I put a brand new 16hp horizontal shaft v twin vanguard motor into my off road buggy. My question is can I rip out the governor on these "lawn mower" engines to get better throttle response/horsepower? If I do will engine faulter in some way?

 

If you remove the governor you will lose performance and most likely stick the rod through the block.Have you checked the rpm with a tach ,no load spins around 3600 rpm max + or- 100.under a load they spin close to 3000 to 3100.One other problem you would encounter with the gov removed is the decompression will crap out and the motor will be a bear to get running and burn out starters.On a side note I have a customer with a 24 hp intek and it has governor issues and he is to cheap to have it repaired and its been turning 4000 rpm for two yrs and its still going but I have replaced three starters and at least four drives in that time.