Air Pressure For Tires What Is Right?

A good starting point is 16lbs. Check your tire manufacturing ratings. Many manufacturers have a rating from 11lbs-23lbs. The lower the tire pressure the more contact patch area you have and the more grip, however to low and the man handling needed to drive the kart becomes a challenge. If your getting a big increase in tire pressure from the amount of heat generated you maybe off on your initial setting. You'll need to see what feels right for you. Once you have a baseline you won't vary much from track to track.

Only As Good As Your Notes

When it comes to kart racing. Data logging your information is very important. You'll want to keep notes on your setup. Cab-Racing.com has one of the most simple setup sheets and covers about every setup change you might make to your kart. A lot of the time if you are karting and you just have one helper, you may find it difficult to even keep up with keeping notes. The extra effort in to keeping notes will pay off the next time you visit that track or maybe even a different track. I found that a good base setup will help you from track to track. Once you keep improving your karts handling capabilities the better your results will be and the fun factor should go up. Here is a good kart setup sheet. You'll need Adobe acrobat reader to download it and print it off. I recommend making a three ring binder with about 10-20 of them depending how many times you think you'll get out on the track. Have fun and be safe.

The Two Best Resources For Karting

In my opinion the two best resources for karting are http://www.ekartingnews.com/ for sprint or road racing and http://www.4cycle.com/ for dirt oval racing. Ekartingnews has lots of news and most importantly to you is Forums. 4cycle has lots of links and also most important Forums. These are the top two karting websites in the USA. Here there are many people to answer your questions. I highly recommend if you are going to be in karting to register for one of these two sites depending on what kind of karting you do. Not to ignore the third form of karting, indoor karting, there is now http://www.indoorkartingnews.com which is run by the same guys as ekartingnews.com . At these websites they have sub categories for any kind of racing you want to do and normally you can get your question answered within minutes. Also great place to look for used equipment.

Getting Started In Karting

One of the most common questions asked when it comes to karting is; how do I get started? Well the most common response is go to your local track and ask questions. For some people the local track is hundreds of miles away or maybe it's in your back yard. You basically have a few things to consider when starting karting. Is this the right sport for me and realize karting is an open wheel sport so it is dangerous, but for the most part it is a safe sport. Deaths do occur while not high numbers by any means it is a possibility to consider. If you decided that it's the right thing for you and looks like something you'd like to do or on your own, (Teaches great values by the way is common thing I hear.) you'll need to set a budget. Your going to need a kart, safety gear, some sort of hauler or pick up, and some money to practice or enter events. So how much is it going to take, karts range anywhere from $1,000 for some of the cheapest to $14,000 for the most expensive 125 Shifter Kart, Super Karts which our 250cc can cost more.

There are a lot of classes to choose from and deciding which one fits your budget will be crucial to your enjoyment level. You also have another big expense in tires. If you buy hard compound tires you maybe able to go anywhere from 2-5 outings on a set of tires depending how agressive of a driver you are and the track conditions. I also suggest you buy a set of rain tires as you do race in the rain when it comes to karting. There are basically three types of karting; dirt racing on ovals, sprint tracks (1 mile or less) and road racing on full size race courses like Laguna Seca. Each time you go to the track your going to spend anywhere from a low of $40 to maybe a high $240 if you just need new tires. Your going to also need to keep your equipment up to par and some slight mechanical skills will be needed or you can have a kart shop upkeep it for you.

Where can you get your first kart? Local kart shop, www.ekartingnews.com, www.ebay.com A kart chassis if bent or extremely used won't be very competitive and may totally ruin your karting experience so try to be careful and find out if it has ever been wrecked and about how many races and practices are on it. A kart can be competitive for years if it has been driven much however if it's got a lot of time under it's belt one or two years maybe all it had for the win.

So in conclusion. I suggest Go to your local kart track watch a race see if it interest you. Search for a kart. Don't be stingy on good safety equipment. Get some practice in before you decide to race. Take your time enjoy the experience and whatever your budget is expect to spend about double that is the rule of thumb.

Kart Data By Software Design

I used this Kart Data by Software Design quite a bit in my racing career. It quickly helps you select the right gearing for the track your at. Normally you can ask around to get a ball park starting gearing range. Most karters will give you an idea of what to run, but when it gets highly competitive they may not share what they are running on their kart with you. By the time you practice, qualify and then race you should be pretty close by the time is done. Also keep a notebook or log your information online of your date, track conditions and your gearing. Your tire selection. Hope you enjoy the first post of resources and look forward to posting more info on making your karting better for you.

To download Kart Data visit here.

Karting Resources Day First Blog

Hi all I've created this blog for a couple reasons. One I'm out of work and need to a way to start making money. To do that I'm creating a blog that has information that I know about or a little about. I raced karts from 1999 to 2003 and was able to compete at the top level in shifter kart racing in the United States. I'm 37 now and look forward to making this a resourceful site for you and your karting needs.