7 TRUTHS (OR FALSE MYTHS) ABOUT PERFECT KART ENGINE MANAGEMENT… GALIFFA KART TIPS!

In reality, downshifting gears incorrectly can cause serious damage to the engine. To understand how this can happen, it is important to make a hypothesis: when you downshift, the guillotine (or valve) of the carburetor closes. This reduces the flow of air and fuel mixture to the engine, resulting in a leaner carburetion. In extreme cases, this aspect can be the root of an engine seizure, which can lead to both the breakage of the piston segment and damage to the cylinder liner. The risk of this happening increases exponentially if a driver, especially if inexperienced and new to shifter engines, downshifts too many gears in a row in an attempt to stop the kart by using engine braking. By doing this, the prolonged closure of the guillotine and the higher RPM (remember that in a shifter engine, the RPM increase with a gear change, Editor’s note), which can even reach 17,000 revolutions, given the absence of the rev limiter, causing an excessive lean carburetion and could generate engine seizure occurrences.