Karting in Kylemore.... Any Tips?

Zascar

I'm going karting with some mates in Kylemore Karting - the competition is heating up between all the lads. I have been there before and didn't do anywhere near as well as I thought I would have. On the upper track anyway, its a very slippy surface and you pretty much drift everywhere. Unlike normal racing, you have a distinct advantage if you are heavy as you get more grip in the corners. I'm very light so it can be very hard to corner properly.

Who here is a quick kart driver? Any quick tips that I should know?
Thanks

mack1

I've raced karts a number of times and I've found that the lighter drivers have a HUGE advantage over the heavier guys - so much so that it really takes from the competition. The karts are so light that the drivers weight makes a considerable difference, and the bigger guys just cant accelerate out of the corners at all.

Your light weight should be to your advantage.

But to answer your question - if it's an indoor shiney/ultra smooth track, drive like it's a wet track, smooth arc-like lines through the corners, you will drift less and carry more speed through the corner.

Mitch Connor

on the big sweeping left immediately after the start 'straight' brake and hug the corner - it is very easy (and fun) to drift around the outside of it, but much quicker if you keep close, quick and under control. When you come to the Right Hand U-Turn at the top of the climb, come in wide and turn late. The apex of the corner is not at the centre, as the corner tightens - you can keep better speed and out brake people by doing this. When you come down the hill towards the left hander (to head back up towards the pit lane) stick tot he right hand wall and cut across to the left. On some of the karts it is possible to take this corner without braking, but it does kinda depend on the kart.

You do also need to be very aggresive. "rubbing is racing" and all that - it is very, very difficult to overtake anyone without touching them, unless they completely screw up.

daedalus2097

Thing is, the steep hill will give you an advantage if you're lighter and if you can get the first turn right... Try to keep left on the main straight and carry as much speed as you can around and onto the hill. If you brake too hard/too late you'll never get the speed back - when you see if you'll know what I mean! In the end though it's all well and good knowing the track lines, braking points and what not, but the kart you're given is totally random for each race and there are vast differences between them. It's quite easy to get a good kart and put in good laps, couple of overtaking moves and be top of the leaderboard, only to be given a kart with huge understeer that leaves you last and lapped in the next race. From memory, karts 5 and 6 are pretty bad, but you don't get a choice of kart for each race so all you can do is try to learn the track and be satisfied with your performance in each race, rather than being overall winner...

Edit: Ummm, looking at that post I've only ever been on the track with a right hand corner at the end of the start/finish straight, followed by a sweeping left hander at the top of the hill. Never raced on the other track, so scrap all that

RobAMerc

I dont know the track in question - I must give it a try.

Firstly - more weight is never an advantage in any speed related motorsport, I should know little feckers used to drop me on the exit and up any bit of a hill. (I was too chunky for karts)
Secondly if the track has little grip - (wet) I would urge you to forget you've got brakes at all they tend only to unsteady the balance of the kart on entry to the bend.

As usual with any driving - aim for the apex of the bend taking out as much curve as possible (ie in left hander start as far right as possible) always hit the apex (if your missing it your going in to hot causing understeer) and then get on the juice as soon as possible gently at first feeding it on as you leave the bend and grip builds (less and less lateral g) you may at this point need to correct any oversteer (next time not so early on the power). Sliding is NOT the fastest way around a bend - you'll never see the likes of F1 cars do it except to fix a problem - it scrubs off speed.

Thats about as methodical an approach as I can write, I hope it helps.

SouperComputer

/yay another chance for a racing rant


Its prettymuch summed up above. Here's some general pointers, I haven’t driven kylemore since the lat 90's.

* Drive as fast as you can. Be decisive but be smooth. By decisive I mean, plan your corners, visualise the line you want to take before you get there and take control of the Kart, look and tell it where you want to go. Don't let the kart dictate

* Use the full width of the track.

* If you need to brake, stab, brake hard but don’t lock the wheels, brake in a straight line.

* Indoor karts have very little power (5.5BHPish), generally you are either on the brakes or on the power it’s very rare to be coasting, bear that in mind.

* If you have an understeering Kart, ie the front runs wide, try leaning out in your seat, or if its REALLY bad, you can co-ordinate a thump with your ribs with the point where in begins to understeer. You can also lean forward but it can be disorientating if you are a noob. You can lock the brakes to help you turn in too.

*On starts, take up the slack on the throttle cable just enough so that the clutch does not engage. Can be worth .2s on a start.

Less weight is a big advantage unless you are under six stone, then things get a little unstable. That said, Im now 16 stone (bejausus!) and was able to get within 0.23s of the record at a local track here. Its been 5 years since I drove any kind of kart competively, so I was pleasantly surprised.You can still be competitive if you are a heavier driver, you will just have to try harder

If you can, pay attention to some of the workers if they jump in a kart, look for lines they use especially,.

Bottom line: keep it fast, keep it smooth and use the entire track.