How long does a well-maintained IAME X30 Last?

What is the expected lifetime of an IAME X30 that has had proper maintenance and is raced at the practice/club level?

I have an opportunity to purchase one that has about 5 hours on it for a very attractive price.

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Well, I think 8 hrs top end and 25 full is pretty standard. You could go longer, 10/30.
Not sure at what point the maintenance exceeds the attractiveness of a new and exciting engine package. :grinning: But, someone will likely know of the life expectancy of x30.

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I’ve had a couple of X30, European model, piston replacement every 15 hours no problem and even 20 hours, but don’t buy an old one, they lose power as they age. My first X30 even though I took care it very well, didn’t have nearly the same power as the second X30 that I purchased brand new.

Did your old x30, have the old style x30 exhaust and tryton carb ? Because then it make sense.
I´m from EU as well, and have the old x30, but just did the upgrade, with the new tillotson carb, and one piece exhaust. I hope this will give about the same power, like the new ones have ??

I go 15/30 - but remove the lid at 10 and clean the piston face then inspect it with a x10 magnifier.

If it’s a steal price wise I’d say snatch it. Is it just the motor or all the ancillaries? If you need to buy all those on top it’s gonna get pricey - usually it’s cheaper just to buy a new package rather than buy a used motor and all the ancillaries separately.

Yes, my old X30 had the tryton carburator and the two piece exhaust pipe, the new one came with the Tillotson and the new pipe, the first day I tested it at the track I could notice the difference immediately, better bottom and top, just much much better, but I sold it as well and bought a DD2 Birel which I love, very low maintenance, very reliable, faster than the X30

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I hope my old x30, with the new upgrades, performe like the new x30`s,
I would love a DD2 as well…

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If the upgrades don’t really change the X30 then sell it, don’t think about it twice, when I sold my old X30 I thought about the upgrades, but to be honest I wasn’t sure that the upgrades would make that much of a difference, it should be easier to sell with the upgrades. After that, you can either get a DD2 or a KZ, for sure a DD2 will cost you a lottttt less to maintain than a KZ or even an X30, old or new. DD2 are fast, cheap maintenance and very reliable.
Best of luck.

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Depends where you are. Here DD2s are up there with KZs

Watching power republic video, its the new exhaust, that brings the performance Up.

The DD2 engine is pretty much the same around the world, so it can’t be as expensive as a KZ.
Right now I have a DD2 and two KZs
A KZ, for example a TM R1 you’ll need to replace the piston every 6-8 hours, the DD2 you won’t need to replace the Piston until 30-40 hours easily, fuel consumption is lower on a DD2.
DD2 is very reliable, very! Difficult to seize, KZ is more delicate, easier to seize.
Trust me, a DD2 is way cheaper than an X30 and way, way…way cheaper than a KZ - I’ve had two X30, two DD2 and three KZ, and the DD2 is the cheapest to maintain, no doubt about it, plus no need for sprockets or chain oil.

I think it’s important to consider initial cost and resale value when thinking about the DD2 in terms of total cost of ownership vs X30. The DD2 chassis is often useless for any other class (some exceptions).

The other challenge DD2 has is that it’s close to non-existent as a class in many locations leaving it really only an option for practice.

@Richard_Jacques I’m curious to know what is happening to bring the cost of DD2 close to KZ though.

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I’ve seen the Power Republic videos, the new Exhaust came out in December of 2018 here in Europe, I still had an old X30 with the old exhaust, I tried the new exhaust on the old X30, didn’t notice much of a difference to be honest, I didn’t get to test the new Tillotson carburetor on the old X30 that used to have the Tryton carburetor, I’m sure the sound of the engine changes, but in terms of performance I don’t know.
I wouldn’t waste too much money on an old engine, better to get rid of it and buy something new that’s going to perform nicely for the next few years, imo.

Interesting, I didn’t know the DD2 wasn’t that popular in the States, in Europe you’ll find many races, the Rotax series is a big competition, just as big as the IAME series, over 200 drivers, from Children, to Junior, to Senior, to Masters with the Rotax Max and DD2.

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Rotax’s presence in the US suffered badly following Evo and it’s been trying to recover recently with new distributors. DD2 has always been a bit of an outsider though, it never really caught on here.

Where in Europe are you from @Peter ?

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The Evo is pretty sweet and the DD2 concept is very original, having the two gears does make a difference compared to an automatic engine.
If you go to a karting track here in Europe, you’ll find on any given day, a good number of X30, Rotax Max, DD2 and KZ (those who end up buying a DD2 want to compete with the KZ but don’t want to be driving with just one hand while they change gears, so they go for a DD2 which is very fast around the corners, obviously not as fast as a KZ on the straights.)

I’m from Spain, I used to race years ago, now just as a hobby to get rid of the hustle and bustle of the daily life.

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My coach is always telling me they’re expensive to run because you keep having to get the gearbox rebuilt. Maybe because of the sand? Being Rotax it’s sealed, there’s very little you or team mechanics can do and Rotax dealer servicing prices are way higher than IAME dealer. Coupled to that there’s a lot the team mechanics are able to do themselves on a KZ that they can’t do on a DD2

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Gearbox rebuilt??? Never heard that one.
Sand in the gearbox?? Never heard that one either.
I’ve seen people having to replace the cylinder after not servicing the engine when they were supposed to, you know conrod going through the cylinder, but I’ve never seen a problem with the gearbox.

Richard lives and karts in Dubai. Sand is everywhere, apparently.

Indeed, it’s everywhere and it gets into everything. If you have a half decent engine even in your car you change the oil every 5000 km

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