Also, back on the topic…listen to a voice of reason for a sec. The whole interview is great, but get this part on engines…sums it up pretty well. Please don’t believe the crazy theories, there are decades of work behind engine designs, rulesets etc that got us here.
interesting, I thought KZ you were allowed to run non-homologated equipment compared to KZ2
If I recall correctly, that is true only for the chassis part, as long as the manufacturer is also producing an homologated chassis within the same homologation window (e.g. you and I can’t weld up a couple of tubes in our backyard and run KZ1). Everything else is same as KZ2, I believe they also took the paddle shifter provision away.
Never sell KZ or any multi-make class on the ‘parity’ narrative. That talk gets you spec-classes. The objective of KZ is to build and tune a better engine than your opponent. That’s the game
Oh the P word again 
Well, I think there’s a ton of info in this thread and anybody can filter through it and understand. I’ll signoff before it’s too late and see another “let’s bring back the Honda” comment. Exciting times for sure!
I just think everyone should embrace what they are actually doing rather than say stuff they think people want to here. This parity stuff really suppresses the sport from a professional perspective.
This is what should be said
“Look, we’re here to win. I tune the engine to win, I want to be the best. And we want to hire the best divers on the planet to race our gear. This is the biggest kart race in the world, not an arrive and drive stag do. We’re not here to preach parity, we’re here to race and entertain fans around the world! This is the best motorsport in the world, and I make no apoligies”
They’re high maintenance. MGP bikes have to be torn down after every race.
I still don’t get the argument for dumping paddle shift from KZ1. I kind of thought it existed to allow for more “exotic” fare in the class.
Hey can we have a discussion as to wether paddles are “cheaty” or not. It seems to me that the physicality of shifting (right arm seems very busy) makes it a bit special as compared to cars. Shifting interferes with the turn process so it seems to me that the right arm is somewhat compromised/dual duty.
Paddles would make shifting easier it seems to me and makes sense that it’s not allowed. (But I’ve never been a shifter guy so what do I know?)
I’ve driven with paddles, and sure it is cool. But it isn’t faster at all. I drove the same times with stick and with paddles, sure your left arm didn’t get as tired but it wasn’t any magical in terms of pace
The old trusty stick is nice
I get this sentiment, but I guess it doesn’t really add anything to the sport.
Oh ok thank you. I would have assumed it helps.
I spent a large about of time using the KZ in KK and I was being cheaty and never used the actual shifter, Just paddles.
What seemed to be an advantage is that I did not have to consider the timing/location of the shift point. When manually shifting I’d want that moment to be sort of when the kart sags near apex sorta. With my pretend PDK I could bang down to 1 or 2 while cornering.
In my opinion I think the stick allows you to brake more straight, you are forced to keep the wheel straight while downshifting. You also helping the braking with the engine braking while banging down the gears
With paddles you could easily develop a bad habit of shifting to late into the corner and could lock up while braking and turning.
Kz is basically all about straight braking and late braking, so the gears have to be done before the corner
Thank you! That makes sense.
According to whom? And why should it have to “add” something at all in any case? Why can’t it be an option like std seats vs seats with lateral leg support?
That’s a consequence of bad technique, & is not unique to paddle shift.
I guess it comes down to how you define the sporting aspect from a driver’s perspective. There has to be a line drawn somewhere. stick shifts have been a part of the sport for 50+ years, so we can say it’s part of the ‘athletic’ side of karting there’s little additional meaning to change that. In theory you could add CVTs or full automatic systems. I think that would be an error.
I like the idea of freeing up the regs, especially with regarding to carbs, but in terms of the actual mechanics of driving… I don’t think needs to change or go back to the previous Tech regs
It could be argued that it increases the driver’s control, & by extension raises the bar for safety.
I think if the bar for safety is so high that a stick shift is an issue, then karting would have to cease immediately.
Not implying that it’s inadequate, just raises it some. The real gain is the added control, plus some cool factor.
Technically paddles aren’t forbidden by the regulations I don’t believe, they just cannot be the electronic ones. Motori Seven makes a set of cable operated mechanical paddles that are legal.
It’s called banging gears for a reason.
We don’t want to call it tapping gears…