Chassis Tuning in Colder Weather LO206

Chassis Setup, Tires & Handling Forum
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I took my kart out to practice for the first time last weekend. It was a little colder at 49-53F. I thought the kart handled great my only complaint is mid corner it would either get a little loose or hop mid corner only on one long sweeper. Was it too cold to worry about kart setup and lap times? I didn’t notice much difference in handling going from 14psi cold to 10psi cold either. Also no difference running 210mm or 180mm rear wheels.

Kart: 2017 Topkart Twister LO206, frame is square and scaled
Tires: Newer Hoosier R60b, 6s in the rear, Mag wheels
Track: G & J Kartway- A low grip track
Seat: Tillet seat as far forward as Topkart recommends and 4 gear sprockets high (like 12mm?), I moved the seat so the engine sits on the frame rails with no offset
Clutch: Hilliard Flame inboard, 2 white and 2 black springs
Front torsion bar: neutral or soft
Rear axle height is at the bottom position, suggested starting position per Topkart. No third bearing.
Front ride height neutral.
Weight: 370lbs minimum race weight per rules
No seat struts, neutral caster, half a degree toe out on the kart stand, front track width is neutral. Gearing seemed on point from what I could tell.
I have pretty decent driving experience, raced sportsman yamaha in 01 and did a bunch of track days and autocross in corvettes since then, as well as track days in our shifter karts.

I’m off pace according to last years lap times of this track configuration, but it could have been 70 degrees that day. Would I be faster on a warmer day? I’ll be going back this sunday and it will be about 10 degrees warmer, hopefully there will be some other 206 karts to run with. I just can’t wait that long and would like to discuss it with more experienced karters.

I have a feeling the hopping would be worse in warmer weather. First thing I’m going to do Sunday is get a 10 lap baseline. Then see how it does with seat struts added. Then maybe try narrowing track width?

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When conditions are like that, it really is not worth looking at lap times. Put your baseline set up on and have fun. Try to adjust your driving, learn things about how you can manipulate the kart, etc.

Like you said, hopefully its a little warmer and there will be some karts there to put down some rubber. Then you can get a feel for where your kart is and start making handling adjustments.

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If you’re looking to experiment I would stick to the basic adjustments in those conditions in order of importance: tire pressure, track widths, caster. Beyond that it’s not worth going too crazy with adjustments since track conditions will be different once the weather warms up.

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On a basic level, could a cold weather setup be kinda like a wet setup? Pressures up, widen front?

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That’s an easy way to think about it, just not quite as drastic.

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My dry and wet setup other then seat height and gearing are identical in 206… lol Front is already max width + cut down rear axle skinny as she goes.

My front narrows in the cold a bit.

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Understood, I will have to wait a few more days to get some real data then.