club car Xcelerator kit review

[4vertical]

well i bit the bullet and bought one of these kits. i intended to provide a glowing review. however...

the test subject is a slightly modified campground cart 1998 gas cruiser.



short list; 20.5" dot tires, fe 350, no governor, torque spring in stock driven clutch. stock smooh belt and stock drive clutch. all in near new shape.

The kit for a ds includes a cv tech belt and both clutches. now these are quite nice pcs and the same driven that tom@cpp uses with his big block kits.

Also it comes with a new accelerator cable. mine was kinked during shipping so I am waiting on a replacement. however my cart easily reaches full speed without the cable. this cable would be a good substitute for the stock cable in a big block application as it has much heavier than stock spring to connect to the governor arm. i know on mine the washer keeps backing out of the heavier spring I have installed on my big block cart.

The instructions that come with the kit are great. only thing I had to do was use a washer on the drive clutch where they said not to. Also this cvtech clutch has no puller provision. So I will be contacting my dealer to find their recomemded removal procedure soon.

So for the tests I got out the gps and a stop watch. I ran the cart several times over a given distance. both empty and then pulling a 950 pound trailer. Then I swapped out the clutches and the belt and reran the tests.

Sadly I saw no marked improvement in that distance. either empty or towing the trailer. We are talking maybe tenths, and i was driving and doing the timing so their might have been some error there...I did notice about a 2mph increase in overall top speed. I was finally able to tag 30mph with me and the windsheild installed.

I do think this set up grabs better and more smoothly. I am sure it will work better in wet conditions too

So bottom line, would I recommend these? Well that depends. If you have near new stock clutches and belt like I did(I have a set for sale now! lol), I would pass. However if you are replacing a set do to wear or damage or whatever then by all means I would go for it! For a slight increase in $$ you are getting a lot better product and going to a wider belt too. The belt is a double cogged unit that should last a lot longer and grip better in wet conditions.

I would wonder what this kit would do on a cart that runs stock governors and rpms. I was spinning 4600-4700 on the test runs. a few hundred more on the high speed run. I do have a carryall 272 that is all stock(kids drive it). However I am just a bit too lazy at this point to remove all the stuff and then put it back on another cart. But when I need a new set of clutches on that cart (if i keep it that long) I'll definately get this set up for it. kids should be a bit older by then and hopefully a bit more responsible.

But there is a 5.5 speed limit at the campground, so this may come off sooner than i am thinking. no sense ruining a great set of clutches in the dust down there...

-Aaron

[PIB-My-Ride]

I've been waiting for such a review, but I hadn't noticed your post. Thanks for the info.

I'm in the category of having refreshed clutches and a new belt, so it sounds like you don't recommend this investment for me.

I'm surprised how little gain it achieved. I've been considering this kit to get just a few more MPH, but more importantly, to lower the revs.

CC calls it a 19 mph kit, but they don't say what the revs are at that speed. I can do 22 before my limiter kicks in. I'd like to do 25 with a few hundred RPM's to spare.

Maybe I'll have to go the HS gear route after all?

[4vertical]

I have been thinking of swapping this on my carryall 272. Maybe over winter? Lol. That cart still has the stock rpm limiters in place. It is slow too. Not like it really
Needs any more torque

[PIB-My-Ride]

So what do you think it does to the final drive ratio? 10-20% fewer revs at the same speed?

[4vertical]

That is very hard to guess ony cart I never checked anything but top speed. A lot more torque it seems. I'm able to pull the big hill at the campground easily with the lift on it

[BigBlockMan]

Aaron,
Hears my thinking.
Your not really making a fair test. The kit is made to increase the top speed of a standard cart with governor intact. All without excessive rpm and risking engine damage. Thats not quite the same as your ungoverned cart with no rev limiter. Without checking RPM and speed all you have determined is the max speed that HP engine is capable of pushing your cart.
The idea of the kit is to raise the speed yet keep the motor at a safe run it all day long with your foot on the floor rpm. Also the kit does provide better low end along with better top end. Something that is normally really hard to do without adding HP.
This is done by a larger ratio CVT. A typical CVT is about 3:1 ratio with about 1:1 finish. This kits starting ratio is closer to 4:1 with a .8:1 final overdrive. So it would have more low end due to the 4:1 starting ratio, and THE GOVERNOR controls top speed at a slightly lower RPM (due to the .8:1 finish ratio) then with the stock clutches. Hope all this helps somebody. LOL

[4vertical]

I know it isn't a fair test. life isn't fair! lol I was just simply too lazy to ungovern my cart. And lets be realistic, most of our cart don't have a limiter in place

I did want to try this on my goverened carryall 272 over the winter. However the cvtech clutch isn't threaded for a clutch puller. I've asked the dealer a couple times to check on removal but he hasn't gotten back to me. I'll figure it out eventually. not really on my top priority.

I can say without a doubt my cart (now lifted with 23's) pulls itself and the kiddie kaboose better than a lot of the lifted carts at the campground pull themselves around.

[Seafarer12]

Some people are sold on some of these things and some aren't. I did a lot of reading when I got my buggy and settled on just getting the driven clutch machined and not getting all the new springs. I didn't notice any change after I put it on. I am tempted to put the advance key I bought along with getting the head milled down but I would hate to do all that work and it end up like the clutch machining and not notice any improvement.

[Rep]

Thanks for commenting on this post, Tom. As mentioned within your email response to me earlier this week, the kit seems the best option for someone like me who has a "new" cart, refuses to remove the governor (my adult sons would blow it up), yet needs low-end torque and a bit more speed.

My cart will be used primarily on paved surfaces and to pull boat hoists up my seawall. I plan to order the kit from you next month and to install it before Christmas.

Curious: Will the Xcelerator kit also work with the idle kit some vendors (perhaps you, too) also sell? Faster, quicker, more torque, preserve the engine, AND maybe allow it to idle? That's exactly what I want!

Originally Posted by BigBlockMan

Aaron,
Hears my thinking.
Your not really making a fair test. The kit is made to increase the top speed of a standard cart with governor intact. All without excessive rpm and risking engine damage. Thats not quite the same as your ungoverned cart with no rev limiter. Without checking RPM and speed all you have determined is the max speed that HP engine is capable of pushing your cart.
The idea of the kit is to raise the speed yet keep the motor at a safe run it all day long with your foot on the floor rpm. Also the kit does provide better low end along with better top end. Something that is normally really hard to do without adding HP.
This is done by a larger ratio CVT. A typical CVT is about 3:1 ratio with about 1:1 finish. This kits starting ratio is closer to 4:1 with a .8:1 final overdrive. So it would have more low end due to the 4:1 starting ratio, and THE GOVERNOR controls top speed at a slightly lower RPM (due to the .8:1 finish ratio) then with the stock clutches. Hope all this helps somebody. LOL

[frey9171]

Hello, has anyone added speed gears or a heavy clutch spring with the Xcelerator kit?