We picked up our new cadet engine the Monday they came out and gave it a first run at Pfi that evening, just thought I would share out thoughts so far (3 outings in two weeks).
Firstly the new engine has come at the perfect time for us, my lad has been doing Bambino's for a year, or so, and turns 8 in November. He’s been running a cadet, off and on, for a few months, first with a Comer s60 but more recently with a tired £150 w60. Because I knew the new engine was being released I couldn’t see any point investing in more Comer kit or servicing what I had so persevered with an increasingly tired engine until the release date.
Despite having an engine on order, all the talk on the forums made me doubt my thinking, much talk of; less power, slower lap times and weight of numbers sticking with the comer made me think I might have made a mistake.
Whilst I agree the MSA messed up the whole transition process, robbing people of a proper transition period, I actually think they have been very shrewd in their choice. I think the lap-time deficit and lower power figure, talked about, is only true against the absolute best comer’s, certainly from our experience, even out of the box, it’s a match for most club/practice motors. With some running-in and the black art of “Fiche” I bet there’ll be little or no drop in cadet lap times at the top level.
The main bonus, from my perspective, is the increase in quality. Everything about the package seems better engineered. If the same is true of the tolerances we’re bound to see better parity between engines, which was the main beef (I understand) with the comer and why good engines fetched such daft prices. In fact someone that I know has now had his two new engines, run-in and tested on the force dyno and the results do see to support this:
Firstly both engines that they tested gave almost identical results; this level of parity has got to be good news for the sport (assuming other engines give similar results)
The figures did improve after 4 hours of running-in but I guess this is obvious and every engine improves during this period
Most interesting were their comparisons to his previous comer engines. Force give a calculated figure that measures the area under the curve so both high and low end power is incorporated in this figure. They found the new engines about equal to his comer practice engine but a little down on his race-engine. The curve is very different though, much flatter and peak revs not so high, this is probably down to the restrictor in the exhaust.
I guess with any new engine there is a learning period, until people get the best out of them, so the figures are sure to improve, word is however that the Fiche is very tight, with exceptionally good test gauges to ensure everything stays fair.
As for the engine-kit itself, it all bolted together well, the carb already had the jets set to the base setting and it started and ran easily enough. Had a little problem with the plug fouling after a couple of runs but after changing the plug and leaning the settings a little it ran brilliantly for the rest of the evening. During our sessions we’ve had several positive comments about how well it runs. Two weeks on, it starts first pull, we’ve checked the plug several times and it seems to running cleanly with virtually no carb adjustments. Also just like the w60 was with the old tilletson carb you can start it and let it run for a little while whilst waiting for your session to start, rather than waiting for the last second and hoping all is well when you pull the cord.
I know it was always going to be a negative decision for those with money already invested in good comer engines but as a newcomer I’d rather pay a grand for a new well made racing engine, as apposed to some of the silly prices for used comers with “pedigree” that were being sought a couple of years back. I’m not bothered whether lap times go up or come down as a result because that’s not my measure of good racing, I just want to feel that we have as much chance as anyone else. How I see it, at least today, it’s a level playing field for us all, I’m sure perception, of this, will change as certain engines and their builders gain a reputation for being the “one” to have/use, but if the margins for improving it are smaller, as seem to be the case, those individuals and teams with deep pockets gain less of an advantage anyway, so as someone trying to do karting on a sensible budget, I’m happier.
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We have the new Iame Cadet engine by 'orton1966' << You are here!
