There's a revolution building momentum across the country. Yesterday's trash is now today's engine of choice. In an attempt to fight against ballooning costs and increased fragmentation across the sport, karters, clubs and series all over the country have turned to the abundant, reliable and cost effective 100cc kart engines to power their racing machines.
There are many examples of this phenomena. The first is from a series that receives a great deal of coverage on this blog, The Formula 100 Karting Series (f100karters.com). The Formula 100 Karting Series combines the KT-100 and KPV/HPV in all classes and divides drivers based on experience and lap times, creating some great and affordable racing. F100 also allows the use of many other 100cc piston port engines, including the TKM BT82, ARC 100cc, PRD RK100 and many more. But F100 is not the only series to try this concept, and with the support and turnout that F100 has received thus far, they will not be the last.
The Midwest Karting Association in Wisconsin (mkaracing.com) runs a combined KPV/HPV and KT-100 class that they call Piston Port Senior. They also have a similar class for Junior drivers as well.
In Ohio the MidState Ohio Kart Club (msokc.org) runs the KT-100 and KPV/HPV together as well in a class they call Spec 100 pipe.
PKRA, NRKA and Michigan Kart Club have all had similar classes in their class structure as well.
And the revolution is not limited to just the trusted KT-100 and the reliable KPV/HPV engine packages.
At SEKA in Tennessee (sekaracing.com), senior drivers are opting for Junior ICA engines and running them against expensive and powerful TAG motors in the TAG Senior class. The piston port JICA engines are said to be as quick as the TAG engines when given a weight break. The drivers of the JICA engines enjoy the simplicity of the air cooled JICA package and with less overall cost involved in the JICA and similar reliability (when the rpm's are kept down) the JICA drivers have only gained from the switch.
In New Jersey there is discussion of a clubman class utilizing ICA engines, which are powerhouse direct drive 100cc engines. (http://www.ekartingnews.com/viewtopic.php?t=116177)
In Europe and Australia the ICA engines are being utilized as well. In the UK there was a movement to bring back the ICA/FA engines (properkarting.com) and in Australia the 100cc karts never died and are still going strong to this day.
100cc engines are coming back. Racers desire the simplicity, purity, reliability and thrill of a 100cc kart! Hop on board! Find a club or a series near you running one of these great classes, grab a 100cc engine and go racing!
