Leopard v. Rotax v. PRD

[Jeff Spencer]

This is our first year in karting. My boy is 10 and we picked up a used Birel Gazelle Cadet package with spares to learn and test the waters. With a few hours of track time, so far so good, big fun. I am also scouting for the future. At first we were thinking that Briggs would be a good low budget approach, but I am growing fond of the little Gazelle, although the finicky aspect may rub me wrong over time.

We went to practice yesterday and a couple regional teams were practicing for an upcoming regional event. Lots of Rotax, and a few Leopards. I don't anticipate having the resources to commit on the level that these folks are running. Mostly local and some regional events. I was really impressed with the Leopard, I may be mistaken, but it seemed to be pulling on the Rotax, and more smooth. If the Leopard as finicky as the Gazelle. Clearly Rotax is the most popular and well-funded. For someone, who has a limited budget (low budget bottom feeder), which class should I look to for the future? I like the idea of spec class, as I am not setup to modify and tinker. I am thinking a DIY, low budget, independent local regional. Reliability and durability, good second hand availability are important.
jws

[Dan Haynes]

If it were me and the Rotax was that popular in that area then I would go that route. The Rotax is slightly more expensive than the Leopard up front but the rebuild intervals should more than offset that. The typical Leopard is good to bout 10-12 hours if you want to run up front...more if you are just getting track time and run it rich and keep the RPM's down a little. The Rotax is good for about 40-50 hours between rebuilds. A full Leopard rebuild with a new rod is about $1000. Not sure on the Rotax. Either one can be bought used for a good price. New the Leopard is about $2800 blueprinted. I have seen used Leopards and Rotax's on here for between $1000-1500.
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Blaise Haynes
#3 Arrow X1-CIK
TaG
Cook Racing Engines Parilla Leopard

[TJ Koyen]

My personal preference is the Leopard engine. Never had any major issues with them. They've lasted a good amount of time between rebuilds, you can race them in nearly any series across the country, it's probably the best overall TaG engine in terms of performance. Other engines like the Rotax or PRD will be good on certain tracks and struggle more on others, whereas the Leopard seems to be able to win on almost any track.

They're easy to maintain if you take care of your stuff too.

The PRD, though cheaper, has never really been competitive with the other TaG engines. I got back from a race at a fairly tight track the other weekend and even though the PRD should've been strong there with it's bottom end power, the Leopard still ended up being faster and winning the race.

The thing about TaG engines is each one has a different powerband so they are suited to certain tracks better. The Rotax is mostly mid-range power so flowing tracks suit it. The PRD would be bottom end so it needs tight corners and short straights. However the Leopard puts it's power down on the bottom and top end so it's good at the long straight tracks and can still power off the corners pretty well. And given it has those two strengths, it's easy to race with. You can pass into or off corners and you can draft by on straights relatively easy.

Dan,

I've also heard the 40-50 hour claim from Rotax owners as well, but I'd like to know how many hours people are actually going at national or regional events.

A Leopard will last a long time too if you keep the revs near 15.5k-16k.
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T.J. Koyen
OKTANE VISUAL - Custom Helmet Paint & Graphic Design
www.oktanevisual.com
www.facebook.com/oktanevisual
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DB Motorsports
Exprit/Leopard

[Dan Haynes]

TJ,
Don't know for sure about the Rotax. We have only ever ran Leopards in TaG. My opinion was based on the fact that he said the majority of the karts there were running the Rotax. We have never had any issues with our Leopards either (other than mechanic error ) but with the Rotax there are other series that can be ran that are Rotax only, and can obviously also be ran in TaG classes.

We weren't at the last Beaverun race but they started a Rotax class. Looking at the lap times the fast TaG lap was a 55.80 and the fast Rotax lap was only about a 56.6. I find it hard to believe that a Rotax is .8 slower than a Leopard there but I would be interested in hearing from someone that was there.
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Blaise Haynes
#3 Arrow X1-CIK
TaG
Cook Racing Engines Parilla Leopard

[TJ Koyen]

Kotyk finished on the podium at Beaverun for the Man Cup race on a Rotax and was as fast as the leaders so clearly it can be fast. And Rios won on a Rotax at New Castle of all places last year. di Leo did it a couple years before on a Rotax against Wehrheim on a Leopard. It's hard to race against other TaGs with the Rotax though because of it's powerband. Any misstep in the corner (passing or getting passed) and you dump all your power and bog down. It can be as quick as anything but in traffic it's a bit harder to manage that powerband.
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T.J. Koyen
OKTANE VISUAL - Custom Helmet Paint & Graphic Design
www.oktanevisual.com
www.facebook.com/oktanevisual
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DB Motorsports
Exprit/Leopard

[Dan Haynes]

I just looked at the results at Beaverun from yesterday and the Rotax was almost equal to the others. Must have been something else that caused the .8 difference last race.
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Blaise Haynes
#3 Arrow X1-CIK
TaG
Cook Racing Engines Parilla Leopard

[Ihor Bilyy]

[Dan Haynes]

The spec tire at Beaverun is the YLC for all classes. We haven't been there since they started the Rotax class but I would think they are also on the YLC. There aren't many that have run Rotax there so it might have just been growing pains?
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Blaise Haynes
#3 Arrow X1-CIK
TaG
Cook Racing Engines Parilla Leopard