What makes a go kart go faster

Next, you need to remove the washer and the nut from the clutch and carefully remove it from the engine. If the chain is too tight to remove the clutch, you will need to loosen the rear wheel hub on the axle and move the sprocket assembly closer together, which will loosen the chain.

Use some grease on the clutch bushing in order to keep it lubricated and running smoothly. After this step you can reassemble the clutch and put everything back into place. Make sure your chain is correctly aligned so as to not damage the clutch or the sprocket. However, it should be sealed quite well, and you will find that it usually remains clean on its own. Your power valve can give your kart the correct amount of power if it is working properly.

The air filter or air box needs to be removed once a month in order to be cleaned out. Once you have it opened up you will see a sponge on the inside. You need to ensure that the sponge is in good condition. You will also need to remove any debris or junk from the box itself and keep emptying it regularly. You want to have nice clean air feeding into the engine, so this needs to be kept clean.

The extreme heat of the engine can sometimes burn holes in the exhaust. This will add a layer of protection, and also help you to see where the weak spots are that need to be fixed up. Rust can normally show up clearly on a well-painted exhaust.

In addition to this, the matting inside the exhaust needs to be replaced every hours of use. Normally the matting can last longer, however it is highly recommended that you check it just in case. When working with exhaust matting always wear protective gloves and glasses. The fiberglass matting can cause extreme skin irritation and even blindness if you get it in your eyes. In order to be fast, you need to be flexible.

Even if you are racing in a local championship at the same circuit for an entire season, you need to know how to change your setup to be as fast as possible. Karts are so sensitive that the slightest change in temperature or even humidity can drastically affect their performance. If you can adapt to these weather cycles, you will be faster. You need to do as much research and testing as you can to adapt correctly. In addition, if you are taking part in a traveling championship and are visiting different tracks, adapting is absolutely essential.

Each circuit will require different set ups if you are to be the fastest. Perhaps one circuit is much bumpier than the next, and you will need to account for that, while the next circuit could be much smoother, so you can take a more rigid setup.

Being flexible in your set up options will not only help you in these variable conditions, but it can also swing a championship battle in your favor. If you can find the area where your rival struggles the most, you can gain extra time on them. Or if you can identify where you lose the most time, you can set your car up in order to lose a little bit less time in that specific section and balance your lap times to go faster.

Adapting your setup week in week out is key if you want to stay ahead of the competition. Upgrading older parts on your kart can significantly boost its performance. Over time some parts will begin to wear out and this will cause your kart to be slower than the others.

If you want maximum performance, you not only need to take care of these parts but also upgrade them. Or you might look at replacing the axle these can break after a long period of use , and finding one that has the stiffness which suits your driving style for example could help you go faster on the track. The exhaust is another upgradable part.

It can become rusted and broken over time and may need to be replaced with a new one. The seat can also pick up damage, but seats also just become stiff and brittle when they become older.

You can then replace the seat with one that suits your driving style in terms of stiffness. Finding which parts of your kart can be upgraded is essential if you want to get the most out of it.

Knowing which areas are lacking, and what parts you should upgrade to, is vital if you want to get the edge over the other drivers on the track. The driver of course makes a huge difference to how fast the kart can go. Therefore, you need to ensure that you are also always learning and improving , and there are various ways to do so. Instructors can be the best way to go faster. Pick up advice from whoever you can, and you might learn something new.

The great thing about instructors is that it is personalized for you. They can easily spot the mistakes you are making and help you to correct them.

Instructors can sometimes be expensive to hire, so it can also be useful to ask some of your fellow drivers to help you out. Most will be happy to give you advice if you are really struggling with a particular corner or element of your setup.

Lewis Hamilton famously said that his father would go to each corner on the circuit and compare him to other drivers while he was out on track. He would tell Lewis where he had to brake later , turn in earlier or accelerate earlier. If you are at the track for a day of testing, you can go around by yourself and analyze other drivers.

Look out for the fastest driver and try to spot their braking points or how they approach the corners. Watching and learning is never above you.

Even as a 7-time Formula 1 World Champion, Lewis Hamilton says that he is still learning every single time he gets in his car. That is why he is such an incredible driver. But aside from professional assistance or help from your fellow drivers, you can do a lot of learning on your own as well. Reading books on racing theory or checking out some YouTube channels that explain the racing fundamentals can be a great way to learn how to go faster.

The important thing is to never stop learning. Making your kart faster is all about attention to detail and taking good care of your kart. You also need to be flexible in order to remain fast under all conditions and at different circuits. You may also need to spend some money and upgrade a few parts when they become too worn out.

Flow Racers is a reader-supported site. Purchases made through links may earn a commission. Change Your Chassis Setup Setup is the most important element of being fast , not only in karting but also in car racing too. Chassis Setup The chassis can be a tricky thing to setup, especially for newcomers to the sport.

The Axles The rear axle comes in 3 different stiffness settings. Gearing Gearing is the first and most important change you can make. Start High Another testing technique that drivers like to use is to start off with extremely high gearing and keep dropping the sprockets lower and lower until your lap times start to become slower than before.

Jetting Jetting is probably the trickiest of all the setup elements. Too Lean If your engine is running too lean, you will notice that the engine makes a popping sound when you go down the straights. Too Rich If the engine is running too rich a fuel mixture, you will find that the kart bogs down coming out of corners. Weather Effects When the temperature increases, the air becomes less dense. Altitude The higher the altitude you are at, the less dense the air becomes.

Humidity High humidity also decreases the density of the air due to moisture taking up space in the air. Change Your Handling Setup Handling is much simpler to adjust than the chassis. Tire Pressures Tire pressures are key to the overall handling of your kart. Camber And Caster Camber and caster can be used to adjust the amount of grip you have through corners. Front Track Width The front track width is one of the easiest and most basic adjustments you can make on a kart.

More Oversteer Widening the front track width will give more oversteer. Rear Track Width The front of the kart is easy to adjust and can work wonders for improving the overall handling of the kart.

Not Always Straightforward However, a rear track width that is too narrow will upset the kart and cause it to become unstable and challenging to drive. The Center Of Gravity When adjusting the ride height in a kart, you are essentially adjusting the center of gravity.

Important At High Speeds Once you get to higher speeds and bumpier circuits, ride height becomes more important as it needs to be high enough to stop the floor from scraping along the tarmac too much. Keep Your Kart Clean And Well Maintained Keeping your kart clean and properly maintained is key to pulling the ultimate performance out of the kart.

High Maintenance Parts There are some parts that need some extra special care and attention on a kart. Carburetor The carburetor is the part that you will be cleaning the most. Spark Plugs Before we start on the maintenance of a spark plug, make sure you have the right spark plug in order to get the best performance out of your kart. There are actually several different things you can do to make a go-kart go faster.

Some of the things you can do are simple and inexpensive, and others can involve a little time and a little outlay of cash. Some of the tricks for making a go-kart go faster involve such things as disconnecting the engine's governor, designed to keep the engine's rpm down to a safe level. Once you have disabled the engine's governor, you run the risk of overrevving the engine and reducing its lifespan. The following are different ways you can increase the speed of a go-kart.

Install larger-diameter tires on the go-kart, especially on the rear. Increasing the diameter of the tires means that each revolution of the tire pushes the go-kart further than it would go with smaller tires. Increasing the diameter of the tires by 1 to 2 inches can dramatically improve the speed of the go-kart. Re-gear the kart. Install a smaller sprocket or a sprocket with fewer teeth on the drive axle or a larger sprocket on the engine output.

In order to make your go-kart go faster you can do a few simple things that are often overlooked. Many of these tweaks and optimizations are not as hard as they look and can be done relatively quickly.

However, I need to warn you about two different things. In light of that, act with care and be reasonable with these tips. The engine is the heart of your go-kart that provides power to the driveshaft. The driveshaft is connected to the axle, which ultimately makes your wheels spin, which ultimately accelerates your go-kart.

If you want your go-kart to have more power, you can simply upgrade your existing go-kart engine to a more powerful one. For example, if your go-kart engine currently has a 3. You can opt for a more powerful engine such as the Titan TX Amazon affiliate link , which is a 6.

This is a more powerful engine that is commonly used for go-kart racing. A more powerful engine will enable your go-kart to transfer more energy and power to the driveshaft, which will enable your go-kart to go faster. Always ensure that your kart is designed to handle the increased power.

Finding the best go-kart racing engine depends on your preference and what you want to achieve with it. A carburetor is a mechanical device that mixes fuel and air for your go-kart engine. Mixing the right amounts of fuel and air is crucial for combustions inside your kart engine.

Each carburetor is set with a standard fuel to air ratio. Think of it this way, the more air the carburetor lets through, the more fuel it brings along with it. A counter-clockwise adjustment will do the opposite and fill the engine with less fuel and air. You can use this to enable your kart engine to generate more power, which will ultimately make your go-kart faster. Allowing too much air and fuel into the engine can cause damage. Do this with caution. Both components are forced induction systems, which means that they compress the air that flows into the go-kart engine.

The more air flows through, the more fuel it can burn. The main difference between these two components is that a supercharger gets its power from the crankshaft and a turbochargers takes it from the exhaust system. Turbochargers are more common on go-karts than superchargers, because there are more options available and they are easier to install. You will also need a manifold between both outlet and intake ports.

Turbochargers on the other hand run on the exhaust pipes, which compresses the air into the intake manifold. There are many guides available for installing turbochargers on go-karts. Take into consideration that you may need a fuel relay and an oil pressurizer system. Another thing that you can do is to re-gear your go-kart. By re-gearing you can increase the amount of force the engine exerts on the axle, while will make your kart faster.

You can do this by either installing a smaller sprocket smaller in size or you can install a sprocket that has fewer teeth.