Hi guys! Winter in sweden is coming! That means frozen lakes… i will not be needing my rain kart in italy so i figured i will juat convert it to a Ice kart during winter season… im going to put screws thrugh old rain tires. And put a ultimate high grip setup on it. Max ride heighe smallest posrrible rear and widest front. Low gearing, something like 10-82 But i have 1 problem… i only have x30 engines… will it take damadge from the cold? Any carb settings to use? I understand there is a chance for seizure if carb dettings are off?
Thanks
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There’s a Russian dude that has some footage…
Use front wheels on all four corners, it’s all about getting maximum pressure on the tread, forcing it past any snow or ice shavings and pushing the studs into the ice. If you look at WRC cars in snow stages, or pro rallycross stuff on ice you’ll see the tires are rediculously narrow.
Stud pattern, avoid studding in straight lines, you want to alternate studs both along the circumference and across the tread.
Wet setup like you said. Max width front, minimum width rear, max ackerman and see how it behaves because if the studs are aggressive enough you can pull almost 1g.
Max ride height, in part for weight transfer but also to get the frame off the ground so it’s not dragging in the snow/shavings and slowing the kart down.
Look out for carb icing because the air will be carrying moisture that will freeze in there due to the Venturi effect. That can cause headaches including but not limited to narrowed venturi, clogged jets, a stuck butterfly or a combination of any of these.
Oil wise make sure what you’re using doesn’t separate at low temps. If it does, change oils or I believe adding acetone can help prevent the separation (confirm this though)
Engine heat, you may end up covering all of the radiator depending on how cold it is. You might even wrap up the engine itself and warm it on the stand to get enough heat into it.
Carb settings, air will be more dense of course, so start out richer than you would normally.
Rain tires are not ideal because the tread isn’t quite deep enough to get down past the snow/shavings and the compounds tend to be so soft that the studs deflect in the blocks.
Plenty of people have used rains or even slicks of course…. It’s just not ideal. You’ll want to give the screws plenty of support with washers but I’m sure you’ve guessed that much already.
Top tip, purpose designed ice tires give you an extra 1/2” of ground clearance, are narrow for maximum tread pressure and have deep, stiff blocks to displace snow and ensure the studs stay straight to bite into the ice 
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Depending on how cold it is you could probably get away without a radiator, or a very small one. Definitely need to add some antifreeze to your coolant so you don’t freeze up your engine. A bypass thermostat would do well also.
I have the 45° iame thermostat… thanks for the great tips @KartingIsLife and dad pob has old coolant
Can i use silicone instead of oring? If now what oring to use?