Is the intent to compete on track w the 206? Or to create another class and take some of the 206 market away?
I keep seeing more info about these karts/series online and locally saw 4-5 karts running at OGP.
I imagine it’s to take away from 206, especially so since they are selling it as a full kart/engine package.
Aha. Uk 4-stroke. It’s real.
Tilltson is an Irish company, though they are selling to the UK
The engine might be useful if Briggs goes bust, but selling it as chassis/engine combo will work to a limited extent, but you cut out the people pushing the sport at local tracks (ppl selling chassis’).
I’ve read about Briggs being bought - is it likely they go “bust”?
4 strokes were pretty well non existent in UK until the coming of the twin Honda gx160 engined prokarts around 1990.
The class was massive through the nineties in sprint racing as well as endurance. The purists were not happy.
Next came the Honda cadets with a single gx 160 usually mounted on the left.
The approach in both classes was to keep the engines pretty much standard and variations in engines led to a series of rule changes to equalise performance. Version 13a was current last time I looked. Tyres were YDS or
Dunlop SL1 ie hard .
Honda cadet is probably the strongest UK class whereas the senior prokarts succumbed to the Rotax onslaught but still have a devoted if low key following both in sprints and endurance.
In 2000 CIK/FIA decreed that all kart racing would be 4 stroke from 2004 and also started the World Formula project.
This decree spawned the new breed of high performance 4 strokes.
First on the scene was the Ecomoto from Harm Schuurman in Holland based loosely on a 250 kawasaki bike engine but it was soon followed by the Biland twin , Suter Vampire, TKM 4 stroke, Swiss Auto, Yamaha FK250 and a few others.
Of course the 2 stroke ban never happened and a number of manufacturers were left
nursing their wounds.
The World Formula project called for a 15 hp. max. 4 stroke electric start ,price 800 swiss francs.
At one stage every man and his dog were reputedly building WF engines but the only one to gain homologation was the Briggs and Stratton.
These arrived in UK but couldn’t really outperform the twin engined prokarts without removing the rev limiter and destroying themselves.
So a brief history of 4 stroke kart engines in UK. All contradictions additions etc . welcomed.
Thank you for that interesting history!
I imagine “206” and “225” both refer to engine size, of course there are a lot of variables involved in engine performance, but just by going on the names alone I’d think the answer would be the latter.
I noticed Atlanta Motorsports Park have classes for both the Briggs and Tillotson, but run in separate race groups. Their rule book has the Tillotson running 10 lbs. lighter but they are both on the same brand and compound of tire. A quick look on Mylaps for more recent results of their club races has the Tillotson running around 1-1.5 seconds a lap quicker than the Briggs.
Hmm…where have I heard that before?
I once talked with some of the people at Andersen Race Park. They have a series for the Tillotson T225 and they say that the 225 has slightly more power than the LO206 and runs faster by around 2 sec, therefore they run in different classes
So having rambled on about everything but the thread topic (apologies for that), I have had a look at the subject ie Tillotson T4 Kart.
First thing is that Tillotson are offering a complete kart/ engine package so no wondering if your engine will fit on your chassis , which engine mount , why the carb is where the back wheel goes etc .All done for you.
Every thing is spec. Sealed engine no mods.
Spec carb , exhaust, filter. even oil!
Chassis wise ,‘Spec’ frame, axle ,hubs, rims , tyres,seat, bodywork , the lot.
Now some may not like this but the alternative seems to be to have a vast array of axles ,hubs ,rims etc, all of which ’ make a difference’ but few seem to know what or why.
Only thing that is clear is they are going to cost money, lots of it.
Engine is a 225 cc 4 stroke copy of the Honda GX built in ’ our factory in China’
Claimed 15hp. PVL alloy flywheel and ignition with 6,500 rpm limiter, Billet rod with shell bearings, Tillotson diaphragm carb, decent exhaust, pull start, sealed with log book.
Chassis is pretty conventional ‘European built’
Spec 50 mm? axle , self adjusting brake, vented disc, spec. aluminium rims, adjustable castor / camber/ ride height/ Ackermann.
Kart weight around 155lb.
Tyres are Maxxis ’ specially produced for the Kart’?
Quoted price €3250 .plus taxes.
Seems a reasonable proposition for all those wanting a ’ level playing field’ particularly in regions without an established comparable adult class??
Yah. I like this concept and will be doing similar spec racing next year, hypothetically, on a margay setup. I do like the idea of not having to worry about wether I am running the ideal equipment.
Hopefully this does not go the route of the Spec Miata Series with guys dropping huge coin chasing the last few hundredths for a supposed Spec Setup. On the other hand, its always nice to see a driver win on an out-of-the-box package over the big spenders. 
Isn’t this basically Margay Ignite, except an IPK/Praga with a sealed clone?
I don’t know much about the Tillotson T4 series, especially since it’s new and that the LO206 is already established, but T4 are thinking of pretty interesting ways to get people to try their T4 karts. Yesterday Tillotson held a T4 Florida Cup at one of the local tracks here and offered $2500 first place prize and rented the engine for only $100, which turned a usual local turnout of 5 into 20.
But I don’t know how big T4 will be in the USA. I have nothing against it and wouldn’t mind having a go in one myself, but the LO206 is already pretty big, with huge local turnouts and events like CKNA and having places in WKA and other events. Not sure if many of the current LO206 drivers are gonna make the switch to T4. At least in the USA and Canada.
I’d be interested to know if you could put a T4 engine onto a LO206 chassis and then race with that in other series. I think that could help Tillotson gain more racers
The race down at Anderson this weekend was a mix of the T4 chassis and others. The top finishing T4 was 6th or 7th.
You can definitely put it on other chassis’ though it seems the T4 is at a disadvantage when doing so.
Of course, 206 builds one of the best entry-level karting programs in recent memory; something successful across the country and a great starting point when pointing people to the first steps into a karting career, and karting again tries to cannibalize itself and split up the pie so someone else can make a quick buck.
What does the T4 offer that 206 or Ignite doesn’t?
No competition when it comes to equipment.
LO206 is now, and has always been, an engine designed to run at 3600 RPM. I think it does that very well.
Why should Briggs make money and not anyone else when they believe they have a better product? Anyway, this is a natural consequence of single-make racing. new classes breed new classes. Just a natural law of life 
The only way to counter it is having a company who absolutely is leagues ahead of everyone that their monopoly can last for a decade or so. But because single-make necessitates stagnation of development to survive, others usually catch up.
I get where you’re coming from given it’s origins, however the Briggs 206 comes from the factory with a rev limiter set for 6100RPM.
