X30 WATER SWIFT, THE 60 CC LIQUID-COOLED ENGINE OF THE IAME ONE-MAKE SERIES

Giacomo Mantovani

07 August 2023 • 21 min. read

60 cc

DISPLACEMENT
The X30 Water Swift engine is a single-cylinder type, with a 60 cc displacement, a 41.81 mm original bore and a 43 mm stroke. The displacement is the classic one used for engines dedicated to smaller drivers.

TYPE
Like the vast majority of engines for the Racing classes, it is a 2-stroke, in this case with Piston Port type intake (therefore without a reed valve pack and fueled with a mixture with a recommended percentage of oil from 4 to 6%, depending on the lubricating oil used.

ELECTRIC

STARTER
The starter is electric: pressing a button activates the starter motor inserted in the engine crankcase. The kart therefore doesn’t need to be pushed to start it.

SINGLE GEAR

TRANSMISSION
The X30 Water Swift is a Direct Drive engine and therefore not a geared one, as well as all engines intended for younger drivers who wish to participate in races for the first time. It has a centrifugal clutch that allows the kart to be kept moving even it is stationary.

IAME SERIES

HOMOLOGATION
The engine was designed and built by IAME to race in the IAME Series, the championship promoted by the Italian company, which is held in different countries around the world. This is why it does not have to undergo an international FIA approval but complies with the technical regulations studied by IAME and the current IAME fiche that you can find on the IAME website.

The IAME X30 engine product line (among the best selling in the world) is the absolute protagonist of the IAME Series: the single-brand championship promoted by IAME. It is a brand that needs very little introduction in karting: founded in 1968 by Bruno Grana, Italian American Motor Engineering (this is the full name of the Italian company, to find out why read "Editorial - Paolo Condè explains how the history of Iame began") is none other than the largest manufacturer of engines in the entire international karting scene. In the "Under Examination | X30 125 cc, the "prince" engine of the IAME series" we discussed the "top engine" of this class, intended for the Senior, Junior, Master Pro and Master Gentleman classes. The protagonist of this article, however, is the X30 Water Swift 60 cc, the engine intended for the Entry Level and MINI classes. Thanks to the help of IAME staff, we dismantled and analysed it. In addition, we tested it on a test bench and we show you the graphs of the tests carried out regarding its torque and power.

IAME SERIES: CLASSES AND ENGINES

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The X30 Water Swift was initially developed to participate in a German tender. The original model, as per the tender requirements, required the radiator to be mounted directly on the engine and had the water pump embarked, a technical choice that involved several complications for the operation of the engine (which, moreover, also increased operating costs), such as the addition of a toothed belt to control the pump. This engine, therefore, required a lot of maintenance, a characteristic not in line with the basic philosophy of the IAME Series. This is precisely why the project was revised by eliminating the embarked pump and providing a radiator mounted on the chassis to the left of the driver. The X30 Water Swift we analysed was launched in 2007 mainly for the European and British markets.

In order to achieve the stated goal of ensuring a general containment of costs to make the IAME Series as accessible as possible, since the development of the X30 engines the Italian company has always and solely focused on evolving them with modifications that would improve reliability, without ever touching the performance, which does not vary between the first series and the last evolution. Yet it cannot be said that the X30 Water Swift has always remained the same over time: there have been improvements that have mainly concerned the materials (choosing more effective treatments), the search for more functional accessories and measures aimed at improving the overall reliability of the product, its ease of use and the maintenance of its high quality standards.