Thursday 31 May 2012

Karting Tips post: Direct Drive vs TAG/Clutch (Part 1 Direct Drive)

So you've worked your butts off either doing actual work or persuading your parents into buying you a racing kart, but which one do you go for? Here's a little karting tip.

Allow me to give you a quick brief of what Direct drive (often called DD) and Touch and Go (TAG) karts are, first off is DD, this is where the the rear axle is directly connected to the crank shaft of the engine, Confused? don't worry ill clarify with a picture
Picture from Karting1.co.uk posted by Joe Higham
The Crankshaft is the Shaft (duh! right?) that spins because the pistons in the engine move up and down and thus we get POWER, or acceleration would be more accurate. now when this shaft is connected to the the rear axle via that big golden thing called a sprocket it means as you spin the rear wheels you spin the pistons in the engine. And if you haven't figured it out yet that is how you start a direct drive engine, you push it until you gather momentum and the engine should start, (you also need to block the air intake (missing from the picture) so the engine can fill with fuel and you remove your hand when the engine turns over. so lets make a list of Good and bad stuff about such and engine.

Advantages
- Cheaper, Both short term (kart is cheaper) and long term ( Starter motor repairs, replacing batteries)
- Simpler, ive posted about my clutch exploding, if your new to karting i would recommended DD as they have no clutch to explode!
- Lighter, Heavier drivers tend to go for direct drive to compensate for the extra weight

Disadvantages
- Tiring, trust me taking a direct drive kart to a track is quite the workout
- If you spin out in a race, its race over unfortunately, because if the rear axle stops, so does the Crank and therefore the engine, Unless you can start it up again alone, but this is difficult and takes long so either way race is over. 

So that's part one, Next part we go through TaG karts.
In the mean time if you haven't already check out my YouTube channel Right HERE
Be Well ----------------------- Mustafa S. Wandi
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13 comments:

  1. ahmed ur dad31 May 2012 at 12:47

    this is not true all your information is false u retarded fool

    ReplyDelete
  2. Turnip Heads Little Lamb Productions31 May 2012 at 12:53

    Please do not use such language, i wish to think this blog is open to all ages, And would you care to clarify? what is false? perhaps i can change it and it would benefit us all

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    Replies
    1. ahmed ur dad31 May 2012 at 13:04

      one disagrees because it is not quite tiring to take a go kart around a track u fat cunt :)

      Delete
    2. Turnip Heads Little Lamb Productions31 May 2012 at 14:00

      It appears you have little to no experience in this topic, if you go to a track with some friends (clearly something you lack)and Some of which less experienced, they will spin out... a lot, therefore you have to constantly run out on track to re start the engine and we spend all day at the tracks and personally i do long 40 or so minute stints, if you had any experience in driving a DD or even any 2 stroke kart you would understand what i mean. Now it appears you comments are of no use to me or other users of the blog so any other negative comments you post i shall delete. so "ahmed ur dad" i hope you enjoy you motorsport ventures , good bye :)

      Delete
    3. Anonymous31 May 2012 at 16:38

      ahhhhhhhh lol ahmed ur dad you are a funny guy. in addition it is tiring on the track. also ahmed is not my dad. + wandisports i like your blog it is very informative.

      Delete
    4. Turnip Heads Little Lamb Productions31 May 2012 at 17:22

      Thanks for the kind words

      Delete
    5. Anonymous31 May 2012 at 23:02

      your welcome i have been following your blog it is very use full and also well written

      Delete
  3. ahmed ur dad31 May 2012 at 16:42

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ahmed ur dad31 May 2012 at 23:04

      This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous26 August 2012 at 15:27

    How much kart racing have you actually done? Reading around the net, 100cc (KT100S) need rebuilds quite often compared to 125cc (Rotax, Leopard, etc). And 125cc TAG engines are more even (no need to blueprint, etc), so easier for recreational racers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Turnip Heads Little Lamb Productions26 August 2012 at 18:32

      I'm afraid i don't follow, i didn't mention rebuild cost for that exact reason, they are very complex and variable, something each engine varies in. Now don't you dare question "how much kart racing i have actually done" as i never claim to know everything or claim i have "done" a lot but what i do know is from experience not just "Reading around the net", now if you have anything constructive to say, I'm all ears, if not i urge you not to return to my blog.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous28 May 2013 at 12:05

    I know I'm digging up an old blog here but I'm pretty physically fit being an army ranger and I took my DD birel with a PCR DD engine to this new track in North Carolina and I can honestly say I'm pretty exhausted and that was after 4 10min sessions. Not only is it physically exhausting but extremely mentally exhausting. Strange enough for me to be this physically worn out the ambient air temprature was a beautiful 73 degreese and the track was a solid 110. My main reason for posting is on my 3rd session and every session after that my engine decided it wanted to lock up and send me sliding at 75 mph. Thankfully as an experienced drifter I was able to keep this thing under control. When I brought the kart back to the pits I was able to fire it right up again. So basically what the heck is going on?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Turnip Heads Little Lamb Productions28 May 2013 at 12:39

      Wow didn't realize its been so long since i posted here, i still regularly drive but i found a new hobby of film making so that's what I'm blogging about now. i understand what you mean and it is demanding, and especially mentally, i was the my local track yesterday driving in the rain on slicks and it was an incredible experience. as for the kart it would depend on how many hours its been since you rebuilt it, our it could be something simple such as fuel to oil ratio (assuming that's a 2 stroke engine) you may not be mixing enough oil into your petrol and that's causing the engine to seize. i may not be right but its all i can say from what you've given me,

      let me know if you have any more questions and of course how it goes with the kart

      Sam

      Delete

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