M vs. Q vs R

[Caleb W.]

what is the difference between the three karts? which one favors which applacations?(track grip and power to weight) i am making a decision on which to buy. it will be a 31. i am 5'7 135lbs and i will be racing in TaG Jr. and JICA. (mostly TaG Jr.) TaG Jr. is at 320lbs while JICA is at 310?
anything helps. thanks

[Ron Pattison]

Caleb, We ran the Q-31 karts a couple or years back and found them to have a little too much grip at most of our tracks around here. They worked well with the 80 shifter engines, but not as well in clutch karts as the R-31. The M-31 is new this year, we have not tried it, but in the 32 karts that Michael runs in the Sr. divisions, after testing the M he perfers the R. Ron

[Chris Lobaugh]

Generally speaking the Q would be more for the Senior Tag division and Jr. 80 as Ron mentioned. The R31 is more designed for Sr. 100cc classes and Heavier tag classes-it has a fixed fourth rail on the left side and although it's side rails are 30mm it is a fairly rigid chassis. The M31 is designed for JICA, Jr./Sr.100cc categories, and lighter weight ICA and Tag Sr. drivers. It has 30mm side rails and a removeable fourth rail which makes the kart very versatile.
I hope this helps!

[Jean Stafford]

We raced the CQ31 in Yamaha lite and Can with very good results, but lke yourself, we found ourselves always fighting a tight condition.

Takjing caster out helped us greatly, and using he soft, "F" or "F2.5" axle worked for us using Dumlop SL4 tires. YHC's made the tight condition even worse.
Jean Stafford
Stafford's Racing Products
www.staffordsraciing.com

[Caleb W.]

thanks they all help. chris, so ruling out the Q, when putting togather a TaG Jr. what chassis what would you use? 30 or 31, M or R?

[Chris Lobaugh]

How long do you plan on staying in Tag. Jr. What part of the country will you be racing? Strictly local, regional, or national? I'm sure that this info could be found in another post, but, how tall are you and how much lead do you have to add to get to Tag. Jr. Weight?

There are a couple different ways to go on this. If you will be in Tag. Jr. for a few years running locally and regionally I would say go with the R30 CY. It is the backbone of our 100cc program and is very affordable. The other alternative is if you were planning to move up to the Sr. ranks or run on a National level the M31SC is a much more versatile kart with the ability to change rear ride height, new spindles (lighter and more rigid) and a more user friendly caster/camber adjustment, 40 or 50mm castettes, removeable side rail. Let me know what your plans are for the long term and I will try to assist in any way that I can. These are only my opinions. I hope they help!

[Caleb W.]

mainly reagional so about 6-7 race weekends this year, 3 natioals (1 STARS JICA, TaG Worlds TaG, KART Sprint Nats TaG) and some club when time allows. so in total probaly 13-14 races this year. and we will probally move up next year. i am 5'7 135 lbs in a 320 lbs class with aproxmintly 20 H.P.

we run in nothern texas and oklahoma. and as ron (our dealer) stated earlier the r-31 worked best for michael in our area but michael has probally 20-30 lbs on me and raced in yamaha pipe(at 360lbs). now i completely trust ron with his knowlage of the birels but what might work for them might now work for us. im trying to look at all my options before i buy. thanks for anymore info

[Ron Pattison]

Caleb, Michael ran the R-31 with the Yamaha pipe, He ran the R-32 in the Sr. TAG at 370 this year, as you may know DJ Ortiz from Dallas is running the M-32 in the Rotax Masters and Just loves the kart. David Holland is running one of my R-31's and doing very well. I also have a couple of people in Texas running the R-31 in the Sr. Rotax class and doing well. Michael tested a new R-30 with a Jr. Leopard at our track recently, he was about 35# over class weight (because we had weighted the kart for a new small driver) and ran faster laps than the track record right out of the shop. Both the R and the M series are great karts. I t seams we all agree the Q is not the best for your application. As usual we'll help you any way we can. You certainly have done a superb job with the AR-4's!

[Caleb W.]

what is the difference between a 06 R-30 and an 06 R-31? other than frame tubing size of course?

[Garry Lobaugh]

There are no Q's in the current kart line up. So we can take that out of the header.

There are no R31-06 models ordered.

We have r31 -5 version which I know has worked well in almost all instances for drivers of your size.

A new model M-31- 06 version is being introduced. Chris will respond to the rest of your questions. Remember, you need to be following the lead of the dealer who is going to be supporting you. I think Ron has it well figured out by now. If you ask enough people it will only add to the confusion of the situation and you will get way too many conflicting views.

[Chris Lobaugh]

The R30 is a three rail kart with a removeable front torsion bar. It is all 30mm except for the front rail which is 32mm. The R31 is a four rail kart with the side rails being 30 and all of the cross rails in 32mm. It comes standard with removeable front and rear torsion bars. Hope this helps
Chris.

[Caleb W.]

thanks guys. this all helps

[JimmyS]

I ran at the TaG world finals in jr.tag last year and R-31 is definately the way to go. I suspect you are talking about the tag world championships at NCMP. The m's dont work as well there as the R's. The R-30 is too flimsey for jr. tag, and if you race jica aslo on that chassis it would wear out quickly. If you havn't bought motors already Parilla leopard for jr.tag and Parilla swift for jica are the way to go.

hope this helps Jimmy

[Mike Burrell]

Chris,
Has anyone experimented with modifying an R-31 and making that 4th rail removable? How big of effect do you beleive that would have?
Thanks,
Mike

[Garry Lobaugh]

It has been done for the slippery track configuration. I'll try to have oneof the tech guys answer later in the day.

[Mike Burrell]

Thanks Garry. I sure thought about doing it at Daytona, that's why I asked...

[Caleb W.]

yes i have the same question. could you cut the 4th rail out and use torison bar clamps to put back in if needed?

[Garry Lobaugh]

I'll still get tech on this for your answer. Obviously for Stars or other organizations that require homologation karts, this would be a violation. Just keep that in mind.

[Garry Lobaugh]

As stated above, it has been done. PLease see the post that just went up at 19.44 for the dangers.