Review: CRG Rotax DD2

Hi, my name is Lukas. I race in the national DD2 Rotax series. This a small review of my kart, where I’ll be talking about the class, performance, benefits from this specific class and more…

/About the class…

The kart I’m driving is a CRG Rotax DD2 and to put, what that is, in perspective I’ll now explain…
The CRG is the chassis-developer while Rotax is the manufacturer of the engine.
Rotax is manufacturing engines for several different classes in the series, so mine is specific the DD2. DD2 stands for Direct Drive 2. I’ll explain more about later…

/Performance

When I tell people that I race karts, and that I go to the gym several times each week, they usually laugh, and ask why? - I try to explain how tough is it to drive and how fast you’re actually going.
It’s first, when you get into real karting, you recognize how fast these machines actually go.

The engine is quite punchy. With 34 HP at 12.000 RPM and redline at 13600 it definitely got some go. With 2 gears controlled by paddle shifters mounted on the steering wheel, you’ll always be in the powerband.

The top speed is around 140 km/h (87 mph) depends on gearing and track length.

I haven’t recorded 0 - 100 time yet. But I know that the class just above DD2, are coming from a standstill to 100 kmh in around 2.8 second. And around my local track they’re only 1 second faster around it.

34 HP might not sound of much, but compared with a total weight of 175 kg (with driver), you’ll struggle to keep up, mentally.

It’s equipped with ceramic brakes. One at each front wheel and one at the fixed rear axel.

Not alone is it fast in a straight line - in corners you can pull up to 3.0G, depends on weather and tyres. Just to put that in perspective, a formula 1 car pulls around 4.5G. We got two different tires. Slicks for dry and rain for, well… You guessed it. Rain.

/Why DD2, why not another class?

Money, reliability and speed. Whole the Rotax Series which consists of several classes. Rotax- micro, -mini, -junior, -senior and -DD2. They all got one thing in common. They’re all homologated, so you can’t do any perfomance modifying. The engine is closed and only a Rotax certified mechanic, may open it. Also there is only one tire distributor. The only thing we can choose ourselves is the chassis.
- That results in a very cost efficient class.

/But why didn’t I choose a Rotax Junior or a Rotax Senior?

Simply because of speed. The DD2 sits at the top of the throne for the Rotax-series. And while its fast as hell, it’s relatively cheap as well.

Thanks for reading, and please do ask questions, if you have any! :)