About Karting - Karting Resource for Go Kart Racers

Kart Racers Resource

TACHO'S THE WAY TO GO.

Instead of watching everyone pass you, the last thing you should see at the end of the straight is maximum revs out of your engine. that is, the maximum you want to rev your engine safely. An Electronic Tachometer will give you an instant readout of the performance of your engine.

After spending big dollars on your favourite engine, get your gearing right and make it work for you and your sponsor. It's no good having everyone pass you on the straight because you don't know what revs your engine is doing, or even worse, ringing the life out of it on every lap with the inevitable blow up the only result.

If a Tacho saves you one unneccesary engine rebuild you will be in front. For Sprint Kart Racing, your engine should keep reving for around 95% of the straight, and Dirt Kart Racing for around two thirds of the straight on slicks and three quarters on treads. The only way to achieve this with maximum results is with a Tacho.

Your engine builder should be able to tell you the best operating range and safe maximum revs for your engine. With this basic information you should be able to go out on any track and get good results within a few laps and a couple of sprocket changes.

Remember, the gear ratio is important. ie. 85 rear/10 front is 8.5 to 1. That is, your engine is reving 8.5 times your rear axle. A higher ratio (90/10) or 9 to 1 will give you a lower top speed but better acceleration out of corners, and a lower ratio (80/10) or 8 to 1 will give a higher top speed but slower out of corners.

The Sprocket Calculator will assist you to make fine adjustments where it may be neccesary to change both front and rear sprockets to get the right revs.

Once you have top revs sorted out, and if the straight is not over long, lengthen the exhaust slightly to give more grunt at low revs. Getting out of the slow corner is quite often just as important as having the right top revs at the end of the straight.

Tips for new karters:

Ask your dealer for engine revs and exhaust length information. Make sure you get good value for money. The opposition dealer will always be ready to help.
Buy a Tacho. Use it to set up the kart during practise only. If you do the job properly during practise you won't have to use it during the race.
Carry a range of front and rear sprockets. Cover a range of gear ratios. Write a list of ratios available to you from the sprockets in your tool box. This list can be used to quickly adjust to any situation at the track.
Your engine should rev smoothly out of slow corners. The rate of acceleration will be dictated by the gear ratio. To increase acceleration out of slow corners will take top speed off down the straight.

Take the guess work out of gearing, and get the right setup quickly and efficiently. Time can be better spent during practise in fine tuning the chassis to get those extra tenths of a second per lap needed to take home the biggest trophy.

Develop a chart and record the details of every change and it's results. Keep these records for future reference. Only make one change at a time.

Check your Tyre pressures and measure the circumference, making sure they are at racing condition before carrying out sprocket changes, as tyres will have a bearing on your ratio calculations.