Maybe KR were doing similar 
I guess the answer depends on the alloy in question. Aside from tire sidewalls and pressure, the frame is the only other spring the kart has.
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