Discussion
james_gt3rs said:
kiseca said:
This is the biggest factor in my experience. Even on tracks with lap times under 20 seconds, I can often make or lose a second a lap simply by swapping karts.
Racing driver excuses 101 
That's pretty good. I'm only a smidgeon lighter than you and can't get into the 50s either. I'm not as smooth as I could be so will try that - especially before the uphill as mentioned before. I can't blame it on the karts as i have come second many times behind someone who's been racing there since they were 10!
julian64 said:
They were all young and I an 87Kg so not exactly a lightweight.
Weight can make a huge difference to lap times on karts, especially low powered ones.Doesn't really explain the oversteer but the lighter ones will have better drive out of corners and be faster in general.
fido said:
That's pretty good. I'm only a smidgeon lighter than you and can't get into the 50s either. I'm not as smooth as I could be so will try that - especially before the uphill as mentioned before. I can't blame it on the karts as i have come second many times behind someone who's been racing there since they were 10!
Its the first time I'd been there. I looked through the lap times so see if any of the changes I was making per lap made any positive difference. The first five laps were getting the corners right. The next ten were playing about with the seat placement, but to be honest I couldn't remember which lap was which, and the rest were trying to go faster and fast round the double bend at the end of the straight.On the subsequent race card there is obviously an improvement in the first five laps. There was no discernible changes while moving my seat around. But taking the end of straight double bend faster and faster at the end did have an effect on the first sector time. For most of the middle laps I was just lifting off at the end of the main straight and putting the power back on as soon as I could once in the bend.
At one point I spent a lap behind one of the fast chaps (always a good learning experience) and I was right up behind him at the end of main straight (cos he'd just overtaken me). When I lifted off he didn't. He had his foot hard on the throttle all the way down the main straight and didn't take it off for the double bends. I couldn't do that. Be nice to know why
Agree with lean to the outside of the kart on corners. You can take the first corner flat out doing that. The only place you need to brake at Buckmore is the first hairpin. All the other corners you can lift off and scrub speed with steering lock.
I think the most important corners are the two at the bottom of the hill as they affect your speed on the uphill section past the clubhouse. Nice and wide in to the corner by the car park.
different story in the wet though!
I think the most important corners are the two at the bottom of the hill as they affect your speed on the uphill section past the clubhouse. Nice and wide in to the corner by the car park.
different story in the wet though!
Leon R said:
nobrakes said:
When my kart was changed out at a team event I told the next driver that this one was much faster.
He came back in and said, “No wonder it’s faster, there are effectively no brakes on it!”
People use the brakes on go karts?He came back in and said, “No wonder it’s faster, there are effectively no brakes on it!”
If you don't have to brake for turn 3 then you were far too slow in the pevious sections of the track.
I used to race karts, proper ones not turn arrive and drive type
Moving the seat was/is a no-no, by moving it backwards all your doing is undoing the karts balance, will promote understeer if anything.
I would have loved to move it as I’m 6foot so my legs were to cramped up
The lighter drivers who needed ballast would secure the weights at the front of the kart, or preferably low down on the seat
Moving the seat was/is a no-no, by moving it backwards all your doing is undoing the karts balance, will promote understeer if anything.
I would have loved to move it as I’m 6foot so my legs were to cramped up
The lighter drivers who needed ballast would secure the weights at the front of the kart, or preferably low down on the seat
usn90 said:
I used to race karts, proper ones not turn arrive and drive type
Moving the seat was/is a no-no, by moving it backwards all your doing is undoing the karts balance, will promote understeer if anything.
I would have loved to move it as I’m 6foot so my legs were to cramped up
The lighter drivers who needed ballast would secure the weights at the front of the kart, or preferably low down on the seat
what do you think to the wobbly headed dog manoeuvre?Moving the seat was/is a no-no, by moving it backwards all your doing is undoing the karts balance, will promote understeer if anything.
I would have loved to move it as I’m 6foot so my legs were to cramped up
The lighter drivers who needed ballast would secure the weights at the front of the kart, or preferably low down on the seat
nickfrog said:
Weight reduces lateral grip but increases traction.
Doesn't help for clutch engagement though (or going up that buckmore hill) OP, those sodi rt8 karts have a fun powerband, which is why you see a lot of people spin in grip limited conditions (at say 1st hairpin) kick the rear out when they think they've got the kart settled and can apply full throttle. They're such weird karts.
nickfrog said:
Purity14 said:
Light weight people = faster on the straights, slower on the corners
Heavier people = slower on the straights, faster on the corners
Weight reduces lateral grip but increases traction. Heavier people = slower on the straights, faster on the corners
I know locked (or as in a kart, completely missing) differentials aren't that common in circuit racing but I'd be surprised if that's the difference. The only reason you'd want to pick one back wheel off the road in a kart (the leaning outwards thing) is to reduce understeer, surely?
julian64 said:
Okay, next time I will look like one of those wobbly headed dogs on a car dashboard and lean out around every bend.
I'm a little sceptical but I'll give it a try. I still think I'm missing something with the seat position though
I think you're just braking too hard.I'm a little sceptical but I'll give it a try. I still think I'm missing something with the seat position though
When we try to go faster we tend to brake later and harder, but that does not work exactly like that in a go-kart, where is very easy to lock up the rear wheels. specially rented ones with low power and slippery tracks. You have to brake lightly and use a line that allows you to carry more speed through the corner.
Said that, the lean-out technique is still valid and will help you, specially around tight corners.
Karting is a like all motor racing, its often a few small errors that over a lap add up and over many laps make one driver seem so much quicker than another.
I was quite slow around the track in the higher 52s but one point i did notice is that fitness is a big challenge too. We did 10 laps in the hot weather and most people looked like they'd done 2 hours! And in the 66 lap race I my arms just weren't up to the job of turning the steering wheel with enough force.
My friend has done a few thousand laps and he said I could knock 2 secs off quite easily. i was making similar errors to the OP, braking too much and lifting where i didn't need to.
I know weight can be an issue but there are plenty of guys who were far faster than me and even heavier.
I was quite slow around the track in the higher 52s but one point i did notice is that fitness is a big challenge too. We did 10 laps in the hot weather and most people looked like they'd done 2 hours! And in the 66 lap race I my arms just weren't up to the job of turning the steering wheel with enough force.
My friend has done a few thousand laps and he said I could knock 2 secs off quite easily. i was making similar errors to the OP, braking too much and lifting where i didn't need to.
I know weight can be an issue but there are plenty of guys who were far faster than me and even heavier.
kiseca said:
Never understood why reducing weight makes all other forms of car faster everywhere including in corners, but not in go-karts.
It does in karting too, the same constraints apply, unless you're traction limited where weight helps traction (in the traction zones once you're not lat grip limited, ie when you open the steering) but doesn't in all other situations. nickfrog said:
kiseca said:
Never understood why reducing weight makes all other forms of car faster everywhere including in corners, but not in go-karts.
It does in karting too, the same constraints apply, unless you're traction limited where weight helps traction (in the traction zones once you're not lat grip limited, ie when you open the steering) but doesn't in all other situations. Like a 911, the weight out the back makes it prone to oversteer on the way in to the corner, but gives fabulous traction on the way out. If you made it heavier but kept the same distribution, you'd make it slower. If you kept it the same weight and changed the distribution, you'd make it faster or slower or just different - and probably the change there would be more dependent on what the driver deals with better.
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