Karting in warmer / cooler weather

[westhamtim]

Evening all

I'm off karting tomorrow (Lakeside for those that know it so twin engines, outdoors) which tends to happen a few times a year but on reflection always in the autumn / winter months. In the summer months I'd expect the engine to run a little slower but for this to be more than offset by extra grip and laptimes to generally be quicker. Am I right?

Cheers

Tim

[GavinPearson]

Are you right? Yes, for the purposes of this discussion.

[slipstream 1985]

yes but unless you are a proffesional karter going week in week out at a competitive level you will not notice or be able to tell.

[westhamtim]

Fastest lap previously a 41.1 (October). Fastest lap on Saturday 40.9. Not a regular but have been sufficiently for this not to have been improved course knowledge.

[angrymoby]

Are you using your own kart/set up? ...as 2/10ths is fk all in a rental (& rental to rental will vary far more than that imho)

[westhamtim]

Rental kart. Agreed that could be a factor but I tend to think the karts at Lakeside are quite well looked after.

[BlackpoolRock]

angrymoby said:

rental to rental will vary far more than that imho

Completely agree with this. I personally think on a grid of 25-30 rentals the difference between the fastest and slowest kart could be as much as 3/4 - 1 second. One may be completely battered with bent chassis and another in pretty good condition. Then there's the question of the karts tyre life/age. The only real way to know the answer to your question is with your own kart or the same kart you used before imo.

[BlackpoolRock]

westhamtim said:

I tend to think the karts at Lakeside are quite well looked after.

Didn't read that bit sorry. I still think there will be a difference in speed between all their karts though. As long as you're having fun though that's what it's all about

[westhamtim]

BlackpoolRock said:

Didn't read that bit sorry. I still think there will be a difference in speed between all their karts though. As long as you're having fun though that's what it's all about

Almost. The other important bits were coming first and beating my previous pb!

[westhamtim]

BlackpoolRock said:

Didn't read that bit sorry. I still think there will be a difference in speed between all their karts though. As long as you're having fun though that's what it's all about

Almost. The other important bits were coming first and beating my previous pb! :-)

[Dixie]

I'd say it's more likely to be up to 2 or 3 seconds per lap on the Kart. I've been racing at Whilton all weekend and the difference between all drivers in my team in different karts was a lot. And this was in apparently new Biz karts. There are so many variables to consider from one kart to another.

One thing i did notice though was the laptimes were at there best about 10am, as the day went on (and got a lot hotter) the laptimes dropped by about 0.5 seconds. Be it from sum optimal tyre temp or the change in air density there was a significant change.