Getting into karting

[Adam Larnach]

Hello all,

I'm looking to pick up a kart this week, found a good deal on a TAG kart with a Parilla engine. Has a TonyKart chassis... my question is, or should I say questions.

How good of a chassis is TonyKart? How competitive is the Parilla Leopard engine?

Does SDKA have a Heavy TAG class? I'm 6' 3" and 210lbs (dropping another 15lbs, was 230lbs)? I only saw the standard 370lb class and not a 390lbs class.

Any information on setups? Can you even setup these things? I've come from a background of MX, ATV's, and some full size road racing, all can be tweaked, but this is quite new to me.

Anyway, hope to see you all out there next year, going to be practicing quite a bit in the off-season. I might be able to keep up with some of you guys, if not, heck, every series needs backmarker and filler entries right? ;D

Cheers

Adam

[Jeff S]

Welcome Adam.

For 2007 SDKA will be adding a TAG Heavy class. The minimum weight with a Parilla Leopard will be 405 lbs. (390 lbs is for TAG Masters).

Leopards are the most common TAG engine.

TonyKart are very good chassis but there are different models and model years. Some are not as good as others for certain classes and light vs heavy drivers. Tubing size and chassis design play a big factor when selecting a chassis model for different classes. Do you know the model and year of the chassis?

There are actually a lot of set-up changes that can be made on kart chassis. Correct seat placement is the number one set-up needed for the best handling and for chassis adjustments to work properly.

Where do you live?

Jeff

[Adam Larnach]

Thanks for the reply Jeff. I live in Tierrasanta (San Diego).

I have yet to get the information on the chassis, it's a TonyKart Extreem! chassis, but I couldn't find any information on these. I was told that the chassis is brand new (never been raced/track day) with a one race engine on it. I'm going to hopefully look at it this week and make a final decision by the weekend.

Seating, yes, I noticed a big difference when changing my seat location when messing around at Miramar. I found the rear bias made the front end "darty" but you could still feel when you were going to slide the rear end. Made the tight turns a bit easier.

Anyway, thanks for the info.

[Bill Cox]

Alex Sanner is the area Tony Kart dealer; and a great tunner. He's located in the Temecula area.

Sanner Racing Engines
[phone]
[e-mail]

No, I don't drive a Tony; it's a GP6. But Alex will help you very well. He even supports SDKA events when there's no other scheduling conflict.

[Adam Larnach]

Thanks Bill,

I took a look at a kart today, around $3000 for a TonyKart and Parilla setup, wasn't really impressed at all. Pretty dirty, dead battery, no fuel or water so I couldn't even see how the engine ran. The owner say's he will get it ready for me, but I think the car needs some work before taking it out on a track safely.

I'm really thinking about a shifter kart now, I'm used to shifting everything I drive and ride so I don't think it will be that steep of a learning curve after 19 years of shifting bikes and cars. I could be wrong though.

I'm looking at an SKM CR-125 setup for $4000, nice and clean, sharp looking kart.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks again.

Adam