When driving the Suter Vampire I found it slightly difficult
to distinguish it from the Biland to be quite honest. The performance
characteristics are very similar, but there are slight differences.
The Suter Vampire does have more bottom end power than the Biland,
but it does lack a bit of top end grunt. The Vampire
is really in its element at the lower revs, and it really loves
to pull hard out of the slow corners. The Vampire just has masses
of torque.
Even though we were on the wrong gearing, which meant I was
hitting the rev limiter too early along the main straight at Whilton
before Christmas Corner, the engine wasn’t pulling
very hard at high revs. The power just faded at high
rpm. Even with this in mind, you can expect very similar, if not
better, laptimes with the Suter Vampire over the Biland..
One of the weirdest things I found with
this engine was that it was stupidly smooth. Being a single
cylinder engine you would expect a little vibration and brutality,
but the Vampire was just silky smooth.
In the sound department the Vampire sounds a lot
like the Biland. It doesn’t seem as throaty as the Biland,
but you would find it hard to tell the difference between the two
if there was a grid of both.
In pictures, the Suter Vampire can look horrifically
gigantic, but in reality it actually sits in the kart much
better than you would expect. It’s not over bearing,
and the integrated oil tank is also a neat touch too.
Performance aside, I didn’t get that magical buzz with the
Suter Vampire that I get with a 100cc engine, or something like
the Aixro XR50. The lack of top end speed meant I didn't get that
'edge of your seat' excitement going into corners.
However, there is no doubt that the Suter
Vampire is fast, and it's a very good Biland replacement.
I am also in no doubt that current Biland owners will absolutely
love the Suter Vampire.
Alan Dove - Video of Vampire will
be available soon!
Useful Links -
Saxon
Motosport - UK Dealer
Suter
Racing Technology - Suter Vampire Manufacturers
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