karts

[JeffC]

yes there is a couple of lines today that I picked up from you that should make passing harder for you, I practised them later when I was chasing the captain to good effect    

good crack though  

Still cant understand my elder offspring though, sets a lap in the wet on the morn session within 1 second of my time and 3 seconds quicker than hes ever gone , fantastic I thought after spending a good 20minutes with pen and paper last night showing him the lines  explaining braking points and apex"s ets I thought hes cracked it      then he goes out in the dry on slicks and goes 4 seconds foooookin slower      

then Ryan was steady away all day, he was watching Miss Marple when I was explaining the lines instead of listening to me      then last session in torrential rain drives his socks off        

[Pilot Pete]

Don't be afraid to pump those tyres up a bit more on cold or wet days, maybe go to 30psi and see how they perform

You don't want to lean into the corner, in fact the complete opposite, lean away from it. It should and would feel completely wrong I know, but it's the right way as you need to lift that inside rear wheel  A method that can help you with this is to push the steering wheel away from you when turning it, instead of pulling it. I.E. going round a right hander, you dont want to pull the steering wheel down with your right hand, you need to push it with your left, this way it encourages your body weight to transfer to the loaded tyre  enjoy

Yeah, one of the guys on the gearbox karts was doing that, worked a treat!

[Pilot Pete]

Still cant understand my elder offspring though, sets a lap in the wet on the morn session within 1 second of my time and 3 seconds quicker than hes ever gone , fantastic I thought after spending a good 20minutes with pen and paper last night showing him the lines  explaining braking points and apex"s ets I thought hes cracked it      then he goes out in the dry on slicks and goes 4 seconds foooookin slower      

Yes, pretty sure that must defy E=mc2 somewhere!    

[JeffC]

Still cant understand my elder offspring though, sets a lap in the wet on the morn session within 1 second of my time and 3 seconds quicker than hes ever gone , fantastic I thought after spending a good 20minutes with pen and paper last night showing him the lines  explaining braking points and apex"s ets I thought hes cracked it      then he goes out in the dry on slicks and goes 4 seconds foooookin slower      

Yes, pretty sure that must defy E=mc2 somewhere!    

   

would be interested in an explanation of the 3 wheeld cornering technique and how it helps you to corner quicker , noticed a couple with the front wheel in the air but not the rear, with all the weight on the right hand side reckon I would need a ramp to get it elevated on mine          

[Ross]

Still cant understand my elder offspring though, sets a lap in the wet on the morn session within 1 second of my time and 3 seconds quicker than hes ever gone , fantastic I thought after spending a good 20minutes with pen and paper last night showing him the lines  explaining braking points and apex"s ets I thought hes cracked it      then he goes out in the dry on slicks and goes 4 seconds foooookin slower      

Yes, pretty sure that must defy E=mc2 somewhere!    

   

would be interested in an explanation of the 3 wheeld cornering technique and how it helps you to corner quicker , noticed a couple with the front wheel in the air but not the rear, with all the weight on the right hand side reckon I would need a ramp to get it elevated on mine          

Jeff,

I think the basic principle is that due to the axle being solid not like a car with a differential. When cornering in a car the differential allows for the diffrent wheels speed as the inner wheel has less distance to travel than te outer. In a kart it is the same the inner wheels needs to rotate slower than the outer however this is not possible with a solid axale and thus bogs the kart down. There if the karts lifts its inside wheel it can rotate the same speed as the outer and not bog the kart down.

Ross

[JeffC]

cheers Ross, makes sense I suppose, and does explain why when Im going down the back straight at 7,000rpm the revs drop 200 rpm as I turn into the corner    

reckon I will have to fit a trolly jack under my kart to lift the    end up though      

[evo-mark]

very very frustrating day for me, so I have to say my least favorite to date

started the day on my old (maybe shot) dunlops on a mildly wet track so I had no grip and could not get close to anyones pace, except Rosss who had even worse tyres than me  

Not a problem as I had a new set off wets ready to fit when the tyre man was finished prepping the hire karts

as soon as the tyres were on the rims the sun came out so on went the slicks ,at least no excuses we were all on the same tyres I should have a bit ding dong with one of the lads ,errr No

as I drove round it was clear I couldn't keep up with any world formula or pro kart , thought must try harder, and was fully committed to most corners as a result spent alot of time spinning off

I thought I can't be this bad so put it down to my tyres as all the karts passing me were exiting the corners alot quicker and pulling away down the straights

now the lightest bloke there been out dragged would have told most people there was a prob with the kart but it just didn't register with me    

so I handed the kart to Pete who immediately was off the pace and watch as Jeff passed him and was off into the distance in no time

on returning the kart Pete said its got "no go" it can't keep up on the straights .A quick check in the carb showed the throttle was not opening up fully

and then it was time for an early bath as I had to be at work in a few hours

so with a bit luck I can join in some of the fun next time

[Pilot Pete]

Just bought another fishing suit to make life easier and watching some alfano timers. Think they were pretty cool.

[conibear]

would be interested in an explanation of the 3 wheeld cornering technique and how it helps you to corner quicker , noticed a couple with the front wheel in the air but not the rear, with all the weight on the right hand side reckon I would need a ramp to get it elevated on mine          

Jeff,

I think the basic principle is that due to the axle being solid not like a car with a differential. When cornering in a car the differential allows for the diffrent wheels speed as the inner wheel has less distance to travel than te outer. In a kart it is the same the inner wheels needs to rotate slower than the outer however this is not possible with a solid axale and thus bogs the kart down. There if the karts lifts its inside wheel it can rotate the same speed as the outer and not bog the kart down.

Ross

Spot on Ross.

But also, by lifting the inside rear wheel not only keeps the RPM up it stops the rear axle driving the kart off in a straight line, thus reduces understeer significantly.

Jeff, ignore the ones that are lifting their inside front  Thats going a bit too far and are obviously doing something wrong    

[Guest]

one word

caster  

[JeffC]

one word

caster  

nets  

[Pilot Pete]

one word

caster  

nets  

[Guest]

we can't give you all the secrets right away now can we ....  

[Pilot Pete]

we can't give you all the secrets right away now can we ....  

Thats what the pm system is for harv, nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more!    

[JeffC]

we can't give you all the secrets right away now can we ....  

Thats what the pm system is for harv, nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more!    

wooooooaaaaaaahhhhh young Dixon you dont need any help in the going quicker dept, us old timers need every bit of help we can get.