Any time you mod an engine to go faster you are doing this to push for more speed and or power. The key word used here was "push". When ever you push something be it stock or moded the reliability level is reduced. And most people don't just drive their buggies they push them to and beyond their limit. And to justify this last statement I will add that it starts out with the basic mods, rollers, torque spring, jetting, and intake and exhaust breathing. Than it progresses into cam, bigger carb, big bore, and stroker crank. Why ? because it is in most people who love the motorsports to push the limit on their vehicle, to go faster and or more power. When ever you push something wheather stock or moded, things wear or break. This is why you will see classifieds for say atv's where in the decscription it will read vehicle was adult driven. This is not to say adults don't push their vehicles to the limit but what it really says is this vehicle was driven as intended by the manufacturer for utmost reliability. Another thing to take into account is when modding a vehicle is what is the level of experience the person moding has. I mean you won't see a Nascar vehicle owner going to the neighborhood garage to have their engine built, they will bring it to someone who has the expertice and knowlege. Change to a performance cam in our buggy and no one ever talks about checking the piston to valve clearance, or for spring bind, ect. If one of these are not proper you will have premature faillure to a greater degree than if all the checks and balances were done. These buggies are no different to mod than say your car. If you purchase the performance cam for your car the manufacturer of the cam recomends their springs as well. The engine is a precission piece of machinery where all the moving parts work in unison so when you replace one part with a performance part you are in fact reengineering that engine. How you reengineer it will depend on the reliability of that engine for its intended purpose. The cheapest way to mod the exhaust is to open the up the tiny exhaust tip on the muffler. Opening it up to say 1 1/4 inch will not increase the noise level but very slight, but it will increase the rate the exhaust flows however you will than have to replace or mod the airbox for more air flow and also rejet. Now you have to be careful cause some of the mufflers have a built in converter. This will be stated on the epa sticker or tag found somewhere on your kart. It will have mention of a catalyst. If so this muffler will not flow unless the catalyst is removed but this will make the exhaust loud. I must add that removing the catalyst is in violation of federal epa laws, and is no different than a car unless the vehicle will only be used off circuit. TOM
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