What changes are your go tos when the track gets more and more grip over a weekend?
In my experience, the grip levels throughout a CKNA weekend go through the roof.
What are the biggest changes you make when this happens?
In my experience, I go to a stiffer axle and widen the rear with shorter hubs.
It fully depends on what kart you are on and where you are within the tuning window. For example, the at the last Stars race at New Castle, there was a good bit of rubber down and the track was fairly sticky. Typically to free my kart up, we would go to a softer axle. However, the specific track conditions meant our issue was actually that the kart was already too soft, getting sucked down into the track too much and binding and scrubbing speed particularly in the fast sections. So in that case we actually stiffened the whole kart up starting with the axle, to get the kart to absorb less of the weight jacking and get it up out of the rubber more. This made it roll more freely and didn’t bind the tires up as badly.
I try to avoid too general of setup philosophies like “if it gets grippy what changes should I make” because it can vary a lot depending on which variables are at play. Instead, I try and focus on learning what each individual adjustment actually does so I can apply that info for any given situation.
Kart setup is 100% conditional. You can have a general idea of what to do for a given track condition but without actually being at/on the track to see how the kart is working in the moment, it’s just a general guide.
I run a CompKart 4R with LO206 in my experience going softer when it’s gripped up is a death wish the kart. Stiff axel does a good job freeing it up. The high grip situations only really happen in cupkarts due to the Vegas laying down and the track gripping up so much