2016 EZGO Valor Gas Governor/Speed Questions

[SmokinRam]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post. I've spent my entire life working on and building every type of automotive motorsport vehicle and this is my first golf cart and so far I love it.

Picked up this "Mint" 2016 EZGO Valor Gas and its basically a toy for me and something for me and the family to ride around the neighborhood.

So here is my question(s). My neighbor has a 2018 Club Car Gas EFI and initially he was able to beat me in a drag race (its funny to race something as slow as these. LOL) so I adjusted the throttle cable to adjust the governor up a little and was then able to beat him. So he caught on and adjusted his up. Well I have a little governor adjustment left but I am a bit leary on adjusting it all the way. It runs great on level and on a grade but when going down any type slight hill, it pulls, then coasts, then pulls, then coasts almost like its hitting the limiter, letting off, then pulling again and so on. I am sure this is normal but I wanted to run this past you all and see. Are there any other type of adjustments that I can get some more speed safely out of this cart?

I know tires mean a lot too. Mine has the original 18 1/2" tall tires on it while my neighbors Club Car is lifted with 23" tall tires. I am planning on going to a 14" rim with 20" tall tires soon and I am sure that will give me a little more mph but for now I am enjoying the challenge of trying to beat him with my small tires.

I hope no one takes this post the wrong way. I am not trying to make a race car, just having some fun with my neighbor. Its super fun and we all have a good laugh about it.

Thanks so much in advance.
Andy

[JPonLKN]

Originally Posted by SmokinRam

Hello everyone,

This is my first post. I've spent my entire life working on and building every type of automotive motorsport vehicle and this is my first golf cart and so far I love it.

Picked up this "Mint" 2016 EZGO Valor Gas and its basically a toy for me and something for me and the family to ride around the neighborhood.

So here is my question(s). My neighbor has a 2018 Club Car Gas EFI and initially he was able to beat me in a drag race (its funny to race something as slow as these. LOL) so I adjusted the throttle cable to adjust the governor up a little and was then able to beat him. So he caught on and adjusted his up. Well I have a little governor adjustment left but I am a bit leary on adjusting it all the way. It runs great on level and on a grade but when going down any type slight hill, it pulls, then coasts, then pulls, then coasts almost like its hitting the limiter, letting off, then pulling again and so on. I am sure this is normal but I wanted to run this past you all and see. Are there any other type of adjustments that I can get some more speed safely out of this cart? Nope, not safely. These things aren't safe over 20 mph...that is why they have governor's. Can they go faster, sure. You can get high speed gears, but you will loose low end torque. The point where it cuts out and coast is likely where the built in rev limiter is cutting the ignition until engine RPM returns to the operational range. They aren't made to run up against that limiter, so you will shorten the life of the engine if you keep it there.

I know tires mean a lot too. Mine has the original 18 1/2" tall tires on it while my neighbors Club Car is lifted with 23" tall tires. I am planning on going to a 14" rim with 20" tall tires soon and I am sure that will give me a little more mph but for now I am enjoying the challenge of trying to beat him with my small tires. Taller tires is the easiest way to get more speed, but again, just like with high speed gears, you loose low end torque.

I hope no one takes this post the wrong way. I am not trying to make a race car, just having some fun with my neighbor. Its super fun and we all have a good laugh about it.

Thanks so much in advance.
Andy

See responses in Bold above. It is a battle of give and take. to go faster, you need more RPM at the wheels, and in turn, at the engine, which these are not built for, which generally means modifying the valve train to let the valves keep up with the engine speed, lightening the flywheel so it spools up quicker and has less weight taking up power leaving more for turning wheels, and heavier duty parts to keep up with the higher loads imparted by higher RPM. In other words, $$$. You can generate higher RPM at the wheels through gears, and/or tire size, but you won't climb hills as fast, and it will take longer to get to top speed. No matter what you do, as you increase speed, your cart becomes less stable. They aren't designed to stop from high speeds with stock components, nor are they designed to handle. They can be made to do it, mine does 40 MPH, but to say it is safe would be a lie.

[SmokinRam]

Originally Posted by JPonLKN

See responses in Bold above. It is a battle of give and take. to go faster, you need more RPM at the wheels, and in turn, at the engine, which these are not built for, which generally means modifying the valve train to let the valves keep up with the engine speed, lightening the flywheel so it spools up quicker and has less weight taking up power leaving more for turning wheels, and heavier duty parts to keep up with the higher loads imparted by higher RPM. In other words, $$$. You can generate higher RPM at the wheels through gears, and/or tire size, but you won't climb hills as fast, and it will take longer to get to top speed. No matter what you do, as you increase speed, your cart becomes less stable. They aren't designed to stop from high speeds with stock components, nor are they designed to handle. They can be made to do it, mine does 40 MPH, but to say it is safe would be a lie.

Thank you so much for the detailed response. All of that makes 100% sense. Trying to keep pace or beating my neighbors EFI 2018 Club Car may be a struggle if he keeps tweaking his governor to be a head of me a little. I think my next move is to do a taller tire. I planned on doing that anyway but wanted to see how far I could go safely with the stock 18" tires.