Throttle On/Off or modulation

[Chip Durham]

I'm relatively new to karting and have taken the Jim Hall school and purchased a CRG w/leopard.

In Hall's school they teach you that the throttle is either on or off and I have heard from several other racers (mostly kt100) that the throttle is either on or off and that you are either braking or accelerating there is no in between or coasting.

That's fine if you're using a 15 HP Kt100, but is the same true for a stronger motor like the Leopard/Rotax etc....

In my novice experience it seems like if I apply this principle I'm accelerating too soon or braking too late.

What do you think?

[Patrick Hubbell]

there are times when the application of throttle needs to be analog and not digital.
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Patrick Hubbell

[Dave Schwabe]

But that application still needs to be there, correct? (ie: little to no coasting)
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If you're in control, you're not driving fast enough -- Parnelli Jones

[robert pearson]

some drivers say on/off, others say coast. the first 5000 rpm on your engine is pre-lock up. have an engine builder dyno it, and you will get a sense of rpm vs torque vs bhp.

[Patrick Hubbell]

[Dave Schwabe]

Thanks Pat.

That's one of those things I still have to work on programming my brain to do properly. Many years of cars means I'm used to coasting at certain phases of corners.

But I know when I get on the gas quickly (not necessarily hard) after braking, the kart really comes alive... and the lap times show it. I've mainly got to work on being consistent.
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If you're in control, you're not driving fast enough -- Parnelli Jones

[Jim Russell, Jr.]

I would say for 95% of my driving I am either on the throttle or brake. There are only just a few corners that need a slight hesitation during the transition. These corners are usually very bumpy and it helps to settle the kart down without any power input.
Now many corners need less than 100% power to acheive the best lap times. This is especialy true for hairpins.

Jim jr.
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Russell Karting
888-KARTING

[Charles Pou]

Maybe not the fastest way, but I often (depends on the corner) like to give it a little gas, after I have slowed enough to enter a corner, to bring the back of the kart around. Then, I will get off the gas a little to let the rear end hook up, take some weight off the inside rear, etc.

Sometimes it feels like I'm steering the kart with the throttle, especially through S turns.

If I am pushing hard, sometimes I have to get off the gas to stay on the track, other times I have to stay on the gas to keep the kart from bicycling.

My experience, I modulate the throttle a lot.

[Erik Kullenberg]

Jim hit it right. Sometimes you can have a VERY small moment when you're not on the gas or brake to help settle the kart down (when needed). Just remember, the one sure thing that a kart hates is steering correction once you're done with your braking into the corner. It'll set the inside tire down prematurely and you won't be as fast off the corner.

It's also relative. A very skilled driver that carries a higher entry and exit speed (and rotates into the corner more efficiently) can afford to have a millisecond pause between brake and gas to settle the kart down just a little. A rough driver that carries too much entry speed and screws the corner up cannot afford that same "pause".

With that said, sometimes it depends on the motor's power curve. If the MOTOR is simply an on/off switch, things get kinda weird. Ever wondered why a shifter driver will rotate the kart much differently than a rotax driver? With the shifter you'll tend to sharpen the apex and rotate the kart harder and get the thing pointed in the right direction SOONER so you can flip the on/off switch back to "on". The Rotax (by comparison) doesn't have that much torque, you'll find a lot of fast guys actually double pedaling (brake and gas) at the same time (so the motor gets back into power sooner) and they'll also rotate the kart on a smoother line (than the shifter) to retain momentum. I call it double-pedaling.

Best thing to do for a while is just get out there and practice and not worry about this stuff too much. Work mostly on your braking and rotation INTO the corner. THAT is where the kart should be working the hardest anyway. If the entry is done right, you won't find yourself running out of track on the exit.

Two things to keep in your head as you practice...

1: Find the proper apex for each corner. If you find that you're still "holding" your steering ON after the apex of a corner, you blew the entry and you're holding the kart down when you should be setting it "free". You should be gradually taking steering OUT from that apex onward.

2: Don't overcook the kart into corners. Be smooth and efficient. Try not to make too many steering corrections from apex onward (actually a little sooner than that). You might not feel it, but everytime you correct the steering on exit, the inside-rear tire sets down on the ground. Unless your kart has a rear differential, this aint a good thing.

That's MY .02

Erik Kullenberg
www.jordonmusser.com
Ex-Jim Hall Racing Advanced Instructor

[Dave Schwabe]

Good stuff, Erik.

Thanks for sharing.
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If you're in control, you're not driving fast enough -- Parnelli Jones

[Greg Mason]

Don't ever listen to those Yamaha guys, they are still living (and dying) by the clutch! The answer is:Yes. With TAG, and Shifters, you are modulating both the throttle, and brakes through the corner, keeping the balance, and applying the throttle as much as you can, as fast as you can, without slipping the rear tire. It's all about feeling what that outside rear tire is doing, and keeping it "Jacked" just right, using both to hold the balance.
When I first started driving (I don't except for testing anymore), I had a tendency to try to go into a corner too fast, and it screwed up my mid corner, and of course exit. Break the corner into three parts Entry, Mid, and Exit, and feel what is going on through each part. As you get better, your modulation will become more decisive, as you are able to better anticipate what will happen as you go through the corner.
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www.Shifterkart.biz

[Dave Schwabe]