I know how guys on the net like to spend other guys money on the internet.
Help me spend some money.
I would say cost is not the only factor but is a consideration (reality). I am going to be looking at the cost of replacement parts as well. I’’ probably stick with the CIK/sprint body work.
Driver is 55 years old, 210 lbs. Track is Nola Motorsports Park - which is reconfigured / reversed often so it doesn’t get rubbered up much. Support would be over the phone / internet.
MGM and Ionic seem to be the 2 smaller brands among the pack of Coyote, Margay, VLR, Birel, Tonykart.
I did see an Ikart locally and it had some aspects I like and some I didn’t like too much, mainly the front end adjusters seem underbuilt
Ionic edge seems to be the most unique. Which is a double edged sword.
I have been dabbling in LO206 on a 2 stroke chassis. I am at the point to continue and enjoy it will require a real 206 chassis.
Any opinions and reasoning are welcome. Based on experience and observation are a plus.
I agree with Matt. Birel AM29 (Ricciardo), MGM, and Comet Eagle are the dominant chassis right now. The Ionic can be very fast but from drivers I’ve talked to there is a very narrow window with the setup. If you hit the setup it’s fast. It seems the Birel and MGM are more forgiving and fast at pretty much any track with just a few adjustments.
Between you guys answering and a PM it is pretty narrowed down.
One thing I find frustrating when looking @ chassis online is no real detail photos from certain mfgrs.
I did speak with Kyle from Ionic and Paul from MGM. Tough choice as both seem like they would be good to work with.
The only thing about the Ricciardo is I really don’t think I am cut out for a white frame, LOL
I am not a huge fan of the MCP but I will say it was fine once I got the pads heated up. A pad swap might have fixed my weird feeling going into turn one.
Only 1 kart came from last to first in something like 20 laps passing 45 karts at the recent CKNA Grand Nationals at New Castle. It was the Nitro in 206 Heavy or Masters (not sure which). The only purpose built 206 kart I know of.
Jim,
Thanks,
I looked up Nitro. It looks like they only make kid karts. 950 wheelbase Cadet is on their website. They make a left engine version.
Then I see other stuff on the FB page.
Then MGM’a Paul Rice or his wife thanked ‘Nitro’ for building their stuff. Maybe it was somebody’s nickname.
I’m just going to call them
I am not really too worried about chassis color. I just thought white would be a nightmare to keep presentable.
MGM seems like the can’t go wrong option, with such a large base of satisfied customer.
I do have to say though Ionic and Kyle Luttrell have an appeal. I feel Kyle & I could mesh well.
Smart move would be to do an arrive & drive on each chassis. While expensive I am sure I would learn a lot.
One thing to remember 1/2 the field didn’t start in Masters due to rain. I believe Nick started top 5 after all the shuffling? The winner of all 3 heats pulled a beer out the cooler and watched the final from the sidelines due to the rain. Nick did run away with the final though.
I am very intrigued by the lefty. Would like to see Randy take it for a spin
Mike, Nitro is a sponsor/partner for MGM. PCR robotically welds up the chassis for Paul. There is a relationship with Nitro for the MGM Cadet chassis. Where Paul works with Nitro for the building of it. Nitro makes so many that it only makes sense for Paul to get from Nitro. the overhead for a small amount of cadets out ways possible ROI.
It’s hard to accurately gauge chassis performance… It’s even harder to accurately gauge how a chassis will perform for you with the way you drive, on the tires you run, at the tracks you race at, in your class and weight. Which is all that matters…
I wouldn’t draw a major conclusion or choose one well known brand over another based on race performance exclusively. At the least you will want to find out specifics of the conditions\variables for weight\tires etc. This way you can narrow the suitability of a chassis for you down.
Pick three chassis, get a sense of what kind of support you can expect (Consider paying for this too) to get at the races that YOU plan running on the tires and weight YOU will run. If you still can’t decide, pick a pretty color and send it. Or maybe they have opportunities to test one?
Leftys are cool but in the 20+ years they have been around in four stroke karts in europe (Moreso UK) really it’s more convenience than anything else. Sure one can hypothesize on possible advantages, but on the track it’s debatable unless you have an edge case where you just can’t get the kart to scale with your driver.
Surprised at this statement, they are pretty common, although I’d propose that “purpose built” is a pretty ambiguous term and it’s debatable as to whether it actually offers a performance improvement.
James,
I agree. I almost didn’t start this post due to exactly what you said. TBH the feedback was way better than I expected. Best feedback I got was in PM’s.
My problem is a lot of support is regional and i’d be on phone support.
So I feel like frame is a shot in the dark as to if it is for me or not, then I’m choosing brakes, front end adjustment type and mfgr tuning support.
We try to build a community of helpful people, vs folks that just want to “flex”
I know this topic can turn into a hot mess sometimes with everyone piling on their own personal favorites and/or affiliations leaving the person asking the question more confused than when they started.
The topic is good information for people visiting the sit, looking to get started, or buy their next kart… For every poster on the forums there’s literally 1000’s of people coming to just read, so I’m glad you started it. When I write and edit I try to think of those people as much as I can.
Doesn’t matter how many started the final, anybody that was ahead of him started. So he would have started 5th whether there was 50 karts or 5 karts. He finished Heat one in 40th, and by lap 2 of The final he was in 1st. So by my math that is passing 39 karts in 17 laps. Not bad. Especially considering it is on a 206 kart. Just goes to show when you give a little attention to a European chassis you can make it dominant. You don’t see any of these american chassis in 2 stroke racing.
As for the Nitro being the only purpose built 206 kart I know of…well… I can’t think of any other karts on the market with the 4 stroke engine on the left. Nitro is the only one. If you can think of any reason why you would intentionally build a kart for 4 cycle racing and not put the engine on the left I am all ears. I know this is a soft spot for everyone, so let me have it, flame away.
This kart was in one class and passed the entire field in 17 laps, rain or shine. Says a lot. Of course Nick is a badass driver, but there were plenty of other badasses.
It’s not worth the effort from a performance standpoint is one reason. Opinions will vary on that of course. It’s more of a consideration with kiddos in lighter classes where the engine weight represents a higher percentage of the package. Eg Honda cadets in the UK
It’s convenient to have it on the left with the drive being on the same side for sure.
To me that’s the primary advantage of mounting on the left. But I can understand the marketing angle of packaging that as specific to four stoke racing. Then when it does really well, people look at it and see an obvious difference and assume that’s what they need to have.
