(Weekly) KartPulse Racer Videos Thread

Hey everyone! Made it to the track last weekend for more practice. Based on feedback here, I didn’t make any setup changes over the 6 sessions I ran. I only focussed on developing my comfort with the kart, backing up a few corners and being smooth on the hands.

I read a great tip from TJ in one of his YouTube videos which was “each corner should have one input event per limb”. Basically, left foot brakes, outside hand turn in, right foot gets onto throttle and then inside hand turn out. I had this in my mind all day and was trying to focus on it.

This was also my first day with actual Karting shoes and MY GOD what a difference! I had been wearing high top sneakers which I figured were fine. I immediately realized that I could now actually feel where my throttle foot was at! My ability to moderate the brakes and gas immediately improved!!

Here is a video of the session I set my best time. I have been noticing it takes 8-10 laps for me to settle in and get nice laps. Might need to increase tire pressures? I also still feel I have very low rear bite. There are a bunch of times where as soon as I turn in, I immediately have to counter steer to catch the rear walking out. Even lower speed corners like turn 5 after the first sharp right handed hairpin. While I didn’t PB, I gained a ton of confidence with the kart this day so that felt great.

I really am happy with laps 9,10,11 and 12.

As always, I appreciate any feedback you might have. Here is the video!

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I liked it when you got a head of steam going how you were using all of the track and being smooth and loopy. The mistakes throw you for a bit, but, the smooth comes back. Nice improvement, iirc.

I noticed this turn in here being a bit different. This is the sector where you sometimes end up bogging a bit and had a moment earlier. This line in worked nicely and set you up well for a nice run at the rest of it. Rest of sector was v good.

https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxv_y7jgvi-WkPGLN4JB8Z9Pidv1sFp5ke

Oh yeah, that line was nice! I believe I am turning in a bit earlier which makes the line to the apex less tight. I was trying a bit of a later apex to keep me more in the middle of the track on exit in order to swing out to the right outside before the following left hand turn. But while this line puts me a bit wide on exit, as you pointed out, it keeps the revs up. I am traveling for work but when I get home this weekend, I’ll take a look at the data for that lap. I’d wager I carried less speed into it as well.

One factor this day was that it was super windy and it was blowing dust and leaves onto the back part of the track (by the bushes and the slowest left hander). I was really struggling with the grip out of the faster 90 deg left hander. If I went even slightly too deep, my rears would get dirty and then would loose grip like crazy into following slow left.

Do you think I improved the final corner? I am still coming in hot but I felt like I had a “ah ha” moment that day when I really started feeling the rotation of the kart being initiated via the brakes. Started to try to think of my right and left feet “passing the ball” back and forth with each other around the corner. The brake initiating the rotation on entry and then the throttle carrying the rotation out from the apex to exit. I noticed I do tend to counter steer on entry most laps which might be costing me time. But I feel like if I come in slower here, my speed down the main straight is compromised a bit. I know that’s a corner you pointed out as an area of improvement and was being very intentional with it all day.

Thanks again Dom!

Can you link me a short that shows your older version?
The “passing the ball” image makes sense and seems like it would be helpful. Bear in mind that sometimes the pass is not a complete lift, just a partial lift.

Just subbed. I find it very unfair that you have 243 subscribers and I only have 190. I’ve been at this for years, I tell you, years! This speaks volumes about how crappy and low effort my content is.

Haha…Well, those subscribers are mostly from my Ultralight backpacking content haha. My Dad is the only one who comments on my Karting videos!

Here is a clip that might help: ✂️ Older final corner. - YouTube

Your had said on my previous video post in this thread that I should back that corner up a bit because I was scrubbing my tires.

Hi everyone, this is my first race with a camera on. I have been racing all year and running at the front of my local club’s 206 heavy class (385lb). This race was combined with a regional series so we are at that back of a large (for us) field of 25 karts that were spread across 3 weight classes (light at 330, regional at 365, and heavy at 385). I qualified P2 in class, and won the pre-final so starting P1 in class here, #03 in the white Compkart is starting P2. In the race I got a faster lap time than him and felt I was quicker but kept wasting time dicing with people in the other, lighter classes. Looking back at the video, I also may have been too focused on attacking him and kept leaving myself open to being passed by the lighter karts which cost me time.

Open to any feedback, but I am fighting two kart issues as well – hopping on turn-in into the fast corners at the end of the lap, and a weird buzzing you can hear on the kart. I have no idea what it is, maybe the clutch? Others have looked for anything scraping or grinding but no one has spotted anything. I did have a stripped header bolt that ended up costing me the chance to fight for the win on day two, maybe that is the culprit?

Not sure that it’s always best to drive the most rolling efficient line, like you do at 5:16. It seems that with the large arcing line you are trading off longer distance with rolling efficiency. But may be a turn to experiment with. The guy in white uses a shorter and lower line.

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I think he is just running a defensive line, no?

maybe 20 characters 1234

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That is an interesting track with basically no straights and some huge radius turns with massive aprons. I kinda like how it’s totally not clear just by looking what the actual line is.

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Old:

New:
Maybe like 5:57… I can’t clip right now since dealing with my ban from YT.

It seems to me the kart seems calmer in the most recent practice with less tire complaints. There does seem to be a slight front end hop that repeatedly occurs in exit of the turn. Mostly it’s not a problem but it seems to be more severe a couple times.

My guess is that the most recent practice final turns are better. They are more stable and less dramatic. They are quieter. I think the slight hop behaviour suggests a bit too much being asked but it’s better, overall, I think.

I wish I could put them side by side for comparison but I’ll go with new = improved

Edit: look at 7:29… the hop behavior begins mid corner which suggests you are slightly exceeding the karts lateral grip capacity. But, not much. Enough to create that oscillation wave, however. Try being rounder still. It may be different on your lo206 but in my heavy rentals, this sort of hoppy front end wave is entirely due to too much turn angle overloading the kart. In rentals I will try to make the cornering peak less abrupt to make it go away.

What were laptimes like? I would think v2 is faster than v1.

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One of our United Karting discord fellas (Justin Adakonis) gets some press by being a badasss and bringing it to Ryan!

Closing laps are pretty exciting. Ryan and Justin spent most of the race 3s up the track and then started getting fighty with 3 to go.

Also, they have the same “karting face” in this photo. Kinda look like they both are saying “I am not impressed by your attempts to out-race me.”

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So my best time through the final sector was 10.584 which was set back on 9/17. The sector times on 10/15 were in the 11.0 to 11.5 range. Looking at the RPM and speed trace between my personal best time and the best times this session, it shows that I am braking in basically the same place and carrying basically the same speed into the corner. However, on the personal best lap, I am able to keep the revs slightly higher through the apex and exit.

Looking at the time delta, I am definitely gaining time on corner entry down to the apex with the more recent line compared to my previous best. However, I am loosing also two tenths or more from the apex out of the exit compared to the best time.

I am not sure if the hopping is due to the bumps at the apex of this corner or if they are from oscillations as you describe. I tend to bottom out the chassis through there as well due to that bump.

What I am thinking of doing is raising the front and rear ride heights next time I go out. While I have settled out the balance front to rear, I still don’t think I have the grip I want across all four tires. For instance, turn 5 (left hander after the first right handed hairpin), I loose front and rear grip almost every single lap no matter how slow I go or what line I take. I think raising the ride height will give me more side bite from the rear. My tire wear looks really benign and does not seem to show any significant graining like I’m asking too much from them currently. I may also increase my tire pressures a bit more. I have been setting them as 11psi front and rear. Hot temps typically are (Left/Right) 12/14 in the front and 13/14 in the rear. These are LeCont Reds which I can’t find any manufacturer specs for.

I also suspect my engine is running too rich. While my driving and lines have gotten way more smooth, I still have not seen my average RPMs as high as the levels they were on 9/17. That day was cooler with a higher air density than 10/1 or 10/15 sessions. My spark plug looks black and sooty as well.

At this point, there are too many factors really to know how I am doing. The tires now have a few hundred more laps on them, the RPMs look a bit off, the track was super dusty last practice day, etc. I do feel more comfortable with the kart and feel pretty good about some of these laps recently even if the time isnt totally reflecting that. There could also be slight variances with the GPS time as well. I need to pick up a MyLaps transponder sometime soon!

Well, on a purely visual basis, I preferred the 2nd session, for sure. It was smoother and seemed like it used momentum well,

Sometimes taking the kerb on that turn worked out well, it seemed to me. More direct and the slight overload of the front goes away. I don’t think that it’s necessarily a kerb you want to strike but it did have an interesting effect once or twice.

Davin had done a series with Roger from Aim that was very helpful. It turns out that AIM is doing monthly videos and have been doing more instructional vids since 2020.

It’s not racing but this seems like a good spot.

Super Stock 206

Little confused by the start. Do you guys go from a standing start in pits?

Engine sounds nice and strong. You seem to be pulling on Fox dramatically. Gearing?

Out of curiousity, it seems like every lap you can blow by but you choose not to. Like at 3:38. It seems to me you could go on his left side and drag race him down to the next apex (left). Then, you are on him again at 4:30 and give him a long push down the fast bit. Why so?

4:49 when you so we are from the push in this corner you give him massive space. Why not ride bumper through sweeper?

9:44 the pass and ultimately the win.

If I had to guess you could have run away from the get-go but chose to push Mr. Fox along and separate as much as possible from the rest of the gang. Presumably you two had much more pace. The not passing seems deliberate, so I am guessing that it was you knowing that you could seal the deal but choosing to have some fun and make a bigger gap.

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@CrocIndy let me paraphrase what Dom said

“Why do you drive so crappy?”

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Nope! He has the pace to blow by. I think there are tactics afoot.

image

Hmmmm. I could try again.

What are mg reds like say in comparison to lecont reds?

Nick used lecont reds for tag 125 junior and they were pretty grippy. The margay series was on hard Hoosiers.

I’m guessing they won’t be running together.