Driving tips for Improving!

Hello! I have the last week working alot on data and other stuff to improve my driving so i can be the best version of me… i allready have all the baisic and important stuff really sorted but i acually have some problems with to much imputs on the wheel…

Im trying really hard to keep it stable and in 1 motion but somehow its not possible bc i get alot of understeer and "front not biting on turn-in) ikd if its driving related but i have watched my friend drive and some other and it seems like there is almost zero movement at all…

Take a look here at this video ( my buddy) not perfect but yk what i mean by this: Franciacorta onboard OK Junior - León Hedfors - YouTube

And this is me… not the same traxk but i have wayyyy too much imput and i belive its slowing me down alot. Idk really thats why im asking the good guys here!

Im seeeing exesive steering imputs (too much) compared to others maby this is setup related?

My setup for anyone wondering:

2mm camber
-1mm toe on each side (think it means 2mm)
2° caster pills
Front track: 2 pcs 10mm and 1pcs 5mm spacer
Rear track: 1395mm (mag hubs
Mag rims
Ackerman on standart
150kg (with driver)
X30 engine
Medium rear axel
Rear bumper loose
And a nylon stabilisator at front…

Thanks for your time spent reading my post its kinda long but well maby you will too lean something new!
// Mikael Drozdz

Negative toe could be an issue. You almost always want some toe out, otherwise the front will struggle on initial input. Toe out helps the kart rotate initially.

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I always defer to @tjkoyen and the other top-tier kart racers on KP for setup advice, but I have a few thought from a driving perspective.

I’ll start with a question; do you really ‘feel’ this is a problem, or are you being told from an external source that this is a problem? Your last race you were 0.06 off the lap record and 0.4 quicker than the field, right? So maybe this is not a problem or a big problem at all.

I know that in a private message I mentioned that you had a lot of steering inputs in one turn (number of back & forth inputs rather than an excessive quantity of one input direction), and that you added perhaps a bit too much mid-corner input on one turn to influence rotation so you could put the kart into the required trajectory to finish the turn at full throttle. I did notice a lot of steering input (understeer) in one turn, but I didn’t mention it because to me it didn’t seem to hinder your pace.

I always look first at how the kart rotates mid-turn. Is the rotation smooth, predictable, and with the right amount of rotational energy/velocity that you are able to manage the rotation as the kart transitions from understeer to a neutral or oversteer trajectory. This is critical because it determines how early, aggressively, and smoothly you can get back to throttle.

Next, I look if you are having to make any large compromises on corner entry to accomplish the rotation goal. For sure, you kart does understeer into apex (quite a bit on very tight turns in fact), but to the naked eye, it does not seem to be limiting your corner entry pace/performance.

Anyway, that’s just another perspective. It’s always good to question everything, and constantly look for potential improvements. So for sure, I would recommend trying TJ’s advice, because maybe you are actually compromising a few 0.01s on entry, or maybe the understeer is degrading your overall performance later in races, or maybe it will just feel better to you?

One last thought from a driving perspective; generally, throughout the entry phase of the turn you are losing speed (bleeding energy). To rotate the kart properly, you must arrive at the apex (rotation point) with the exact correct amount of energy/speed… that is you must run out of energy to hold the outside front tire at it’s optimum slip angle. When the energy needed to maintain the load on the front end runs out; the remaining energy ‘reflecting’ back to the chassis is what intensifies the kart’s rotational momentum and gives it the energy to transition from understeer to a neutral or oversteer trajectory.

So, it is possible you are arriving at the rotation point carrying a very small amount too speed, which would mean you carried a touch too much speed through the whole entry phase of the turn, which could cause you to understeer through the entry phase of the turn. Having watched the videos, I personally don’t think this is the case, but you could look through your data (especially for that very slow left hand turn on the track you drove last weekend) to see if there are any variances in mid-corner speed, and if so, how the variances influenced your throttle on point, throttle ramp-up rate, and overall corner exit (and following straight) performance. :+1:

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When i get home i will post some pics of the data and öets see what it says. And we could go off that… i think its going to feel better bc i dont need to fight consostantly and being smooth i have told its supposwd to be faster… i really want to sqeeze the last but out of my driving!

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Borrowed a buddys laser last testing bc mine got stolen this is what it shows… is this good?


I’m very confused. My snipers have + camber at the top, and toe out → forward. Yours seems to be the total opposite, but they seem like the same functional design. Going by the marks on your gauge, you have positive camber and toe in, both of which are the opposite of what they should be, so I am guessing the labels are just wrong?. Even if you have the tools on the wrong sides, that’d fix the toe reading but not the camber.

http://www.sniperamericas.com/v2.html

Ohhhh my goood. Im soo dumb… it was a R and a L sniper and i think they where placed the oposite… im so used to snipers as you say but this solves my problem… so i habe +2 camber?
Bc +1 on on each side?


You can se the camber seting is on nagative. Thank you soo much​:smiling_face_with_three_hearts: (dont mind the kart not having a steering wheel) :rofl:


Me ans my dad built this btw it was a manual trolley last week

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Can you post more pictures of the trolley in another thread? I’m really curious what you did and how will it works. Thanks.

I just got a electric winch and the trolley also sells as a auto so the hiles where “pre cut” so you have to hammer then out put a winch and the battery in the compartment mounts some rollers for the wire (included in kit) and done! Its just a generic garden winch for max 900 kg costed 150euro from Biltema

What did you do for the arms? How heavy is it?

The trolley allready had the arms bc it was a manual wich that you had to spin by hand ao it was just a metter of switshibg out a belt for wire

Yeah definitely fix your caster/toe. Gas earlier, brake harder. It looks like you’re underdriving everything. Also holding the brakes while turning can lead to the front pushing, feel the axle right after your sessions, if it’s hot then you’re holding the brakes too much, if not then you’re good.

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Axel is not hot… only brake disc… is my 2° CASTER BAD?
Its the max praga setup can go its no caster 1dot caster pill and 2dot caster pill
Im also getting a nex sniper v2 so i can check reguraly bc old one got stolen :skull:

We run an older flexible chassis with a heavy driver and have to run +4mm camber on each side on the stand so that it flexes to what we want static on the ground with driver in the kart. We were tuning for tire wear and endurance. I think you’re just going to have to experiment with your new Snipers when you get them, with the kart on stand and on ground and track times/driver feedback.

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Merry Christmas Everyone, I hope you all will enjoy this day of celebration.

This has been puzzling my mind and how i could fix this in future.

On race weekends, usually in practice we would be about .8 off the pace having an issue at the same time and then we’d solve the issue and be about .2

The kart would handling very well and i’d be driving at my best and i can’t really pinpoint what more i need to do, in order to be quickest

What thought process or actions can i take to solve this so that i can take home some gold ?

Thanks.

What do you feel when you improve the time? Hows the kart feeling? Brake down corner to 4: Braking, Entry, Apex and exit. Think about how the kart feels under theese 4 scenarios. Understeer, oversteer, loose, tight, jacking/not jacking
Maby start with a base setup and go from there acording to what you feel. TJ has a good video explaining what you need to do in certain situations:https://youtu.be/AK_GdvznMds?si=gBCMjnjCx27AUGpf

Camber setting depend very much on the flex of your front end and size of the driver. I am a heavy driver on a soft OTK chassis, so when I set my camber to 0 or -1, my front tires did not make full contact with the pavement and I lost a lot of front grip. I have to set it +1 to +2 to reach full contact. The initial bite at turn in got much better. This is easiest to see on new tires.

Also, I remember TJ saying that during his testing at SuperNats that he and another driver changed the tie-rod positions to increase the weight of the steering making the front more stable and slowed inputs.