Various questions regarding Karting and technique

[lovef1]

hello there fellas,

i recently started racing karts, and up to now I've participated in 3 races. My lap times are pretty slow compared to the seasoned drivers, but I believe with a bit more seat time I could eventually be on their pace. The thing I noticed is my steering input is 10 times more than the guy up front. My kart always oversteers in the high speed stuff and understeers in the slow speed corners, and as a result I need to use different lines to accomodate the karts handling charachteristics. Is it my lines, throttle and brake appllications, set up or is just down to me being crap? Any advices are very much appreciated.

[Peat]

Its all of the above.

Without actually being there to see and advise, all i can say is practice, practice and more practice. Concentrate on being smooth and build the speed gradually. If you try to go flat out straight away without the nessesary know-how, you will be all over the place.

[GORDON STREETER]

When I first started on the oval circuits and was being overtaken by the established stars of the day I assumed that my car wasn't up to it.
However after one of the "stars" let me have a go in his car and he drove mine I had to rethink as he said "that handles well" and to be honest his car was terrible compared to mine but he still won the next heat !

[barnettracing]

A fast car/kart is not always the easiest to drive. Do what Peat says though and build up to it slowly. This will help you build up smoothness and consistency. As you get more experience you will get used to the car/kart sliding.

As a novice, you want to set up for understeer though as this is easier to deal with (you won't spend as much time facing backwards). As you get better/more experienced dial more oversteer in.

[lovef1]

Dear awesome people,

I was wondering does slipstreaming "exist" in karts. I ask this because, during my practice today, I tried slipstreaming various karts to no avail. I know my straight line speed is up to par, because I compared my top speed displayed on my onboard computer with various other drivers present at the track that day. Also I see various karters on youtube "tucking" down the straights, I tried this out but I didn't notice any top speed difference, could it be that the back straight on my local track just isn't long enough? As usual ur advice is very much appreciated.

[Peat]

On a long straight and into a head wind perhaps, but I don't think it makes too much difference personally. It's certainly not where you are losing time by the sound of your previous posts.

[lovef1]

ye i thought so....

[ascarracinguk]

Originally Posted by Peat

On a long straight and into a head wind perhaps, but I don't think it makes too much difference personally. It's certainly not where you are losing time by the sound of your previous posts.

I've raced at 3 sisters and Teesside in tkm and prokart enduros, you get a massive slipstream at 3 sisters especially in the prokart with a Bigfoot on....I can gain 5 or so metres on the straight, and if you work together with another kart it knocks a few tenths of a second off your lap time.

However in 2 stroke karts it's less noticeable because they have more power

[jjordan]

Definately depends on the track. We race on several road courses where the straights are very long (one almost 9/10ths of a mile). Drafting not only helps but is essential if you want to stay up front, if you get left out of the draft you will not catch back up by yourself, but if you can get one or two guys to work with you, you will see 5-6 mile an hour difference at the far end of the straight. Our sanctioning body allows pushing, some don't, and 2-3 karts together pushing WILL make a huge difference. Head tuck works for some of the taller guys, if you are short enough to get behind the nassau panel then you don't need to tuck. Again, some sanctioning bodies do not allow head tucking and will DQ you if caught, very important to be clear on the rules beforehand.

[lovef1]

Dear awesome people,

I have tried to be as smooth as possible while racing, but I don't think I'm smooth enough. Ideally i was taught you steer once on entry and steer once again for the exit. I can't apply this theory on the race track and its not because of the balance of the kart. It's because the steering is TOO FREAKIN' HEAVY, so i tend to "throw" the kart in, get some oversteer and go on from there as I feel by doing that the steering get's lighter and more manageable. I think this is affecting my time, is there anthing that i can do through set up to lighten the steering? I don't want it to be too light, as i prefer to have sufficient feedback through the steering, but I don't want it to be TOO heavy either as i personally don't have the srength.

[Russell B.]

You don't mention the chassis or class of racing. However, as you are talking about adjusting set up of the kart, I assume you are an 'owner driver' and not referring to hire karts.
The best way to effect a change on heavy steering is to reduce the castor angle on the front axles, this is done through adjusting the king pin where the stub axle meets the chassis. Playing with this will also affect the handling though. In extreme you will end up with a kart that both understeers and oversteers if the angle is reduced too much as the castor setting is key to the wheel lift required for fast cornering. Best to make small adustments and test the changes as you go .

[barnettracing]

Although we are doing this for a bit of fun, karts to require more upper arm/shoulder strength to drive than a car. Therefore, as well as playing around with set up (which may not be the wisest thing to do if you are happy with the general balance of the kart) do some weight training focusing on triceps, shoulders, upper back etc.

[danemsteve]

have you set the kart up? and are the wheels straight? even so if your under steering lock up your brakes to bring the back out and defently get more time in the seat.... good luck

[lovef1]

Hello peeps,

If u didn't know, I race in a kart series in malaysia. At the moment I'm racing a 100 cc crg. the only thing i'm allowed to tweak is tyre pressures. The problem I encounter time and time again, is whenever i enter a corner, at the exits, the rev just drops, and it take a lot of time for me to pick up momentum again. I tried being as smooth as possible but to no avail. is there any special method of applying the throttle etc? it seems that I am the only one that suffers most from this and i think its affecting my lap times in a big way; because; i seem to be able to keep up but as soon as i enter the hairpin the guy ahead just pulls away on the exit, and the guy behind just gets on my ass. As usual ur replies are very much appreciated....

[ascarracinguk]

Originally Posted by lovef1

Hello peeps,

If u didn't know, I race in a kart series in malaysia. At the moment I'm racing a 100 cc crg. the only thing i'm allowed to tweak is tyre pressures. The problem I encounter time and time again, is whenever i enter a corner, at the exits, the rev just drops, and it take a lot of time for me to pick up momentum again. I tried being as smooth as possible but to no avail. is there any special method of applying the throttle etc? it seems that I am the only one that suffers most from this and i think its affecting my lap times in a big way; because; i seem to be able to keep up but as soon as i enter the hairpin the guy ahead just pulls away on the exit, and the guy behind just gets on my ass. As usual ur replies are very much appreciated....

It sounds like the kart has got too much grip and is bogging down, ie the karts engine is struggling to overcome the amount of grip from the tyres, try lowering the pressures in the tyres, that will loosen the kart up and should help. Just out of interest what brand/type of tyres are the karts using? Do you know what pressures other racers are using?

Also you could be braking too late, and/or not getting on the throttle early enough.

The best way to think about it is slow in, fast out, you should always have your foot on one of the pedals, so if you're not on the brake then you should be on the throttle.

[lovef1]

ascar, we run on mojo tires....

[ascarracinguk]

Well if they are anything like the mojo tyres that ran in rotax in the uk you can run them as low as 8psi, what do you currently run them at? Do you know what other drivers are running them at?

[lovef1]

Ascar, i currently run them at 10 psi.... I think most racers seem to run them softer than me, but i can't confirm that....

[ascarracinguk]

It sounds a touch on he high side, try them at about 8psi, in the uk on a hot day we run them at 8psi and I imagine Malaysia is a bit hotter than the uk!!!

[lovef1]

I'm defiitely going to try decreasing my tire pressures for the next meeting..
..

[lovef1]

Wat up awesome people,

I really need help with my braking. I read an article on this website called karting1 (http://www.karting1.co.uk/braking-karting.htm). Apparently you need to keep your wheels on the verge of locking up. i tried on the track today and it seems I need to brake earlier than normal plus I lose time as I kept on missing the apex. Previously I use to brake more gently; as in I braked progressively, making sure i'm just on the verge of locking (basically the reverse of what the articles instructed). I was wondering what do guys do, i really need help on this aspect as I am losing A LOT of time under braking. I find karts are a bit like bikes where you can't just stomp your brakes like you do in cars. I tried a couple of track days in my friend's track prepped car, where you can just stomp the brakes. In karts the brakes lock up. Anyways as usual your advices are very much appreciated.