Hi Guys, I just got into karting and was wonder what a season of lo206 would cost. The season is 9 race weekends. The is just club level racing so I would only be racing at one track (speedsportz) Ex Tires, fuel (we run vp110 for 206 dont know why) oil, carb kits and other thing like that. I have heard of people going through only 3,4 sets of tires per season but dont know how competitive there were. I know for the 2 stroke classes you need a new set for each race weekend is this the same for 206 One thing that I dont understand about this class is the locks on the engine can you get your engine rebuilt and then re sealed (locked) What if the engine breaks do you have to replace the engine or could you get it fixes somehow
As a newbie, I’d plan to get take-off tires from the front runners, a fresh set for every race, for $20-$50. The Turbo Tire Changer costs $225 and you’ll be popular at the track if you mount it to your trailer and let others use it after you’ve changed your own.
You’ll burn a gallon of fuel for a race day.
A complete set of legal replacement jets for these carbs will run about $50. You’ll never use it if you pull off the fuel line at the end of each day and run the engine until it stalls.
A 5-quart bottle of really nice passenger car synthetic oil on sale at an auto parts store is $25 and it’ll last all season.
You cannot rebuild the engine in this class. A new “short block” is $300. It will last 5000 hours, or two starts after your landlord doesn’t put any oil in it and takes it out while you’re working on your shifter.
Evinco Blues are nice and durable on a Briggs. You’ll probably only need three sets for the year.
There are wear dots, three on the inside, and three on the outside of a tire. You can take a look at a new tire to see how much tread it has, and a tire is done when the dots are gone.
Well the tires have these little hole type indents in them. You can sort of tell wear by looking at those. But, you’d need experience with the tires to be able to draw meaningful conclusions.
What I’d do is buy a new set. Drive them till they are no good. Now you know how long they last.
As for tires, I went through 4 sets last year. 9 weekends 18 race day. 8laps heat format. MG red. 206 heavy. I usually finish top 5 of the day.
I think Evinco Blues is basically MG blue which is harder than MG red. For MG red, we could not finish the tire tread before heat cycle destroy the tire, I think MG blue should be in a better situation.
1 Gallon of 91 gas usually last me about 2 weekends + practice.
Last race of the year with @fatboy1dh , I poled, won the heat, and fought for the lead all final with random used tires from 2021 that had been used most of 2022.
I usually go 3-4 races between replacement on Hoosier 60B. On MG reds I have won on 2 year old, 4 race old MG reds at MCC and I plan to run them my next few races for club there as well.
The two stroke gang may have a different feeling about fresh tires.
Budget for three sets of tires for your season. You will be able to tell when the tires start falling off as you get experience with it.
If you can find a source for used tires, definitely try that as well, see how it goes for you. Perhaps after you’ve cycled a new set down to the cords, just because that way you will know better what a good vs dead tire feels like.
I don’t know how it goes in 4-stroke at big race meets but a lot of perfectly useable tires get thrown away by competitors who have raced them once. This may be exclusively a 2-stroke thing since old vs new tire has such a dramatic difference in 2 stroke (more oomph, harder on tires). In any case, look around after the race meetings to see what’s being discarded.
Hi, we are also pretty new to speed sports, vp93 is what LO206 is required, their site is a bit confusing, 110 octane is for 2 stroke.
As far as tires we put new tires every 2-3 race weekends. The top drivers/ karts put new tires on every qualifying race day. Clean clutch every few day, new springs every 3 races, and just keep carb clean. If you run the TSRS they require the Aspen fuel which is more alkaline based fuel, don’t leave that fuel sitting in the bowl after your done. TSRS you would want new tires every race to stay competitive. 2 races are at speed sports.
As far as the engine itself, if the exhaust hasn’t been converted over to studs for the exhaust pipe get that done otherwise the vibrations will cause the bolts to come loose and damage the threads. We bought the kart 2 seasons old and we put another season on the engine, we did replace the short block this off season. Along with freshen the cylinder head. The lock/seal on the block helps keep the lo206 class contained within the rule book.
James
My 0.02 as someone that just finished a complete season for the first time last year is that I recommend fighting the temptation to put on new tires until your first new set is completely dead, because in your first year your driving will be inconsistent and will be the major factor affecting your speed. You will likely not even be able to take advantage of new tires at first or be able to feel them properly.
