Formula A to KF to now OK. We have come full circle

So let me get this straight. For international karting we went from aircooled direct drive light karts to direct drive water cooled karts. To electric start KF with front brakes. Now we are back to water cooled direct drive? Have we gone full circle? What is the reasoning for going back to direct drive?

cheaper and less complicated. TaG waste of time at that level. The CIK in their eternal wisdom thought TaG would make their classes more attractive to the average karter… it ended up with a spending war on clutch development that was only negated with electronic clutch slip detectors, right royal balls up.

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utter madness that period was.

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Outside of CIK stuff we’re also seeing the re-emergence of 100cc aircooled with electric start a closer manufacturing tolerance… Which I like. Light and simple. Not that watercooled is “complex” perse, but if I don’t have to deal with it… that’s a bonus for me.

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Didn’t manufacturers go to water cooled to extend life of the engines? Im a fan of the ICA/FA days but bump starting is a pita. I like low stall clutches with electric starts. However i am also not a fan of the radiator and pump. I think the 100cc Aircooled tag motors are a great package and price. Especially the Vortex.

Yeah but those watercooled 100cc engines were tuned a lot more and put out a lot more heat compared to the 100cc TaG.

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Electric starts are fine if you have a one-make product that’s well developed and reliable, but stick that technology in a multi-manufacturer arena and you suddenly find yourself in a world of financial pain. Even then, seeing dads spending £100+ when their starter motor fails in these supposedly reliable classes makes me wonder. But I’ve never found bump starting as a problem, to me it’s a win-win. It’s a bit of fun and reduces cost. OK isn’t perfect, but it was a step forward and killed off the complexity that dogged KF (though it’s too little too late and top level CIK racing has deeper problems). TaG is superfluous and a waste of time if you in a pure-bread race class.

KF was meant to expand the appeal to a larger demographic with its “ease of use”. It ended up being too expensive and complicated for the demographic it was targeting. OK is a step back to the more simple and “pure” classes that the top-level drivers have always wanted.

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