On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your mechanical ability, or willingness to wrench on things?
9
Talk a little about your racing experience so far.
Raced Juniors 95-97, Tag/Shifter 07-08
What’s the main thing you need help with to get you started.
Ignite series is starting at COTA. The LO206 is intriguing but I’m concerned that my last experience in a kart being a Shifter, is the LO206 going to feel unimpressive to me? Not trying to be snobby about it by any means. Looking for input from anyone that has been in a similar situation, going from tag or shifter to LO206.
You probably won’t be impressed by the speed and power of the 206, this is not its reason for being.
You will likely be impressed by the fun you are having with your fellow racers. Low HP racing is not about going fast its about race craft and having fun. #keepkartingfun
Lo206 will be a snooze fest for you given shifter background. Great close racing though. Middle ground would be ka100 or vortex VLR I should think. I’m running x30 at 49yrs old so there’s that too. Bit harder on the old body though.
I’ve done shifters and even a little supers. My kart has a 206 on it currently. Sure, it’s low in power but you still get to hammer around turns like nothing else. One being that you can totally focus on your driving technique and chassis setup.
Try it for a race, see what you think.
They also offer KA100 at COTA. If you’re not familiar with that, it’s a 100cc reed motor with an onboard starter. So you have that as an option if you find the 206 isn’t quite giving you the speed you’d like.
Keep us posted on your adventures!
@Fast_Cat might be able to give a little insight on the program at COTA too.
The KA100 is much more appealing but I’m not sure how the participation level will be. I’m inclined to just wait it out and see what the field looks like.
I’ve been doing the concession kart league at COTA, it is extremely fun racing action on that track. I’ll be racing Masters or Heavy 206 for the February Ignite K3 race.
Question, I picked up my kart yesterday and only had a chance to take about 3 laps in it because it was flat out undriveable. No grip to be had anywhere, pushing on entry, no side bite, rear was loose too.
I have no clue how old the tires are but there seemed to be decent life left in them. I drove the rentals while they were assembling it and drove it just fine.
This gave me an uneasy feeling about the kart in general. This can’t be normal for YDS tires right? Anything else I can check for?
YDS are hard as rocks, so having next to no grip is normal. 3 laps will barely get the tires up to temp too, so they might’ve gotten better with some more time.
Yeah in those kind of conditions the extra weight of the rentals might have been a handling advantage. Not necessarily more absolute grip or cornering speed, but better F/R balance because its working the tires so much harder.
Well I think I’ll wait until the new Hoosier R80s are available just to rule that out. It was like driving with slicks in the wet. Onboards I’ve watched of other ignite series races had way more grip.
Tj is right, after 3 laps those tires were probably still cold to the touch. YDS is a very unique compound of tire that’s well suited to the spec program, but they take a long time to get temp into them. Not uncommon to run 30PSI and then still take 6-8 laps to get them up to optimal temp. Good news for you is I’m sure the kart is fine and the spec tire is switching over to Hoosier as you mentioned.
They only ran the first race. Speculation from what I heard was that things didn’t run as smoothly as they wanted. COTA has since changed a few rules in an attempt to increase participation. @Ian_Armstrong might have more info.