Hi all, recently was racing and unfortunately the engine blew up. Apparently it was because of the carb jetting, so lesson learned. Main question I have is, is it worth buying a blueprinted engine + carb? There’s like a $800 difference, but I’m fortunate enough where that’s not a problem. Also, I know this may not be easy to answer, but I was wondering where I could buy “reparto corse” chassis. Especially Intrepid karts, and how do I figure out if they are these “special” factory chassis. Thanks!
You will only notice the difference in a blueprinted engine/carb if you are competing at the very front of the field. Whether that minute difference is worth $800 to you is your call.
You can’t, that’s the point of the “special material” factory chassis. Those are the karts that the factory-supported high-level national and international drivers get. You likely wouldn’t want one anyway. Typically these karts are designed to last a short amount of time vs. the more durable frames that companies sell to the public. And again, unless you are competing at a very high-level, you likely wouldn’t feel the difference to your standard kart anyway.
He wants that non-magnetic chassis 
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Interesting, is that how all chassis manufacturers do it? Give the factory drivers the top stuff that flexes in all the right ways, but only lasts for a race or two?
I’m sure not all but it is or has been a common thing for factory teams to do.
I remember speaking with a friend who was a Birel factory driver in the early 2000s and he mentioned how all the frames needed to be returned to Birel after a weekend so they could be destroyed. A few times at SuperNats I remember walking out on the final day and seeing many bare frames tossed in the garbage because they were special one-offs and were done after a week of racing.
There’s a whole thread on here somewhere about “special material” karts.
It’s hard to tell the folklore from the reality I’ve found 
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I’m assuming that the top guy at my track is running a comet blueprinted engine. I was beating him until now, saw a bunch of comet stickers on his engine. I’m guessing it’s blueprinted because he’s the son of the track owner, who builds engines for me and everyone else in VLR, so it wouldn’t make sense to get a standard comet engine. Just wondering is there that big of a disadvantage if i’m not running a blueprinted engine.
It could be a couple tenths, it depends. “Blueprinting” just means the builder is building the engine to the legal limit. Every engine comes out of the factory with slight variations. You could have an engine that had more variance from the factory, and blueprinting that might yield some pretty noticeable results. But you could also have an engine that was a bit better and tighter from the factory and blueprinting might do almost nothing to that in terms of performance. Modern engines are pretty good tolerances so built engines aren’t as big of a performance upgrade as they used to be.
As I always say, driving is worth seconds, chassis tuning is worth tenths, engine tuning is worth hundredths. You should be prioritizing them in that order. Are you competing within a couple tenths of the best drivers? If yes, then it’s time to hunt down the last tiny bits of time. If you’re not within a few tenths of the best drivers, there are bigger and more important things to focus on than having the best engine.
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Thanks for this. Yeah, i’m around .2 off the pace right now (with his blueprinted engine), used to be .2 faster. For the factory chassis, I did read the huge thread on them. Saw someone say you could approach the team at a big race and ask them. Obviously would be used for atleast a race, but if I can get 4 races out of it, that’s good enough for me (only need it for my national races, one is already done).
Acquisition of “special” chassis has become slightly easier over these last few years, mainly due to the amount of racing the factories do (which translates to a much higher production of frames that can be sold downstream). This is only applicable to Europe, nevertheless, where the factories operate at international level.
There is also a lot of variance depending on the factory on how willing they are to sell you certain things, based on who you are as well.
For instance, there is a manufacturer that will never, under any circumstance, sell you the racing department’s material (the veterans of the sport will surely recognize who this is), while others are a lot more open to it, if you approach them immediately at the end of a race meeting.
What is very important to remember is: it’s not because the chassis is “special” that it will be fast.
Factories develop a bunch of different things and try a myriad of different solutions in chassis construction. Sometimes, these work worse than expected or don’t work at all. Purchasing something like that would put you on the backfoot without you even knowing it.
Moreover, you need to be a special driver to exploit a special chassis 
. In the right hands, you may have two tenths difference but, for the common folk, a special frame may be actually slower than the standard one solely due to the fact that it’s in fact harder to drive on the limit.
Finally, performance comes at a cost. As TJ said, special chassis tend to be less durable than standard stuff.
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I think this is key. One has to consider the technical resources available to a factory team driver at an international event.
Which comes back to the age-old question of “What’s the best chassis”. The right answer isn’t necessarily a brand that won big races. The “best” chassis is likely what seems to be working well at the races you plan to run. Or better yet, the chassis that’s in the same class, weight and tires you’ll be running on.
'“Ask not what is the best chassis, but what is the best chassis FOR YOU.”
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Personally I think having the blueprinted engine is worth it. Not necessarily because it will be faster, but it crosses off a possibility of whats going on.
I don’t think a special chassis is the way to go. Get one of the name brand chassis (OTK, Birel, Kart Republic, IPK, Intrepid, CRG, etc…) that you have support for locally and then its all up to your driving from there.
Perhaps the best advice ever given on KP. I thought someone was making that into a t-shirt?
Unless you have a “bomb” engine but those are rare exceptions
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Tj should get that tatt and every time a parent asks about built engines he sighs and takes his shirt off.
Derek made stickers!
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