I agree with you Matt but I’ll say (for some stuff) Predator makes some good stuff (Water pump and Auger) specifically have been money! A race kart engine, not so sure- so I share your sediments there. But Predator isn’t THAT bad, lol.
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One of my favorite auto corrects.
To be fair, my 206 has about 3k in it at this point but it has resulted in spare engines. All for absolutely measely gains. I am also always in search of a new part. It was cheaper when I could just build and modify parts to meet the rules in 420cc racing but even then we were chasing parts (Best heads/Best flywheel) and honestly engine parity was just as good even with us all coming up with different grey areas on the rules.
I don’t get it . . .
Sentiment vs sediment
Left-field option: the WF replacement should be the Vortex VLR100.
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VLR is basically a KA100 very little difference between the engines.
They need to make a sealed bottom end Big Block Clone would be KA100 speed @ a $1500 price point.
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Isn’t the KA way more powerful then the VLR? Thought I read that somewhere . . .
VLR claims 20hp, KA100 claims 22. I’ve heard on track they are very closely matched
I think we underestimate the knowledge (and motivation) gap for four stroke drivers to switch to two stroke. I try to avoid making recommendations in that way for that reason…A Tillotson (Or a form of controlled Animal) is a more reasonable option.
The KA and VLR are pretty close in performance in senior classes and I think an adjustment was made to the juniors to match them. The KA is a little faster, but also around $1000 more.
I feel like that’s something that almost anyone could implement, but it hasn’t happened for some reason. Makes you wonder…
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In my opinion we already have too many engine options inbthe karting world. Adding more just thins the kart count in each class.
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It’s settled down quite a bit now as certain products have achieved market dominance (at one stage it felt like we were getting a new class a week), but the fragmentation is directly down to the proliferation of single-make racing. Businesses and manufacturers sell engines, and if you have single-make dominating the market place, then getting a lot of engine options will just happen as they try to carve out market share for themselves.
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More info from Gary Costanza (I’ve paraphrased a little, looks like he’s starting to work on building it so I’ll leave that part out for now)…
I’m working on a form for builders to enter measurements to get a sense of parity on these.
Peek inside after breakin an some hard dyno pulls . Best cylinder wall I’ve ever seen after dyno . Not even 1 scratch . I’m very impressed . Using Lucas oil. Piston .005 below deck . Exhaust valve relief on piston.
Hemi head . 24.5mm (stainless) X 27mm (steel) combo
5.5mm valves but They reduced tip OD to 5mm so be careful . 5.5 keepers won’t work here. Need 5mm keepers
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The engine naming is not ideal. We get calls/DM’s once a day asking about that engine and if we know anything about it. However, traffic on our website and facebook page has gone up quite a bit, as well. So, maybe not as bad as it seems? If it accidentally causes 1 Briggs 206 racer to find us and gets us a new customer, I dont mind…
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Wonder indeed we raced big block clones for awhile and they are insanely fun. They work quite well very similar to Yamaha Pipe speed but could easily go KA or X30 power levels.
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Video: On track Briggs 206 vs Predator Ghost:
Thats interesting how closely matched they are. I joined a Facebook group about these engines, and several guys have dyno’d them and claimed 12 to 13 hp, but an LO206 is supposed to be 9.
A dyno can say whatever you want, tho. You need back to back pulls on the same Dyno for the real number comparison.
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