I will echo the comments about speed being related to smoothness.
Here is a video from the “SafeIsFast” driver development program that you might want to suggest: https://www.kartpartsdepot.com/Is_Smooth_Fast_p/52.htm
Chris
1 Like
Looking ahead as a couple have mentioned is probably the best advice out there once you get past the basics. By looking through the corner, or down the track, it lets muscle memory and intuition take care of what is happening immediately in front of you rather than placing too much emphasis on reactions. Truth of the matter is that we just don’t have the ability to successfully react to something that happens five feet in front of us.
A good general rule for looking ahead while by yourself on track is to look at the apex or better yet the exit when entering a corner. If you are in traffic never, ever, ever, EVER look at the back bumper of the guy in front of you. It just becomes a magnet and you will hit it eventually.
3 Likes
IMHO, assuming the driver already has a basic understanding of the task (line, how tires work – loads, slip angles - , etc.) I think the most important thing for consistent improvement is to understand the big picture, which includes:
- The five skills that must be mastered
http://www.intuitivespeed.com/spiral-to-speed/spiral-to-speed-overview/ - How to extract lessons from experience
http://www.intuitivespeed.com/learning/initial-research/ - How to manage the sensation of speed by using efficient mental processes
http://www.intuitivespeed.com/spiral-to-speed/mental-skills/reducing-the-sensation-of-speed/ - How to optimize concentration and mental resources
http://www.intuitivespeed.com/a-racers-brain/concentration-for-racers/ - How to manage confidence, and rebuild confidence after a mistake
http://www.intuitivespeed.com/a-racers-brain/confidence-for-racers/ - Techniques for constant training
http://www.intuitivespeed.com/training-techniques/training-techniques/
Regarding why car drivers struggle with karts; I believe that one big thing that can cause problems for both car racers switching to karts and kart racers switching to cars is the difference in what I call the Energy Cycle. When you make any driver input (steering into a corner for example), that starts an energy cycle.
Energy begins moving through the chassis and into the outside front tire where it becomes ‘load’. The tire load allows the tire to produce traction (and associated slip angles), and that traction then becomes forces that act on the kart. The forces cause more energy to enter the cycle, and the process escalates until the energy and traction/forces reach equilibrium and then dissipate, or another driver input modifies the energy cycle (for example, by applying throttle to move the energy to the outside rear tire).
Since karts do not have ‘suspension’ (with springs and shocks that slow down and store some of the energy as they transfer it to the tire), the energy cycle builds and dissipates VERY quickly in a kart, which can be hard for a car racer to get in sync with. Likewise, the relatively slow energy cycle of a car can cause kart racers to struggle with rushing their inputs when driving a race car until they can mentally re-calibrate for the energy cycle speed difference.
Warren
5 Likes
Lots of interesting info, you have given this a great deal of thought. I look forwards to reading on the train tonight.
Welcome @speedcraft!
Guys check out Warren’s site for sure, he has done a lot of work around driving techniques and mental approach.
Awesome, looing forward to reading and trying to comprehend all the above. 
Hey @Chris! Welcome to the forums and thanks for your contribution to this topic.
Please update your profile to reflect your last name as soon as you can.
Awesome discussion - informed, well written and generous as always. Thanks for the contributions, including OP for a great question.
Love the energy cycle Warren. Great mental model.
If I was teaching my dad to drive, I’d arm him with the following:
- don’t slide.
With that down, we’d upgrade to:
- jack the inside rear
- keep your weight over the rear
- look for the exit
Coaches - Am I wrong with this?
I’m respectably quick in a kart but haven’t done much race driving, so this question is ground zero for me as I’m always trying to figure out what I’m actually doing when I drive. Which I think is this:
- brake hard and straight
- ease brake while tweaking the steering to dislodge the rear
- zero the brake and firm on the gas while zeroing the steering
(likely this is what I think id LIKE to do while bearing no resemblance to what I REALLY do.)
This clashes with the ‘no trail brake rule’ - but I’d have thought a combination of forward and lateral mass transfer the best way to jack the rear wheel.
No?
It depends on driving style. For an average size driver or a slightly taller driver, trailbraking like this can lead to the kart reacting too harshly, pulling the wheel up too quickly. My driving style is almost always to trailbrake, especially in slow corners, but I’m small so I don’t have as much driver mass to throw around.
Thanks TJ. what’s the consequence of of ‘reacting too harshly’ as you put it? Oversteer?
Lee,
My premise of the question was the most basic advice on how to drive a kart vs a car. Some of the answers here go beyond that, which is great and welcome and I won’t discourage that. With some guys I can progress quicker. Some guys are racers of something else, some aren’t
Most info just needs to be framed with context. I have found some of my hobbies to be hard to explain how to do something in the sport @ hand. Even in cycling.
Recently I raced in a rental league and the track was wet after a rain. In one corner that I have always struggled with in the dry and am fast in the wet. Trail braking never worked for me there. Don’t know if it was me or trailbraking as the problem. In the corner I discovered trail braking worked in the spotty conditions. I think there are so many factors going into it that I can’t say why. I can’t even tell you if it was in the Praga or Sodi kart at this point. Different kart every session and on and on, plus harder tires than the club series. I don’t think it would work in my LO206. Being a rental kart maybe It was a bit of a hack. IE: I can’t really put the observation into a good context for you or myself.
PS: After thinking about it. I am 90% percent sure it was a Praga. Next session I had a Sodi and it was a bit too apt to turn - took 3 laps to figure it out.
Lee,
Yeah, could be oversteer. Could be a number of handling maladies caused by the inside rear wheel lifting too hard. Hopping, flat sliding, oversteer, understeer…
I’ve been karting for 10 years, and I still have that challenge with braking like a car. Your comment about how condensed things happen under braking might be one of the keys to helping me with that. (Braking has always been a challenge for me. Thanks, @Terence_Dove)
This thread came back to my attention, because just recently, I’ve decided to go back to the basics when practicing on improving my driving. So I’ve been trying to put my ‘novice brain’ back on. Surprises me how many things I thought I understood that I’ve needed to re-learn again.
3 Likes