You’ll have to compare the caliper mounting patterns to see if they’ll plug in. VEN05 is among the best kart brakes I’ve ever sampled. Subsequent iterations going forward since have essentially been an evolution of the VEN05 design. The ventilated disc solved the heat problems the VEN04 could sometimes encounter.
I guess this another thing I don’t understand about karts coming from a car racing (mostly crew) experience. For reference, iron rotors start to glow about 930F. That’s just starting to get hot.
This is why I don’t understand the purpose of ventilated rotors on a tiny kart. There is so little mass to stop compared with the surface area. Warm to hot with racing brakes is good (cold is BAD). So long as the pads are in the window, the main differences between them are how aggressive they grab, leaving it somewhat up to driver preference so long as they will last the race distance.
I know CRG sells some different colored pads, but I can’t find anything that provides any information like you would find with pads for any other motor sports showing temperature vs coefficient of friction (Mu), such as this graph for Hawk pads.
Even though my electric kart will be quite heavy, with both front and rear non ventilated rotors I don’t see how I would ever need anything more. I’d say that kart pads are just crazy soft, yet mine hardly wore during an entire season with the 80cc shifter (only rear brake).
I also think the rhythm of kart driving - particularly the shifter category - works brakes enough to potentially be an issue. There must be a reason the ventilated rotors starting from VEN05 are the de rigueur spec after all this time. I doubt they are cheaper to make than a stamped sheet of spring steel (VEN04).
Karts have a really small hydraulic system so a small amount of expansion of brake fluid can cause the piston push out slightly causing brake drag. Interestingly synthetic brake fluid has higher boiling point, but has higher thermal expansion below boiling. At a track with a long straight away, by the end of session the brake would be dragging slightly. This was before you could find brake ducting for karts. I made one from some car intake runner. The brake stayed cool and did not drag. Around the same time Birel came out with a caliper that was cantilevered. The pistons were not directly behind the piston and that resolved it as well.
My hunch is they might be compatible, maybe with an adapter bracket. I’d check with a CRG vendor, or even contact CRG directly. I had really a good experience with Parolin. Response time took a while, but I got the answers I needed by going to the source.
Would there be a big difference in performance? I feel like the ven04 are soft and dont have a great bite. Stops quickly but i feel like it can be quicker.
I’d agree that in wet conditions the VEN04 is a little hard to modulate. I never had any issues with them getting soft, although I had a dual master setup.
They have a good grab but the pedal seems quite soft compared to others ive compared it to. Honestly i have bled the system in over a year so maybe it’s time.
A trick I’ve used to make sure all the fluid is replaced is to alternate natural and colored fluids. After super blue fluid was banned I made my own colored fluid with a tiny amount of Methylene Blue added.
Well i dont get out too often. I dont race either. I probably have like 4-5 actual driving hours this whole year. We spend half a day at the track but do like 3-10-15min sessions each time.
You could always take dimensions and have a metal fabricator make you a custom bracket. I did this for my mcp system I bought for my Birel build. It worked out nicely!