Upgrading Chassis - CRG or Tony Kart

Chassis Setup, Tires & Handling Forum
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Our local X30 series has just ended for the year, and throughout the entire season I was consistently around 0.300s back from the front runners. While all of the front runners are running less than a year old chassis, I’m driving a 14 year old chassis, which while it is technically in good condition, it has a 4mm discrepancy between the left and right camber setting. While I’m trying not to blame the chassis for the difference, I was wondering if it’s normal to gain such a gap with a new chassis.

This brings me to my second question, I’m starting to consider upgrading to a newer (but possibly still used for a couple of races) chassis, in the hope that it will make me level with the competition. Locally, the two main brands in use are CRG and Tony Kart, with CRG having more support due to a local distributor.

Both the CRG KT2 chassis and the CRG Heron chassis are used locally, however I am unsure of which will fare better for the X30 class given the same driver. I have driven both karts for a short test session, and noticed that the Heron has more rear grip while the KT2 has more front grip, although I’m sure that this could change with more time in each kart as well as setup changes.

While having a local agent is a big plus in favour of getting a CRG kart, I can’t help but notice that CRG karts never do too well in the international X30 series, or any non-shifter races for that matter, while Tony Karts are always in the front of the grid. Is this just coincidence or maybe some factor that I did not consider, or is the new Tony Kart actually superior to the CRG models which it comes to single speed classes?

I would really appreciate some feedback on whether my current chassis, being quite old and seemingly not straight, could be possibly holding me back from ever reaching the front runners, or if I should stick with it for the next season and try to find the time difference in my driving.

I would also appreciate some advice on which chassis you would go for between the CRG KT2, CRG Heron or the Tony Kart Racer 401R, especially if anyone has experience on more than one of these chassis. Thanks!

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I am a firm believer that any top level chassis can be just as fast as the others. It mainly comes down to support and testing.

With there being a local crg dealer I personally would lean towards them if they will be at the race track on race days for help.

With that said I think the wealth of knowledge on the otk products is large enough to help Via the web if you are not able to have a dealer or other support at the track.

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Both CRG and Tonykart have been multiple world champions over the last 30+ years.

The problem with looking at the world (or even National) championships is that success there is not necessarily an indicator of how well performance at that level will benefit you.
Different tracks, tires and full-factory team support are probably not things you will be availing of.

With local support, provided you feel it’s adequate, I’d have no reservation about getting a CRG.

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Any chassis can be fast with the right tuning, and support. Besides, with differences in driver skill, it all works out.

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Thanks for all the advice! Given your feedback I’m starting to lean towards a CRG chassis. The agent runs it’s own team which I will not be part of, so I will most likely not be getting any feedback with regards to setting up the chassis from them, however it’s always helpful to have parts readily available rather than having to source them online.

With regards to choosing between the KT2 and the Heron frame, does anyone have any experience or heard anything about which would be ideal for an X30 class? From the CRG brochure it seems to suggest that the Heron is slightly more targeted towards beginners, however the fact that they’re both used internationally suggests otherwise.

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Chassis aren’t really suited for ‘beginners’, ‘intermediate’ or ‘advanced’. So that’s not a thing.

It’s more like whether it has certain adjust-ability (normally something basic like kingpin adjustment) or the material of that the parts are made from.