MOST POWERFUL VINTAGE KART ENGINE?

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Jeff Schroeder
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MOST POWERFUL VINTAGE KART ENGINE?

Post by Jeff Schroeder » Mon Jan 28, 2013 2:17 pm

Out of all the vintage (single cyl) kart engines which one is the "KING of the HILL? Does anyone have any HP numbers?

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steveohara
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Re: MOST POWERFUL VINTAGE KART ENGINE?

Post by steveohara » Wed Jan 30, 2013 2:25 am

Jeff,

The Komet K99 aka B-Bomb and the BM 130 are generally considered the heavy artillery of vintage karting.
Highly modified Mc 101s and WB 820s can be tweaked to make close to the same power but they won't last when pushed that hard.
Steve O'Hara

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Jeff Campbell
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Re: MOST POWERFUL VINTAGE KART ENGINE?

Post by Jeff Campbell » Sun May 26, 2013 9:15 am

The B-Bomb K299 is also run in vintage karting events ... it's a later model of the K99. Main difference is how the ports are feed from crankcase.

As for how much horse power ... that is like asking "how fast", which always leads to inflated claims, and 2nd hand information from "reliable" sources, LOL!!!! The racer talk is that B-Bombs and BM-130's put out 35-40hp .... a extreme modded race-able MC101 or WB820 can be up to 24hp (Jim Akkerman published an article on how to mod the WB820, and made claims it put out 24hp on the dyno). Myself, I have never seen a Dyno chart, from a calibrated dyno, for any of these engines ....so, it's all just talk, anyway what really matters is how fast they get around the track! Over the years of actual competition racing, in some classes Macs were run against Bombs and BM130's ... Macs rarely won, but a few people ran up front with the lighter more nimble Mac setup, but certainly at a hp disadvantage. Within vintage events, the B-Bombs and BM-130's are the fastest motors at the track, hands down (but these foreign made free air motors are not run at The Big One). Between the K299 and BM-130 .. I can't really say which one is faster (and I run both) ... it's probably more about engine builder than engine model, IMO. I do run a dual rear kart with MC101 engines, and I can say that the acceleration comparison to dual B-Bombs / BM-130's is like comparing a single engine kart to a dual. So, I just made a great argument for novice people to run out and get a kart with dual B-Bombs or BM-130's .... DO NOT do so, anyone starting vintage karting should start with a single engine kart with a fan cooled American made motor (Mac, West Bend,...), these are a handful enough for the vast majority of drivers. Keep your Ego in check, the vintage dual kart setups and even single engine B-Bomb / BM-130 karts are for people with years of karting experience, these are VERY powerful karts, which exceed the HP of the vast majority of modern kart racing classes!

Jeff

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