Was EVERYONE slower or just you?
My buddies ran almost exactly the same times as they did in the last round
There’s a bunch of different reasons why a harder axle could slow you down and make you slide.
You mentioned earlier in this thread that you prefer the harder one, why?
Th soft setup always was too “noodly” for our tight twisty high grip bullring track. We ran the harder setup narrow for fast hard rotation.
The stiffer axle indeed looks like it has ruined the kart’s ability to hold the load at apex. Just washing out from apex to exit and bogging the kart down.
It may be a matter of running the softer axle and smoothing out your hands a bit or working on your posture and dealing with the hop a bit. I notice in this latest video you move your hands a lot on the wheel and change your grip, while it also looks like you pull on the wheel a lot. I would put the softer axle back in, and work on trying to steady yourself in the kart a bit better by focusing on pushing the wheel and maintaining your grip a bit more to help the kart be more stable and predictable. If you’re moving your hands on the wheel and pulling on it rather than pushing, it’s easier for the kart to drive you rather than you drive the kart.
Wow, thanks for this! Watching this again after reading your comment, it is so clear that the kart loads up and then just washes out.
I will review some footage of the previous round (with the softer axle) and see if I am doing the same things with my hands and posture.
I am only about 5 minutes into the video and TJ is spot on about your hands. To me it looks like your hop happens at entry to mid-corner as the kart loads up. Some of that can be from asking too much from the kart on entry, then holding it there until it washes out as the inside rear drops and you flat slide scrubbing speed.
The engine sounded full throttle through most of the sections you were hopping in. Have you tried rolling the corner more and waiting until just before apex to get back on the gas? Or at least modulating the throttle on corner entry to mid-corner. That will take some of the load out of the rear of the kart at turn in. I think Warren can explain this better than I can, but its about weight transfers. First forward to get turned in, the to the outside to get the kart rotated and finally rearward to drive out of the turn.
Also going slightly wider on the front end is sort of a half step to adding caster. It will push the inside front tire down a little further and help hold up the inside rear a little longer.
Running a harder axle forces you to reset from base line. Its a big change. When I went from the N axle (medium) on the OTK to the H (medium hard) I had to add back caster and widen the front. Then I would adjust the rear width to suit the track conditions. If it was greasy or green, narrow the rear. If it was grippy and binding, widen the rear. Rear hubs make a difference too. The short OTK works well on greener track and the standard hubs better on grippier track. You could even go to the long hub in some cases when thing get really grippy. It allows the axle to flex more or less acting like partial steps between axles.
Not sure if any of this will be helpful, but just some thoughts before pulling the axle out again.