Go karting in the wet?
Discussion
JBliss said:
No, the curbs will be slippery...
Unless they are made of concrete, which can be gripper if unpainted! Often the best line in the wet is keeping a wider line and off the apex by a foot so you miss the slippy rubber build up on the circuit. Also learn to transfer weight and soften the kart up along with increasing the Ride height and decreasing the track on the rear of the kart, all this will help handling in the wet
Haha yes i didn't mean actually on top of the curbs! 
Right so you're saying i should basically drive the longest possible distance around the track and saty wide for every corner apex, got it!
Basically everytime i go go karting it is soaking wet and the winner seems to be the one who has the least spins!
Right so you're saying i should basically drive the longest possible distance around the track and saty wide for every corner apex, got it!
Basically everytime i go go karting it is soaking wet and the winner seems to be the one who has the least spins!
Back in my racing days the wet set up was lower pressures in the wets than used in slicks, reduce rear track and slacken off the bumpers to allow the chassis to flex when cornering. The driving aspect was to take the widest line round each corner whilst still apexing and only braking in a straight line. Remember to stay off the paint.
OP, experiment. If you're arrive and driving, (fun kart style), they'll probably have you on slicks. If this is the case, smooth = quick, esp on initial steering input. It is very easy to understeer straight on, but if you load up v carefully, you can apex much more quickly.
I used to race properly, and was quite sucessful in the wet. I never subscribed to this wide line theory, so try various things. Remember a good spin can be 1/2 a lap easy, so no heroics if in an enduro event.
I used to race properly, and was quite sucessful in the wet. I never subscribed to this wide line theory, so try various things. Remember a good spin can be 1/2 a lap easy, so no heroics if in an enduro event.
if we're talking rental karts outdoors on slicks, you will find that the kart will understeer horribly all the time. somewhat counter intuitively, a little bit of throttle through the corners will really help you counter this. be careful though because you don't want to spin it. the rental ones can be a bit tricky in the wet because it's very hard to mete out the throttle precisely on account of the clutches and general crapness.
contrary to most advice its not always fastest to be on the widest line. Aim to be just off the normal racing line but still making the corners as straight as possible. As an example I have done a few wet races at Llandow and if you go in as wide as possible or stay on the normal dry line to the final hairpin then you are likely going off. I was staying mid track instead of being up the left hand side and the extra grip from the non rubbered in tarmac was amazing. Made up 4 places on just 1 corner. It made the corner a bit tighter but you made up so much time on the way into it that it didnt matter.
As mentioned try keeping everything, especially the braking smooth.
If you get the chance to practice then try sets of different lines, eg 5 laps doing the track one way then switch to another then you can see which one worked best when you get your time sheet.
As mentioned try keeping everything, especially the braking smooth.
If you get the chance to practice then try sets of different lines, eg 5 laps doing the track one way then switch to another then you can see which one worked best when you get your time sheet.
I always find camber changes on the corner affect you much more in the wet. So if the inside of the corner has dry rubber build up, it will of course be more slippery, but if the outside of the corner has more of a negative camber to it, it more than likely will have less grip.
I don't think you can define a correct driving style, in any given circumstance anyway. As someone else said - just experiment.
Each kart, track, corner will behave different on different days and at different times of the day. Just find what suits you...
I don't think you can define a correct driving style, in any given circumstance anyway. As someone else said - just experiment.
Each kart, track, corner will behave different on different days and at different times of the day. Just find what suits you...
The karts are rental ones with slick tyres. The last time we went it rained so hard you turned the wheel and nothing happened, water splashing over visors etc. One guy who is normally mid-field ended up on the podium because he was the only one who didn't spin!
Just wanted to pick up a few tips incase it's wet. You know how competitive these 'fun' go kart races can get!
Just wanted to pick up a few tips incase it's wet. You know how competitive these 'fun' go kart races can get!
AFC1886 said:
The karts are rental ones with slick tyres. The last time we went it rained so hard you turned the wheel and nothing happened, water splashing over visors etc. One guy who is normally mid-field ended up on the podium because he was the only one who didn't spin!
Just wanted to pick up a few tips incase it's wet. You know how competitive these 'fun' go kart races can get!
That's what i was alluding to. Now, there IS a way to beat everyone with speed in this instance, but to explain it without standing in front of you moving it might be hard to explain, here goes.Just wanted to pick up a few tips incase it's wet. You know how competitive these 'fun' go kart races can get!
If you just turn the wheel as per the dry, you will instantly break front lateral traction and plough straight on. Turning the wheel more will make it worse. All your mates will do this. The net result is that you gradually slow, then finally get grip near the outside - people say "the outside has more grip", i disagree, it's just the front finally bit.
To get turn in on slicks in the wet, you must think as if you have a glass of water in a cup on your nose cone. As you turn, the water will move. If you turn quickly, the water will spill as it splashes about - so the fastest you can turn in quickly is defined by when it splashes and spills. However, if you turn in really gradually, the water will move to a slant more slowly without splashing - ultimately you can get to a faster rate of turn before the slope of water goes over the rim of the cup and spills.
You therefore need to feel for the weight transfer to the outside front tyre - it's the only one doing the work in these conditions. The more weight on the outside front, the more you can turn the wheel before you go to understeer. It's exactly the same effect as cornering on a bike, except you're effectively leaning out of the corner, not in.
I am sure that my explination is badly worded, but trust me if i was doing stering wheel impressions, leaning and moving my bum about it would make sense. All hire karts are set up badly, but the style above is the best way to drive around the setup.
People assume that you can drive around it with throttle / sideways, but you don't have the turning ability to start that properley - so you try turning and breaking to initiate the turn. This might work for a few laps, but since you're not doing it every week you'll get cought out and spin, and fatty slow man will beat you by default.
Tl;dr? In the wet on slicks, drive smooth like button, not aggressively like hamilton.
i would agree with some gump (more or less). However understeer in a kart is not only caused by lack of grip at the front end - the rear end is also a factor. since there is no differential, both back wheels will turn at the same speed. Karts rely on lifting the inside rear wheel off of the ground in order to corner effectively. in the wet (and in a stiff, heavy, rental chassis, and on slicks) you'll be going quite slowly so this is a hard thing to do. the result is the inside rear wheel scrubs along the ground, and causes a lot of understeer (this is where the american turn 'push' makes a lot of sense). you can neutralise this a bit by applying a bit of throttle (as much as you can) and also, shifting your weight to the outside of the kart when you corner. try pushing the steering wheel with you outside arm too (extend it and push down a bit through the wheel).
Some Gump said:
If you just turn the wheel as per the dry, you will instantly break front lateral traction and plough straight on. Turning the wheel more will make it worse.
Not always - with kart steering geometry turning full lock can mean the front tyres make contact with the ground on their corners instead on their flat faces. This can mean the tyres bite better - I believe it also helps to twist the chassis and get the inside rear wheel off the ground.But obviously if you're going too fast you will just plough straight on.
RealSquirrels said:
try pushing the steering wheel with you outside arm too (extend it and push down a bit through the wheel).
I reckon this is the opposite of what you need to do - what do you brace against? - the seat - this will stop the rear wheel lifting. Pushing the wheel helps cure an oversteering kart...... I might be wrong.Somewhat off topic but when I used to work as a Instructor/Marshall at an outdoor Go-Kart track while at Uni rain was always an excuse for fun, our favourite trick was to do a lap squeezing an open bottle of washing up liquid off the back, follwoing laps where full of powersliding foamy-goodness :-)
If you exited the last corner fast enough and spun it you could 360 several times down the centre of the straight on full throttle, I recall the record was 7 rotations without hitting anything.
I also recall the washing up liquid run out when the boss used it to clean a big gallon tub of Swarfega to make a giant bong and proceeded to make so much smoke the entire 40ft shipping container that was the garage looked like it was on fire and the staff on the front desk 100ft away where getting lightheaded... ah, happy memories :-)
If you exited the last corner fast enough and spun it you could 360 several times down the centre of the straight on full throttle, I recall the record was 7 rotations without hitting anything.
I also recall the washing up liquid run out when the boss used it to clean a big gallon tub of Swarfega to make a giant bong and proceeded to make so much smoke the entire 40ft shipping container that was the garage looked like it was on fire and the staff on the front desk 100ft away where getting lightheaded... ah, happy memories :-)
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