Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Hopping kart question

Hey T! Thanks for the site!Could you explain "hopping". What is the kart really doing when it hops thru a corner, besides beating my ribs?

It can be where the front of the kart is too soft compared to the rear, so the kart flexes too quickly, lifts the inside rear tyre too fast and then the outside rear can lose grip suddenly (from the steep angle its forced to). then the inside rear drops again... this process repeats and you put the kart into a horrible oscillation.

You can also get this from too high seat position, too much front castor or over aggressive steering input. Sometimes a very weak driver who cannot hold steering angle can get into one of these oscillations.

Ask me anything