We've all experienced a kart that has too much grip, where we can't maximise our performance due to the handling characteristics.

In this episode we look at some areas to consider when your kart has too much rear grip:

Widening the rear track - By pushing your rear hubs towards the end of the axle this releases the amount of grip the rear of the kart has when cornering. For the cadet & junior categories, you only want to widen the rear track in small increments as the wheel base of the chassis is smaller than our senior categories. I would recommend 2-3mm per side at a time, then keep widening if it has improved but you still require more.

Dropping the tyre pressures - As we've discussed in another episode, lowering the tyre pressure will keep the tyres cooler, so that should allow the kart to slide around more and last longer throughout the race. Depending on how much grip you have, the compound of tyre you are using and the length of the race, .5 psi might be sufficient per tyre to see a gain.

Loosening the rear bumper - If you have ever experienced your rear bumper coming loose, or the bolt assembly falling out, you would've noticed how much effect this has on the handling. It makes the rear of the kart slide around, so we can look to loosen the rear bumper in higher grip conditions. Keep an eye on what your chassis allows to loosen the bumper as different manufacturers use different systems to achieve the same result.

Changing the rear axle - If your kart is hopping around corners, or the front of the kart is understeering, mechanics can look to alter the rear axle to release grip. Where it gets tricky is, there is so many different tyre compounds, kart manufacturers and size of drivers, so there isn't one set rule on whether a stiffer axle or softer will work best. I would recommend to have multiple axles to test and then you can tune the kart accordingly.

Soft tyres and major championship events are where we see the most grip on the race track. So it's important to tune your kart around the ever changing conditions. The above tips give you the starting points of what to try, but it doesn't stop there with more areas to tune the kart to suit the conditions.

Setup: How To Release Rear Grip