Discover What You Need to Know Regarding Go Kart Engines
Posted: Monday, February 22, 2010
by Joshua Hardingur
JMS
Learning about go karts is not essential if all you are going to do is drive them around the nearest family fun center go kart track. Educating yourself on the variations between the various sorts of go kart engines is actually very basic and simple.
Open wheel racing is about as exciting as it gets. You'll have some idea of just how exciting it can be if you have ever watched the professional Indy Car racers. Open wheel racing has been around for decades and go kart racing is a modification of this open-wheel sport. The difference is that go karts are smaller and utilize shorter tracks, but the thrill of racing a go kart can be just as great. Furthermore, many racers use karting as a stepping stone to more costly, competitive, and faster racing. This is where a number of the most famous racers started.
4-stroke and 2-stroke engines are usually utilized for racing. Totally different editions of the 4-stroke engine have been very widespread within the family amusement fun centers, but electric engines are growing in popularity. Electric motors have many advantages that make them excellent for short amusement center tracks. They are very low-priced to maintain and operate, and only require a recharge when their juice gets too low. There's no need to fill their tanks with costly gas since they get their power from long-lasting batteries. And without a gas engine to break down they're cheap to maintain. And, since they do not turn out dangerous emissions they can be driven inside. The only negative aspect to electric go karts is that they require recharging after about 20 minutes of driving, but as battery technology advances these times are growing.
Top manufacturers of 4-stroke go kart engines are Tecumseh, Honda, and Briggs and Stratton. Their low-powered engines will produce approximately 5 to 20 hp. These low-powered engines are typically used at family fun centers or by rookie racers. However, a number of these engines can actually reach speeds more than 50 mph, so do not let the phrase "low power" fool you. This might not appear fast in your mind, but as soon as you start taking hairpin corners in a small kart at these speeds you will quickly understand just how speedy this really is.
Some 4-stroke engines have additional power and will produce up to 50 horse power. For maximum speeds you will need to go with a 2-stroke engine, but top 4-stroke engines can run at about 11,000 rpm and are regularly employed in National Championship class go kart racing. Some 2-stroke engines will turn out as little as 10 hp or less, but some can also produce 90 hp or more at more than 16,000 rpm. Speeds around 160 mph can be achieved with these robust 2-stroke engines.
In the olden days the engines were cooled with air, but with the faster speeds of today the majority of go kart engines are water-cooled. A number of the less powerful 4-stroke engines are still air-cooled, but the highest hp engines are generally water-cooled. No matter what kind of racing you wish to try, whether at slower or faster speeds, there is an engine that will match your needs.
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