NEW-LINE RACING VMA-K: A REVOLUTION IN THE WORLD OF RADIATORS

TKART Staff

22 January 2022

It is a pre-series model, but the Italian factory of the Benedetti-Frigerio-Malverti trio assures that it will soon be on the market. We are talking about the first horizontal radiator for karts ready for sale to the public. It promises performance that is currently unimaginable. Let's find out on which principles

The new VMa-K radiator by New-Line, a company in the heart of Motorvalley, was created to rewrite the concept of kart engine cooling, abandoning the classic arrangement of the radiator tilted "back" at about 60° with respect to the asphalt surface and moving towards a "lying forward" position. The objective? Reduction of resistance to advancement, lowering of the centre of gravity and other improvements that we will address later in this article. The New-Line Racing VMa-K is composed of a radiant mass similar to the traditional ones and a carbon fibre conveyor that directs flows homogeneously over the entire surface of the radiator, studied at CFD and tested on the track. Its marketing began in April 2022 and was aimed at single-speed and shifter karts. At the moment in international races (FIA Karting) the use of the classic "forward" facing radiators has been prevented (as opposed to the usual "backward" angle) because the technical commissioners believe that the radiator in that position slows down the exit of the driver from the driver's seat in the event of a stop on the track. This version has not yet been evaluated from this point of view, but the radiant mass of the New-Line Racing VMa-K creates an angle of less than 45° with respect to the asphalt surface, so it is much more "horizontal". What is already clear, however, is that it is a product that caters to those who, perhaps even just for use in their free time, are looking for highly innovative technological accessories for their karts.

The VMa-K radiator weighs about 2 kg more than the traditional radiator from which it is derived, but in New-Line they expect a further reduction in weight to be possible before it goes on sale.

THE ORIGIN

There is a precedent: the very first experiment in the field of horizontal radiators by New-Line Racing took place a few years ago (you can read about it in the “"Tech Focus - New-Line Racing presents the horizontal radiator”). Failing to produce obvious advantages, it remained a simple idea in the drawer. But at New-Line Racing they continued to evolve the concept, developing the first horizontal radiator for karts, which is inspired by the logic of the exchangers also mounted on F1 cars: the VMa-K.
From that first prototype to the present day, several aspects have changed: first the MAX radiant mass was introduced (read the “Technical Focus - Max, the radiators for karts that cool 10% more and weigh 20% less”) and, subsequently, the MAX2: radiant devices that considerably increase, with the same surface, the heat exchange compared to a classic radiant mass. But there’s more, because the most evident change compared to the prototype of a few years ago is the introduction of a carbon conveyor that plays a fundamental role in the operation of this radiator, allowing, despite the considerable angle, a good heat exchange, making the impact of air uniform on the entire surface as much as possible.

The first prototype of the horizontal radiator adopted a fiberglass conveyor much less refined in terms of shapes on which no CFD or wind tunnel tests had ever been carried out.