RANDOM – 3 Ways to Drive a Go Kart 3 Seconds Faster

Ok I’m guessing you didn’t expect that one! Well I thought it would be nice for some relief and change it up a little bit (or a lot).

So what does Go-Karting and Internet marketing have in common? Well, not much except the fact that its fun, its competitive, efficiency is key and it can get expensive if your not careful. Actually you could say that you may learn a lot about Internet marketing and making money online in this post, or maybe not, I’m just having a bit of fun.

To give you a bit of background I have been racing competition go karts since 2002, competing in State and National championships regularly. Since 2006 I have been driving for PCR Karts Australia, competing in the elite 125cc class. Top speeds of around 150kph, 3g pulled through turns, brakes that make your eyes water and power to weight faster than pretty much any car on the road.

So want to know some tips and techniques that you can use to destroy your friends at the local kart track? Ok here they are my 3 top tips:

1) Progressive braking – a myth. Progressing braking is the worst thing you can do. You might think that pushing the brake harder and harder (progressively, like you would in a car) is the right thing to do but your wrong. Top drivers don’t push the brakes, they stand on them. Few things you need to understand, a go-kart has one brake at the back and if you push it too hard then its kinda like pulling up the handbrake suddenly. Also when you brake all the weight transfers to the front so if you brake progressively you are making your braking power proportional to the shifting of weight to the front. This is why there are so many spins under braking at your local track! Progressive braking may feel right but its completely wrong.

What you should do is actually brake the hardest when you start the braking process. The key is to slam the brake like your trying to rip the pedal off, no joke. Be prepared your wheels will ‘lock’ but its your job to ease off the brake until the lock stops. The point where your wheels stop locking is the point of optimal braking power, usually supported by a sweet ‘chirpy’ sound. I don’t recommend you do this off the bat, but practice the ’slamming’ of the brake when your on your own just to see the reaction of the car. The reason why this is effective is that you don’t suffer as much from weight shift and you are training yourself to be at the maximum braking power for the longest period of time. Master this and you’ll find 1.5-2 seconds per lap over your friends, no joke.

2) Turning – again with the progression myth. People think you need to turn gradually into the a corner. Again they are wrong. The rule of thumb is that the longer you can keep the steering wheel straight, the faster you will go. It’s all about efficiency and reducing the amount of time your tires are generating friction. Whenever friction is present your going slower and one of the ways friction occurs is though turning.

After you have finished braking (not during!… you’ll spin if you don’t know what your doing) turn the wheel quickly in the direction you want to go and once you feel you’ll make the corner apex (sharpest part of the corner) , straighten the wheel immediately and use the accelerator to tighten your line and help you exit the corner, don’t just keep turning. If you gradually turn the wheel your front tires won’t ‘bite’ and cause you to slide around without much pace. Also gradually turning will mean more time your wheels are spent ‘turning’ and this is inefficient (ie causes friction).

3) Weight – Your weight. People see race drivers on TV leaning their heads into the corner and naturally think this is the best way to turn a corner so they ‘lean in’ to the turn. Wrong! Race drivers are leaning their head to counter g-forces so their heads don’t lean to the side, not an attempt to shift body weight. When you turn a corner in a go-kart, or any car, the tires that are doing the most work are the outside tires. For example if you are turning left, your right tires take all the load. If you try to lean into the corner, you will try to load and put weight on the relatively ‘unused’ tires leading to an unnatural distribution of grip which would in most cases cause the car to understeer (won’t turn in). If you move your body weight to the outside of the kart then you will corner better than if you were to lean in. It’s a strange concept to get a grasp on but it works.

These are three points and if you do them correctly you’ll run rings around your friends. Put them all together correctly and your looking at about 3 – 3.5 seconds per lap if not more.

And again, what has this got to do with Internet Marketing and Entrepreneurship. Very little but you’ll thank me when the chance comes to put these into action.