I first saw it last year, but it looks like europe is transitioning to using the new Rok SVR engine for all the senior classes this year. Look like an improvement on the GP in many ways. I know the GP (however fun) had a list of issues/annoyances. Kinda curious if Rok USA will transition to the new SVR engine in the future.
At least out West here hardly a soul runs a ROK GP. It’s just VLRs or ROK Shifters.
1 Like
I’m not too familiar with the rok gp to be honest. What were some of the annoyances? What looks to be the improvements with the SVR?
Well the engine was originally designed with an internal water pump that was run off the balance shaft gears, at some point they did away with the water pump and blanked off that area in the newer castings. Problem is that area is where the balance shaft oil drain was located so there was no way to drain the oil other than to turn the engine upside down. Another one was it could not fit a 10t driver so you’d have to run a huge rear sprocket sometimes when a high ratio was needed. The starter flywheel on all the Rok stuff is aluminum, but it appears this new engine has a steel one which is good for longevity. It also appears to share a clutch with the VLR and Mini Rok, so hopefully they’ll allow that steel flywheel on those in the rules soon. No more power valve, not so much an annoyance or issue just less to go wrong. The new engine comes with a KG nitro air box which means you get a filter which is nice. Oh, and overall it’s just a more compact package.
The GP is all but dead at this point, I don’t see a downside for them to try to bring in a better product to see if they can gain some market share back. Especially if they offered a trade for those with GPs.
1 Like
Rock is almost dead on a national level here in greece also . Iames and rotax have the big chank of the grid pie . But i have seen that rok remains popular in my nearside italy scene both in national and hobby areas . And those guys over there love that engine .
I remember Rok got popular for a short time in South America, I think in one Panamerican Rok Cup they got like 300 or 350 drivers, but nowadays is Rotax and IAME who have the pie mostly, with Rok in very few countries. Besides in Brazil and Argentina they have introduced OKN, with Brazil being monobrand(TM in OK and IAME in OKJ) and Argentina being multi-brand
Additionally, the IAME Sudam is still used if you want extra power
1 Like
IAME is far and away the most popular in the states at the moment. Rok had a surge a few years back when Rotax tanked, but has since faded. The downfall is multi-faceted in my opinion, but the decline of the Rok GP has definitely played a part. In my opinion if Rok wants to try another push in the US they need to do a few things. First, allow the steel flywheel from the new SVR (I believe it’s the same) to be run on the VLR and MiniRok for reliability reasons, plus I feel the aluminum flywheels are part of the reason why the Rok’s have more starting issues. Second, introduce the SVR in place of the outdated GP and allow some sort of trade in on old GP’s. Third and the most unlikely is adding a KZ2 class to Rok Vegas. Keep Rok Shifter in Masters and even a Pro Rok shifter. Basically how skusa used to have S1 and KZ at Supernats, but it would be Pro Rok Shifter and KZ2. Obviously this is just my opinion, but Rok is losing ground to Rotax and IAME currently and needs to do something if they want to change that.