Throwin’ up a lap at AMP and every other track…
Goal is to be top 5 USA and top 10 global on each in KA100. It’s been fun and I have been jumping around, trying to be fast, quickly.l. Today I picked off a sub 54 AMP, which ticks that off the list, for now. IIRC starts badly, gets real good in the middle, and then I screw up on last turn. But, mission accomplished, for now.
A swing by NTK, it’s been a while
I put down some laps at NTK and I must say, it is very different with the large, sausage kerbs. What remains exactly the same is how maddening the final turn onto straight is. But, I think I am now able to solve what had me mired in frustration last time around. I have learned to wait till a turn is completed before going full hog throttle!
The chicane appears unaffected by the kerbing. But, I am having to be less wide on certain parts of the track, both on entry and exit, due to washboard kerbs that upset the kart (and your turn in.).
It is much the same as before, feel-wise, prettier with candystripe kerbing, and maybe just as fast.
@Matthijs_Hofman and I are separated by a few thousandths. Moving on for now, if you care to put up a new goalpost, please come and go lower still. I know we can pull off 39.x.
Chasing TJ again…(Stream).
Later… US 2
The elements to match TJ’s speed are there, I just need to figure out the exit onto start/finish. I can pull off the speed needed there, but its fleeting. Instead, you get what I did here, not bad but a tenth off. S1 and S2 are nice here, though! I’ve spent all day tantalizingly close but coming up short. Was nice to finally land one, even if S3 was not that great.
So, I guess that’s a wrap, top 5 US and top 10 GLB or better on each track in KA100…?
Nah. New goal: Top 3 US and top 5 Global. 
A setup change resulting in US 1 GLB 4
I loaded up Zycos’s setup which was passed along to me in a hushed whisper. The basic gist of which lies in seat position. It looks like he has the seat very low and very far back.
Time to chase @Matthijs_Hofman round the Lone Star state
Matthijs kindly responded to a previous provocation and lobbed a sub 40 across the bow thus:
Anyways, game on, and more to come!
@Matthijs_Hofman Back to you!
I am kind of blown away by how quickly I am acclimatizing to the track this time around. I really banged my head against the wall here, particularly in the final turn.
Everything that I have learned about staying within the tire is bearing fruit. I am over-driving corners less and finding new speed on corner exit. S3 is now not a problem and I think it’s from being patient and precise with throttle. My experience in other, similar turns made it easier to understand what was hard to see here, a year ago.
Impressive! So I have to haunt your ghost once again, looking forward to it!
There are two things that I find striking:
The track limits should be enforced quite a lot more at NTK or driving through grass should be slower. Both you and I take a massive amount of grass through the chicane
Our setups are so different, but so are our driving styles. I only tested tyre pressures (higher) and gearing (longer) so far, but next will be seat position (back). I am also driving much smoother than you are, perhaps too smooth for KartKraft.
On most other tracks you are still quite some time ahead with your best time.
Oh. The setup is a bit weird now. Let me paste it all.
Note the Driver position Vert/Lon and the staggered tire pressures.
Interesting. We both are seeking a more stable rear. You manage to do that with moving the seat back (will try that!), while I found some part in the solution by using much higher tyre pressures. I am 15 psi or even higher in the rear tyres (cold!) But you go the other way around!
I had gone the other way, sorta. I was struggling with rear grip but not really feeling it. I had added rear width and it helped, but moving the seat way back made a big difference.
While I think you give up a bit of control and feel on entry phase, the additional grip on exit is very significant and instantly changed things for me.
To be fair what I am trying to do is be one pound higher on left side than on right side but equal front and back. The pic above says all tires are rear left. Unsure if am correct but hot temps indicate a yes!
Well, I have been on vacation and sim-karting like a madman. I set a goal to put up a bunch of fast laps and got a bit carried away. There’s a lot of laps here, over a solid week.
Anyone else REALLY struggling with total-vehicle-grip on 0.1.0.2831?
My X30 times went from 40 seconds at NTK to 1:05 - and I can’t even get 3/4 of the way to the edge of the G-meter. Moved the seat back to try to get more rear grip, and it just plows until I crank the wheel so far that the caster overwhelms it.
The KA100 has wheelspin issues and again a lack of either front or rear grip but at least it’s driveable.
The ka has no grip issues that I can see. I am acclimated to it. Try my ka setup.
I have heard from others that the update made the mg yellows really slick, so you aren’t alone. It might be a tuning thing, but it’s pretty dramatic from what I have been told. I have focused on the ka because of this.
I have little experience with the new tire model and the X30 but I tried Geelong the other day and I was ‘only’ two seconds slower than with the old tire model. I think there is much time to be found with setup and tire pressure.
AMP is the Oregon Trail of Karting
It’s long and arduous and you might die of dysentery before reaching the end of the back straight. 
In my quest for top 5 global, I had to address AMP (was 6). Here, I finally get 5, most likely temporarily. I was comparing notes with TJ Zimmerman, the fella whose ghost I have been chasing for a day, and he saw the wisdom in my gearing choice. Me and my big mouth. Knowing this I scurried off and quickly beat his lap. Ooof. But, he’ll no doubt land a .5 and off we go again.
In any case, this lap has been whittled down in tenths over two days from 54.00 down to here. Final destination unknown, but I suspect possibly in the .4s. I have gone through about seven different gearing attempts and have landed at 10-72 for now. This has been a productive week.
I am seeing that it varies depending upon track and how much it works tires. I am looking for 16.5-17.5 temps generally. This appears to take about 10-15 laps with a base of 11.5-12 psi cold.
What’s odd is that the kart feels “good” for the first lap with cold tires. Different but not loose.
I am running higher rear tire pressures (cold) and I am on the pace from the first lap. Which indicates that the grip is correlated to tire pressure and not so much to tire temps. It takes me quite some laps to get the tires in a greenish color range but the laptime doesn’t improve really.
Yah. Greasy doesn’t feel greasy, exactly. I can’t really tell what is optimal.
The tires are odd. I have often set PBs on the first lap when tires are cold still. The rear feels more planted as the run goes on. I agree with @Matthijs_Hofman assessment, probably more related to pressure rather than temp.
Would be curious to see what higher rear pressures would do, if you could get the rear grip you needed right off the bat.
This is correct, IMO. There is no penalty (other than reduced grip) for having wheels off. Grass driving should slow you down a bit like it does IRL.
I now have a plan for the evening. I’ll try higher pressure cold with higher rears and see if I can go fast within 5 laps.
Last night I took a spot, breaking my previous best on lap 1 (flyer) with no adjustments. Cold temps 11.5-12
