current parity in tag-r and open

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by James Head on November 11, 2011 at 15:33

Looking forward to hearing from everyone on this subject.

 

I'm currently in Clubman Heavy, and looking to switch classes mid to end of 2012.

 

I reside in Vic, and as far as I'm concerned, this year has been very confusing in regards to "Sportsman", "Leopard", "Tag Open", etc etc.... I was thinking of switching classes at the end of this year, but because I'm completely confused as to what's what, I decided to just buy a new car instead and keep an eye as to what's what next year.  At the moment it seems as though while Clubman is a getting to the point where it is being out-numbered by everyone in TAG R, there does still to be number's floating around, so for me it's just easier to stay in clubman, and spend a whole year or 6 months sussing the situation out before making the switch, as I would prefer to make the right switch first time round rather than switch to something, not like it and then go back.

Any how.... The main thing for me is I would like to go to something that's touch and go, as this seems to be where all the numbers are heading in Victoria.

I'm looking into going Rotax or Sportsman/Tag Open/whatever the hell it is now, by the looks of it next year Rotax/Leopard/Fireballs/whatever will just get combined into 1 class on 1 set of tyres.

With that above paragraph in mind, an X30 seems to be the way to go, as that's what every other person here in Vic seems to be buying, but what mainly draws me to the Fireball is the fact that a complete package is just about Half the cost of an X30, no only that, my engine builder say's that rebuild costs are very similer in pricing to the clubman, my engine builder say's the parts for the Leopard are vastly more expensive compared to the clubman, and the Fireball part's are around the same sort of pricing to a clubman in comparison.

 

I've already got a B Grade spec licence, so if I'm going to go Tag it would be Tag Open rather than Tag Restricted, which then brings me to my next question which is exactly the same as Steve's, how does an Unrestricted Fireball compare with the Rotax's and X30's?

Cheer's, and thanks for reading :)

Permalink Reply by James Head on November 13, 2011 at 12:37

Thanks Steve :)

You don't tend to see anyone winning in a Fireball these day's, here in VIC it's mainly just Rotax's and X30's, a lot of people say the fireball has too much bottom end in comparison to the X30 (in restricted that is), I wouldn't know what the difference is unless I knew people who have raced the fireball in unrestricted form.  I also know a couple of people have blown them up and say not to go anywhere near the fireball, but I wouldn't know if that's because they where running the jet's lean, or why the've blown up in the first place.

Permalink Reply by Michael Hazelton on November 16, 2011 at 15:58

Running an airbox filter in TAG-R can lengthen the life of the main bearings which are in hard laour due to the restrictor....

 

As far as no Fireballs winning... well not much truth to that in NSW...

 

The laptime parity between the engines isn't far off nowdays. The issues lie in the racing parity. The problem with only going off CM:S winning results is driver comparisons. The aka should be looking at the mid field on a race day and see if they think all the drivers competing right behind the leaders all deserve to be there... eg; is that Rotax giving them a higher position in the race compared if they had a Fireball...

Permalink Reply by Michael Hazelton on November 16, 2011 at 22:27

none that i have seen in TAG-R. You may need to be a smidge leaner on the low though

Permalink Reply by Rishi Sabesan on November 17, 2011 at 1:30

what is this air filter you speak of? is it the mesh on the airbox?

Permalink Reply by Rishi Sabesan on November 17, 2011 at 9:32

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Go-Kart-Air-Filter-Pod-AKA43-KIAA-Legal-...

 

is that it? and does that mean i can remove the mesh on the intake holes?

Permalink Reply by Julian Grasso on November 21, 2011 at 18:41

Haven't seen anyone in Vic running a fireball in open. At club level there's only a few around in restricted as far as I know and I'm one of them. In saying that I don't believe there's much of a disadvantage In running the fireball at all. I had my first race back after 10 years and felt like I could mix it with them even with my limited knowledge about engine and kart setup. I wasnt getting blown away on the straights like I was led to believe by some people who don't like them. They're not popular but that doesn't mean they're not a winning engine. Looking on the bright side they're cheap to rebuild so I don't mind if I blow it up trying to look for a few more tenths!

Permalink Reply by Rishi Sabesan on December 28, 2011 at 21:18

good news...the AKA sent out an email that they are running a national parity test for tag restricted to redo the engine restrictors...let's see how it goes after this

Permalink Reply by Michael Hazelton on January 9, 2012 at 8:20

Don't get too excited... they may reduce the hole in the Fireball restrictors...

Permalink Reply by Rishi Sabesan on January 18, 2012 at 9:22

Hi Mik are there any developments coming for the fireball in the pipeline? Crg has said anything yet?

Permalink Reply by Michael Hazelton on January 18, 2012 at 11:54

Not for the currect Fireball, no. No evolutions to be released as of yet. There maybe a change to the clutch to extend its life, but no performance gain, but probably not. I am pretty sure PRD are developing a whole new engine for overseas markets in the next few years.