Iwas really excited to finally get to race the engine after a few days breakin it in.. I wento out to the River Race Track in Brazoria TX, my home track so it's the perfect testing ground to really see the potential of Monty's Magic..

It an average size track, not as big as the pro track's but the awesome thing about this particular track is the really nie layouts with elevation changes, a cement bowl, a huge double on the straitaway, that can be tough to land cleany in Nitro, and some twisty turns and short doubles going in and out of corners, oh yeah it's dirt, not clay or super hard packed, but dirt, you know the stuff that these buggy's were made to run on, and sometimes dry and swept aside and later in the evening slightly damp and sometimes wet...

It's cool to run this engine on damp conditions when the traction and loose dirt, not in the corners especially, can make lesser than engines seem underpowered. For example my normal setup is a HT P5 with a 9853ss pipe and short nova header, and the mugen is geared 13t and hard all shoues and 1.0 springs, not a soft setup, it needs the power to move throughout the tight jump sections in the dirt...

I decided to keep all things equal and use the same 9853ss pipe and everything the same. 25% Byrons, etc....

The break in took a while, it had been pre run by Monty and he must really heat them up, because it was tight, although it did help. I think that engine was slightly tighter than a p5, mostly due to the billet piston, a very nice touch, and how Monty replaces the steel balls in the bearings with ceramic ones is a flat out mystery to me, and it had the filled crank, and of course the Houston Tuning...the crank is worked over,and the sleve is massaged, and everything else....I dunno...

It took about 3/4 of a gallon for that engine to free up to be leaned on the bottom end and tweaked on the top, but be careful breakin it in, the engine is so powerful it will fly if you don't fatten the top during break in, and let the dang thang warm up really well before you make some passes, that piston is so hard it needs the extra time to get up to temp...

After a few heat cycles in the street it was sounding awesome...I slightly leaned the top, it was still outside the brass part(Flush), and moving it out, the trick is to let off when it gets fast, don' just run it full speed all down the street, I like to let off and let it idle down to half speed then give it smooth throttle always, no race blips....It ran exactly, I mean exactly 200 degrees, never getting above 215 or so....

After the grueling breakin, always is with a Novarossi, the p5 gets closer at 1/2 gallon, but this took 3/4 of a gallon, I took one final run, and leaned the bottom and dropped the idle, and leaned the top about 2 hours...and still being nice ran it up and down the street and shut it off with a bit of fuel left, and dumped that out, and then ran it slowly around until it ran out....

Then I let it cool and added Novarossi assembly oil. I like that stuff...If I'm storing it I will mix it with afterrun oil, but for a day or two the thin stuff is good....and put a new 97t in it....I broke it in with a 97t too...

Ok then at the races. I ran 2 practice runs and it souned a bit fat but it was fine, I ran it and then topped it off and checked the temp it was like 220, so I leaned the bottom a little more, not much the bottom end is touchy, besides it was the first runs on the track, and just practice. The second run I leaned the top 1 hour, and it was still breakin in, no biggie...

The first qual it was really powerful, butsmooth, and I coul tell it was a weet motor, really balanced, and even a tiny bit fat it started and idled without dying even if I didn't blip it. that cool, a goodsign of expert tuning monty mostly,,,,.. I knew the engine had more so before the 2nd qual I leaned the top 2 hours, and just left th bottom alone, it was good, and it ws still hot outside, and blew a good ammount of smoke on full power and it can be confusing sometimes, is it rich on the bottom? really it was the top...That did it, it stomped those jumps hard. The bottom end came to life...and it powered smoothly but it will slide ur buggy sideways if you think ur badass, this engine needs more respect than say a toro team or fms, even though they are fast they don't have the bottom end of this monster....so it doubl dangerous....the initial torque is smoother than a p5, but1/2 second later it pulls wayyyy harder, like skipping through a switchback or up the back uphill it lets you pull it, but there better be some traction. If you see a dry spot, be gentle.....It's really hard to say what it's like because it not like anything I've ever driven.....It' like a cracked out plus-4 mixed with an FMS on top...It works great on a small track just like a p5 or plus 4, but is versatile enough to stomp a big track like most pro tracks. So that makes it really nice....

It took me a while to tune it, not because it's hard to tune, but because it makes so much power,It's tough to tell if should be leaner... it ended up just slightly in from flush on the bottom and barely above flush on top.......came in at 230-240 after 20 minutes in hot ass Texas.It was hot, but cooled off a little during the main. So I leaned the bottom an hour and the top too...It's humid here so that's why at night it's important to do that......the humidity is more of a change than the temp (denser air)here.....

I'm really happy with it....I get tired of running the same engine, and I wanted something special that blends the power of bottom end engines and top end rockets and this engine does exactly that. It's not hard to tune, and easy to drive because you know it will clear every jump, and fly down every section. and it's really consistent. throughout the race it had the same power all main long....so It gets you in the groove......a must for winning races, and guess what. I won first place.....and really the best part is knowing that my engine guy was texting me asking, "How do you like it". that's priceless.....Monty is just one of those guys who has personality and really cares about his service, and that is a winning combo.....I'm glad I know him.....