Tall Driver Too Much Grip. Seat Stiffness?

Tire pressures and tread widths!! That’ss why the karts adjustable, too tune the handling.

“Too much grip”!! In what piece of fiction did you read that?? Grip, grip, my kingdom for more grip!

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Small adjustments like tire pressure or track widths are useful for many drivers, but sometimes when a driver is taller or shorter than average, a larger adjustment that changes how the kart is working fundamentally, like a seat change, is necessary.

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Preach it Tj. It was night and day…

I was and still am in the same T11t. At the time, it was recommended for taller drivers running an OTK. Since then they have come out with a T9 that has a little more tilt back to drop the shoulders a bit.

Sean Owens, now a tuner for Crosslink a local Kosmic team, had actually suggested going to a stiffer seat to decrease the flex in the chassis. Having just started, I didn’t want to make any major changes, until I had gained some more experience. I think now, I would want to do some testing on different seats to see what would work best for me. Problem with that is finding a team or a shop that has some used seats lying around and is willing to let you test a few out.

Kenton and I discussed that it’s possible that his hopping condition was less about the frame of the kart over-flexing, and probably more just a matter of going over the tire’s traction ability. He noted the kart felt much better with the softer seat and less seat struts, which would take away the kart’s ability to dig that outside tire into the track surface. His tall upper body was just putting too much force onto the tire at max load.

So if you’re very tall, this might be another avenue to go down if you are experiencing a hopping condition. It is a good reminder that a seat stiffness change will not only reduce the force needed to flex the chassis and lift the inside rear wheel, but it will also absorb some of the force going into the tire. So it’s a two-pronged variable, and both side-effects need to be considered.

Another reason that kart tuning can be a complete mindf*ck… A hopping condition might be from two separate causes, feel nearly identical, but each requiring opposite tuning solutions. :upside_down_face: :slightly_smiling_face: :upside_down_face: :slightly_smiling_face:

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To me this sentence sums up kart tuning

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This has been glorious lol :laughing:

Just gotta try it back to back for yourself and learn for yourself. Only way to get build your knowledge of tuning. One thing might work for you and not another. There’s no single answer to anyone’s problems.

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I pulled the trigger last weekend and bought the T11VG. Need to shrink my seat anyway as I have dropped a few pounds from the mid section. It was kind of a two fold choice. The new engine would not fit with the XL seat, clearance issues on the stator side. Swapped out for the Large T11VG. We will see if slows things down a little on lift and set-down. I will post again with an update after the motor is sorted and I get some seat time again.

On a side note: My rental kart handle is “I’m Going Fast Momma!” :rofl:

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You’ll dig it! I got the tillet rib cage things and mounted them slightly above the top of the seat a half inch or so. The seat was a smidge low for my upper section, so I did that to help support my body a bit more.

Got to take it out for the first time last night. The large is definitely a better fit. Felt like I had decent flex in the waist compared to the T11t. Need to do some setup adjustments to take into account the change. Feeling a little more slide than hop in the rear at corner exit (apex out). Also have a very different engine. It delivers power much lower in the RPM band than my previous motor. I am over geared for this motor. Power delivery with the power valve comes too late out of the corners and not hitting Rev limiter on the long straight. Power Valve kept opening just before a braking zone not allowing me to take advantage of it.

I was expecting an 11 tooth driver, but found out it has a 12 tooth on it. I was running a 12/81 (6.75) and want to switch that out to an 11/75-76 (6.81-6.90).

I still find my butt sliding forward in the seat and have to push off of the heal stops. I am going to move my forward pad over and see if that helps a little. I also found my right elbow resting on the spark plug most of the time. The motor has a fair amount of tilt from the engine mount, wondering if a 0 degree mount would help that. Cursed orangutan arms! :rofl:

cries in KA100

I have long arms but a short torso which conveniently has my elbow into the corner of the head. A 0* mount and shorter chain helped a bunch.

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