[Aaron Hachmeister]

It may be that the track itself likely has more grip than other tracks. The tires probably are the same, but could stick better to the surface since it’s Laguna Seca and is run more than some small little road course nobody has ever heard of. If I had to guess at least

[Aaron Hachmeister]

You shouldn’t be loading the kart into a trailer on the stand. The kart goes on the floor, fold up the stand and throw it in the backseat of your towing vehicle.

[Aaron Hachmeister]

We have a little portable Ryobi battery powered air compressor we bring with us to every event. Set it to fill the tire to, say, 30 psi, and it’ll mount as many tires as the battery will last. It isn’t as fast as a super high pressure tank but you’ll never run out of air

[Aaron Hachmeister]

It’s really going to depend on where you’re from. If you have the money and space to be able to stock up on most spares then online may save you a little, but it’ll always benefit to know where the local OTK kart shop is so you have a nearby place to pick up parts and have support at the track

[Aaron Hachmeister]

Rob got it pretty good, there isn’t really much different about them. They might market some chassis as 4-cycle but the biggest thing is just lower quality components because the 4-stroke stuff is more of a budget class. There’s some tubing differences, although how much of a change there is has not been determined, and they’ll typically run aluminum instead of magnesium parts and try to keep costs down.

Try to find a good deal on a kart and worry about the chassis type later. A generally agreed upon number is that a better chassis will get you about a half-second or so of laptime

[Aaron Hachmeister]

The LO206 program is a spec class that was introduced a couple years ago as an entry point into racing. There is no engine development, and all engines must be built and sealed by a B&S certified engine builder. The engine is the same now as it was when it came out and as of right now there are not any plans to upgrade it as far as I’m aware

[Aaron Hachmeister]

If you’re new, chassis brand isn’t going to matter. The chassis is just what’s under you to get you around the track. The most important part of a kart is the squishy thing in the seat.

My first chassis was an 8 year old Haase Monte Carlo. After a while, when we got an OTK 7 years newer, I’m not even sure we ran half a second quicker. Don’t worry about chassis, just make sure it’s supported by a shop in the area. You can throw a 206 on anything right now, just grab that and go.

[Aaron Hachmeister]

Yeah, generally they reach down to lean the high end on a straight. The old Formula Super A’s needed to be choked before turn in to not bog down at the exits. Those look like a handful to drive.

Like Freddy said, for you an LO206 is the way to go. Nice and straightforward so you can focus on your driving and not worry about anything else

[Aaron Hachmeister]

Mike got it right. The gains in centripetal force due inceased mass from Force(friction) = |mass*gravity|*(Coefficient of Friction) are outweighed by the increase in inertia from Inertia = mass*radius^2

Sorry about the unnecessary math, that’s just the easiest way I can think of explaining it while providing some reason as to why

[Aaron Hachmeister]

If you could manage to get all the series with a TaG to convert them possibly but convincing everybody that this would stick for more than 2 years might take some serious working. Especially with IAME having the hold it does in both SKUSA and WKA. It would be nice to follow suit with Europe, however America has always had a tendency to do it’s own thing.

[Aaron Hachmeister]

I don’t run the motor, but from what I can tell the limiter is built into the ignition system so I don’t think you’ll be able remove it.

Just wondering, why do you need it to rev more? You’ll likely wear out the top end quicker, and all for a couple more miles an hour at the high end, maybe the ability to run a slightly higher gear.

[Aaron Hachmeister]

Personally, I’d like some more affordable regional races. I ran one(!) Route 66 SS weekend in Dousman and the total came in at almost $1000. Granted, first time there is a bit more expensive with needing a new axle and an extra set of tires but there was still quite a bit of expense involved. Mid-American Sprint Series was nice and affordable but nobody runs it. Any opinions on why would be welcome since I really enjoy it

[Aaron Hachmeister]

Ah okay I get what you mean now. I thought you meant you were just putting your kart on the trailer on the stand, which is generally a big no-no. Yes, a motorized kart stand will be very useful, I highly recommend TJ’s advice of KartLift. Contact them and they should be able to help you out

[Aaron Hachmeister]

I believe 1/8 is standard, 1/16 out from straight on each side, naturally.

That’s a common happening. You’ll know anybody in a 50 mile radius by your first year of racing!

As far as tire pressures go, kinda?? Anywhere from 8-14 is typically run depending on which tires you run, but your rears should not be that high. Start with 12 all around, and work your way from there. Staggering tire pressures like that will upset the kart unless it’s in smaller amounts, 1 psi difference maximum.

[Aaron Hachmeister]

Positive toe (toe out) will make the kart more responsive in cornering. Most karts run a little toe out on the stand since when the kart goes on the ground the tires straighten out. Toe in will stabilize the kart in a straight line but reduce turning ability and cause understeer, which is undesirable for racing purposes.

[Aaron Hachmeister]

A Schumacher video won’t provide a whole lot of help. It’s so old that the chassis designs have changed, and the driving style is too advanced for a beginning driver.

As far as line goes, if it feels like a perfect arc, you’re probably apexing too early. In general, the apex of your turn should be later, so that you can get on the gas sooner and utilize more of the straight after the turn.

For the grip issue, along with changing your driving, it seems like the kart may be binding up and keeping the inside rear wheel on the ground. If this is the case, you may want to narrow the front track width.

As far as driving goes, counter-steering is always bad. Any time you turn in the opposite direction you scrub speed from the kart, slowing down. You want to focus on being smooth with your steering inputs, and only having to make two movements through a turn: turning in and straightening out. Driving on the limit, it’s not easy, but the more seat time you put in the more comfortable it will feel and naturally it will come.

[Aaron Hachmeister]

If you live closest to Cambrian, go with the BirelART, or one of their used Birels. That’ll be the closest to you so parts are available and they are (appearing to be) a good shop.

Troy, I wouldn’t be too concerned about the chassis too much in terms of built application quite yet. I’ve seen plenty of guys just throw a 206 on a “2 stroke” chassis and run just as well as everyone else. For the time being, we’re just trying to help this man find a brand in his area that’ll get him on the track

[Aaron Hachmeister]

I just saw a version on the RLV website, I see how they’re different now. Perhaps if you email RLV you can ask about the differences between the Formula-Y pipe and a can to see what they think would go better

[Aaron Hachmeister]

You are right, I didn’t mean cheating but that slipped my mind as I wrote it out. This rule is about putting more money into the engine than others can afford, drawing away from the focus of driver ability

[Aaron Hachmeister]

Do you mean the RLV SR-Y pipe? I don’t have experience with the Formula Y, but a SR-Y was designed to give the senior Yamaha karts a speed advantage over the junior classes, which were about 50 pounds lighter. If the two pipes are comparable, you’d likely be faster in the pipe than a can

[Aaron Hachmeister]

This isn’t so much taking as it is “forced buying/selling.” The claimer doesn’t get to just take the engine. They need to pay for it. About $500 above market price for a new one actually. The original owner gets money for it, to use towards a new engine. You aren’t just “trading keys,” and most people are completely fine with the rule unless they’re cheating with the engine. The point is to keep one person from spending 3x your budget to get a motor that’ll beat the whole field. Those are the people losing perspective on what a winning setup actually is, not the ones utilizing a claiming rule built to keep competition more equal and dependent on driving ability.

Aaron – I don’t know you, but from everything I’ve heard/read on this post tells me you’re not the guy this woman made you out to be. I wish you and Diego the best of luck in your 2017 season, as well as everyone else on these forums.

[Aaron Hachmeister]

I’m gonna piggyback off of TJ a little bit, and say that you can overlap your throttle and braking slightly. In most karts (anything not direct drive) a centrifugal clutch is used. This means it takes a short moment between getting on the throttle and the kart starting to accelerate. This time is acceptable to be overlapping the brake and throttle, but you should not be trying to keep the revs up on a kart while braking. If that’s a problem, you are getting on the gas too late and should likely need to adjust your line a bit. I used to do this all the time at my home track at a couple turns, and still find myself doing it occasionally.

Like the other guys were saying though, using gas an brake at the same time is hard on both the clutch and brakes. From a driving standpoint, using the gas and the brake is trying to do two inverse things at once, accelerating and decelerating. This will, as stated before, increase wear and is not the quick way to get around a circuit.

Don’t worry too much though, you’re not the first and you won’t be the last to do this. I blew a hole in two pistons before we realized I was riding the gas through turns. That keeps the engine temps really high and, in our Yamaha at least, eventually burns through the engine.

[Aaron Hachmeister]

Should’ve mentioned I’m in Wisconsin. That’s a fair drive from MRP, and the only time I saw McAndrews was at the Route 66 event. I shouldn’t have said Midwest as it’s much more specific to the state than general region, my bad.

[Aaron Hachmeister]

The problem we’ve been finding is that nobody carries Birel, at least in the SE-Wisconsin area. I’ve seen a couple Fullerton’s from McAndrews, and Ricciardo is carried by a guy but he isn’t exclusive to them and supports plenty of karts so he’s usually on OTK equipment. Imo, you can’t go wrong with OTK if you’re willing to put up the money. I know Haase is trying to make a comeback in North America; you can grab a brand new chassis for $3,500, there’s just virtually no shops around the US for them as far as I’ve seen. Again, it depends on where you are.

[Aaron Hachmeister]

I think wheels would be in interesting idea, if only because I’ve thought about it before as well. Typically wheels cost about $250 a set for Douglas Mags but I know in the Route 66 race at Badger everybody was running the cheap polished aluminum wheels because they were reacting to the heat better. If you can get carbon wheels that work well for at most $200 you’d do pretty well selling them I’d say. Tie rods are a little iffy since I’d rather have a weak tie rod rather than a more complex and expensive component, but a steering column would be noticeable I think. I never put thought into pedals or heel stops so I’m not sure about them

[Author]

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