@jj wrote:
Reluctant because this would require more expense as I’d need to add these to my kart. Not really thrilled about the additional expense.
You don’t need to spend the money. In Rotax competition where they have allowed FWB for a year, there appears to be no advantage. In fact, the fastest guys have consistantly been on rear brake only karts. In Rotax, both karts run at the same weight.
@jj wrote:
One question though. Since I”m relatively new to karting I’m asking for clarification. In my experience the advantage someone may have with front & back brakes is the ability to brake into a corner rather than before.
Isn’t it true that rear only brake essentailly cause a tail skid situation if you brake through the corner?
Given a well setup F&R system doesn’t that allow for braking while turning with less chance for a braking spinout situation?
This is where the driving styles are different. Actually, the fact that you can rotate the kart with the rear brakes can be an advantage in certain corners. A decreasing radius corner for example that has a full on throttle entrance and you have to brake at some point in the corner. A rear brake only kart has a strong advantage over FWB. A different example, a tight corner that is at the end of a straight. Here the FWB kart has the advantage. Over all, in terms of lap times on the track, rear brake karts might be slightly faster than FWB karts.
One of the reasons that FWB karts have been slower may be more due to the nature of the karts that come with them. Traditionally, only shifter karts have them. Shifter karts are designed for higher hp than TaG karts. Such karts are a bit on the stiff side for Tag karts. Most guys who run front brakes in Tag are running shifter karts. We are one of the few manufacturers that use a Tag kart and install FWB on them. But we still have not proven to be faster than traditional RWB karts.
@jj wrote:
The reason I said yes though is because I’m a pilot and value the safety factor of a second, backup system.
As so many have pointed out, here is the real reason and in my opinion, the main reason to allow them. Particularly at the master weights.