Ideal karting seating position

[Steven]

Being a very recreational karting driver (not often, but I give it all when I get the chance) I was wondering if there is actually a guideline as to how to setup the seating position.

In the simple indoor karts we drive, you can adjust the seat a bit and it's also possible to move the pedals by something like 5 to 10cm.

Any ideas if it would be beneficial to try to sit as much forward as possible to move the weight to the front of the kart? Or more rearward perhaps?

[furious_g]

I used to be a professional go-kart driver about 10 years ago. Most chassis manufactures actually specify an ideal position. They give measurements in set back, angle etc.

As much as I hate to say this, we found that sticking to these recomendations provided the best handling. It was better to be uncomfortable and get used to it.

We found if we put the seat in the most comfortable position for me it didn't handle as well no matter what other adjustments we made to the kart, including ballast position.

My advice would be to seek out the manufactures recomendations for your particular model and set it to that.

[N12ck]

I race at the moment competitively in karting, and moving the seat forward does not give much advantage, If any, because if it is front grip you are after you adjust the tyres pressures/ width at the front, however the height of the seat off the ground is important (C.O.G), the best thing you can do with a kart with weight is get it balanced.

[ajdavison2]

Not much to do with the actual seating position, but I think I watched a piece on youtube about leaning towards the rear outside wheel when cornering, to avoid losing traction on said wheel, not sure if this is correct, or if it would actually give any benefit haha. On a side note, I'm karting on Friday at a track near Newcastle where I live, so I shall try it out

[N12ck]

a kart has no differential, as when a kart goes round a corner the rear wheel on the inside has to lift up, so by leaning to the outside you then make it easier for the inside wheel to lift up, therefore making cornering easier, its not about loosing traction, its about lifting the inside wheel, hope this helps

[ajdavison2]

Ahh well I was half right

[N12ck]

Yeah, try it, it means you can corner more effectively, however back to the seating position, you cant really adjust the seating position as the seat holders are welded, the most you could adjust it by is 10-20cm, which is not much, and also if you aren't comfortable you wont drive as well, so if you put the seat really far forward and you aren't comfortable any advantage it gives (which is none or very little) is then erased because you wont be driving as well.

[ajdavison2]

Hell with it, I'll just throw it in, and tail out haha

[N12ck]

when you slide, you scrub off speed, as it means you cant get the power down until the slide is over, so my advice is do not slide

[ajdavison2]

Yeah I know, a lot more fun though

[N12ck]

for me beating the other people is more fun, but ah well,

[HampusA]

I´ve been told by a go-cart driver to lean out for the reasons stated above, but also lean back during braking for rent carts or whatever you call them.

Reason was because it only has rear brakes.

[N12ck]

lean back? what? it doesnt give any advantage, commercial karts, do you mean like the rent karts, or racing karts such as TKM or Rotax?

The reasons it doesnt give any advantage are as follows:
Karts use brake disks, and the cylinders go inward, so by putting weight downward on the rear, all you are doing is putting extra stress on the axle, and it really doesnt make any difference, my advice is get the racing line and braking points perfect, then try playing round with things like this, but until you are putting in consistantly fast laptimes there is no point in trying any of these

[Tim.Wright]

More weight on the rear axle = more vertical tyre load = greater braking force capability

Obviously this will only be an advantage if there are no front brakes

Tim

[N12ck]

but there is no point in doing this until your consistantly putting in good laptimes/ being consistant, because any advantage you may gain which i think will be very little will be erased straight away because by focusing on leaning back your mind goes off the driving and nailing the brakling/ accelerating/ turn in to the corner,

my main reason why i dont think it will gain any advantage is because seats are fixed, you lean back all the time in your seat, as its a bucket seat so it snugly fits you so there is no freedom to move backwards, so i dont believe this will gain you any advantage, trust me ive tried all of these tricks in races, that people say work very well and they dont work well at all if at all.