Kelvin's Corner

Kelvin – Improve your engine’s performance

by Mark May 4, 2021 0 comments

Want to know two easy ways to get improve your engine’s performance? Increase the compression ratio, or add more air/fuel mixture.

One sure way to increase the compression ratio is to manipulate the spark plug (although, of course, I’m not going to tell you how). So that’s a pretty fundamental check on any engine. Added to which the latest version of the technical regulations only allows for a very limited range of spark plugs, so I check to make sure the plug you are using is one of the permitted ones.

The carburettor is full of different-sized holes and jets, and enlarging any of them can affect the way the unit performs, which in turn, of course, can have an effect on how much fuel/air mixture is getting into the engine. So I have a selection of different gauges, commonly called go/no-go gauges, which easily let me check that various holes and drillings are of the correct size and have not been tampered with.

Yesterday I held back the first three Pro teams and the first clubman team from the results and inspected their plugs and carbs.

I record every kart that I inspect, and what I checked on that kart on any particular day. I use that record as the year progresses to make sure that, over the course of the year, I get to see the majority if not all of the teams over the course of the season, and inspect various different things on those karts. So you never know, on any given occasion, whether I will be looking at your kart today or not. Also, it won’t necessarily be on a day when you have figured prominently in the results. It will just be me checking down my list.

Kelvin.