Location: Maurertown, Virginia
Well, it's been a while wince anyone has posted here... Figured I would spice it back up. Concerning karting, since we just had a pretty big event recently... what are some of the techniques you guys have learned in the past? Before our karting trip last weekend, I had never driven a kart before, which showed in my time of a 27.6-ish. It was only a second-ish behind the fastest time, but one second is absolutely huge on a track of that size.
One thing I noticed is that the faster you went into corners, the more the kart stuck, unless it was a hairpin. On those hairpins I found that I was struggling for speed, losing massive amounts of time there. People seemed to outbrake me and still come out of the corner faster, but I wasn't able to figure that out in the limited time I had on the track.
Just any tips or techniques you all have learned and are willing to share, that would be awesome. I was completely fascinated with trying to get better over my 40 minute total stint, which seemed to just blow by in about half the time.
a big thing is finding the balance between taking a tight line (less distance around the corner) and finding a line that's open enough that you don't lose momentum. keeping your inertia is super important in a low power thing like a kart.
the second pointer is just that it'll take time to get used to left foot braking. in a car you're normally used to having your foot off the gas to use the brake. in the kart, you get to use both pedals simultaneously if you want. on certain corners its going to benefit you to not take your foot completely off the gas....this will keep the centrifugal clutch engaged and the revs up higher in the powerband so you don't bog off the corners. once you get more used to the amount of brake you can apply without locking you'll get the hang of late braking better as well, which combined with maintaining the throttle will let you punch into and out of a corner better. you can practice left foot braking in a car of course, but i don't recommend it outside of something like an autocross. its a super weird feeling.
no worries though, takes a couple rounds to figure it out. my times "qualified" for their Super Kart class back in the day but if you put me in a kart now i'd be lucky to battle anyone for last place. practice practice and all that.
2010 Civic Si
2019 4Runner TRD Off-Road
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Past: 03 Xterra SE 4x4 | 05 Impreza 2.5RS | 99.5 A4 Quattro 1.8T | 01 Accord EX | 90 Maxima GXE | 96 Explorer XLT
I focus on getting a good line and attempting to barely lift my right foot, ever. It works for the most part. My biggest weakness is not left-foot braking, it leads to some bogging which slows me down.
Figuring out where the apexes of the turns are will change your line/approach and that will let you carry quite a bit more speed.
Now:
'16 Ram 1500 |
'97 BMW M3 | Some Press Loan
Then:
87 BMW 325e | 91 BMW 535i |
96 BMW 328i |
95 BMW 325i | 95 Mazda Miata |
13 Focus ST | 09 BMW 128i |
00 Pontiac Firebird | 05 Yukon Denali | 96 BMW 328iC |
11 Ford F-150 |
06 BMW M3 |
10 Range Rover SC | '03 Ford Ranger |
'18 Ford F-150 |
'01 BMW X5 | '98 Volvo S70 T5M
Biggest is gas and brake at the same time. Baking as late as possible/trail braking while on the gas without locking up. Rest is just finding the line that works for you. Looking ahead to where you want to apex and ahead helps put the kart where you want. You will naturally steer correctly and place the kart doing that.
Other than that seat time.
Location: Maurertown, Virginia
I was experimenting with the foot on gas and brake at the same time and it really helped me through one section. By the time I figured out that doing it worked slightly better, my stint was finished and I didn't have any more time to keep working on it. What I found really cool was that I was able to take that knowledge from sim racing games I've played, along with other info I had stored in the memory banks, and apply it almost immediately out there with the kart. And like I said before, I had never done any sort of racing with them before.
One thing that always gets me about those karts is - sliding vs. braking/throttle lift off. Logic states that if you're sliding you're going slow, but those karts suffer so much from actual brake application and simply letting off the gas when setting up for a turn. I've always tried to find the balance between using the brakes (on/off throttle) and just coasting to decelerate and set up for entering/apexing/exiting the tighter corners cleanly, vs. just staying on the gas and letting the kart slide. Same difference? Dunno yet....thoughts welcome.
