How to overcome a WEIGHT DISADVANTAGE in Karting (tutorial)

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In today's video we cover different techniques on how you can overcome a weight disadvantage in go karting.

[@kartingtips]

What techniques do you use to overcome a weight disadvantage?

[@gsent56]

Human drs

[@nico4319]

Staying behind following a lighter driver is also a good idea to make a good lap to keep the benefit of the tying effect.

[@nico4319]

Go for running 🎽 is it a good idea ? 😆

[@franciscofuentes3716]

actually to be on diet for the next endurance race, and hopefully lose all the human ballast i have 😂

[@Orrrg]

When you lean you have extra weight to distribute in corners

[@bigjimread]

At 6'5" and 140kg i find the best bet is to tell the lighter poeple that i will knock them out if they overtake me

[@nextgenownage]

Our hope that it's raining

[@dizzysteak]

😂

[@OMDolton84]

As a 135kg driver, I really needed these tips. Also I should really try to lose some of this weight.

[@Massimo-FR]

Do it for your health even before the laptime. Everything else is a bonus :D

[@nofoxtugiv]

130 kg checking in. Ditto. It’s funny, I started at 140kg, and have been trying to get myself to buckle down and lose weight, but historically struggled to stick with it. Since I started Karting a couple months ago, I have dropped 10 kilos. The psychology is fucking weird, I’ve known for a while I should lose weight to be healthy, for my spouse for my children, etc., but having a reason tied to a hobby I love? Made it so much easier to commit. Helps that instead of bored eating I practice karting on the sim or go to the track, too. 85-90 kilo would be my sweet spot, I’ll never be a small man, but I can be healthier and therefore faster on the track.

[@marcellans8713]

134 here, we should start a racing class for ourselves :)

[@David.Bergeron]

@@marcellans8713 you can! I am 6,2 and 95 kg and right in the weight at the master category in LO206. There is also an heavier category for 105-110 kg guys.

[@VascoCC95]

I would say that being light is only an advantage when the race doesn't have minimum weight. It's very different to weight 80 Kg or to weight 60 Kg and add a ballast of 20 Kg. The ballast is a dead weight that you cannot use to your advantage...

[@ameen1358]

Agreed, and ballast wait is usually put on one side of the kart so it has a destabilising affect. The kart behaves differently when you turn left compared to right. But if your bodyweight is more than the minimum weight then it will also slow you down.

[@alan133]

One advantage not mentioned for a heavier person is move your body more. You can influence the center of gravity more than a skinny guy, though if you are not in a race with weight limit and is 50kg heavier don't expect to be competitive, but you can focus on your own pace and make use of that controllable moving mass to get your PB. Leaning to the front and outside during corners = more rotation and wise versa. Leaning back = less wheelspin, less brake locking (assuming your kart has rear brakes like most karts) and less oversteer. When discussing braking points or racing lines with other drivers chances are you can brake much later or just lifting would do because of lower entry speed, and you always inevitably scrub off more speed during initial turn in so take that into account too. Overtaking requires smart car placement and can usually happen in long esses where you can switch from the outside line to inside by trying to get ahead with later braking on the first corner on the outside, in most other corners you will lose out on the straight regardless of what you do if you are racing anyone that is a hobbyist with a fundamental understanding of racing, unless you see an obvious weakness for the guy you are chasing.

[@INDiansaNNu4978]

Thank thank thank you very much for this information. I have followed your given racing line as I am heavy weight guy… so I have literally improved my best lap by 3 seconds. Love you bro ❤❤❤. You helped me very much

[@mentalmikeracing]

As a 95kg driver I can totally relate to this.

[@Shadow_1695]

Ka-Chow!

[@ChrisPChicken361]

Great explanation again sir. Im 85kg and this video will help me out. Thank you so much

[@scionkai]

these are great tips! to more HEAVY WEIGHT Gokart technique series! thanks alot!

[@cpjtaylor]

Fantastic video, thank you.

[@raptorthefirst]

Thanks, I will test it in a few days

[@FadedFootFace]

The person that gets overtaken in the second second of the video is me. Wallahi

[@formulanova12]

Woah nice you’re famous now!

[@nikspeeds]

These kinda comparisons make me feel better about being ~0.3 seconds off the fastest times on my local track despite being 50Kg heavier than the other drivers 😅

[@davespace]

As someone who is 100kg, this is super helpful.

[@GeenoPilotino]

As a 87kg driver, I always fight against this disadvantage. The worst thing for me it's the loss when exiting corner, where even if i try everything, i lose time on lighter drivers. It''s a matter of phisics (weight to power ratio), and if you imagine that a rental kart 270cc weight 150kg, the percentage of the driver weight, influences performance much more, compared for example to bigger cars (GT3, proto etc..). If you imagine that on an F1, 10kg of fuel cost 0,3s on lap time (Hamilton said), on a car that weight approximately 800kg and have 1000Hp, imagine how much influence 10kg on a kart that weight 1/7 has 1/100 of the power and it doesn't have a gearbox 😅 Obviously you have also to consider the lenght of the track, the number and type of turns, and the transmission gear ratio. For example in a large track without braking point, (with more weight) you will loose less time compared to a small track with a lot of U turns. On the electric kart, due to the higher torque, and the higher battery weight, the difference it's less

[@BennetS]

Hello, can you do a video about the seating position in rental karts and explain if you should rather go more back or forwards to shift the balance to the front or rear axel. Would be an amazing video and really interesting!

[@kartingtips]

Great suggestion! I recommend shifting the seat closer to the front so your centre of gravity remains in the middle. Also gives more grip on the front tyres which reduces understeer. Here's a short: kzbin.infowrnBDqHig1U

[@juergenkart]

@@kartingtips This is also exactly my seat setting with a weight of 95kg

[@JJ-KARTING]

@kartingtips im 1.82m and 85kg. In 9 of 10 rental karts it isnt an option to shift the seat closer to the steering wheel because my knees hit the steering wheel.. i think sometimes to take 5 kilo ballast weight on both legs to compromise it but then my overall weight is 95kg, can u try this one for me?😁👊

[@alan133]

Depends on the kart and track. If the kart understeers too much on a specific track you want to shift as far front as you are comfortable with. If it oversteers more than you like then as far back would be good. The perfect scenario would be all four tires are at the edge of slipping during any sort of acceleration, cornering or braking (instead of say, the front two), but your driving techniques matter too.

[@roemsen81]

More power. ^^ To compensate for the weight differences. At our center you can rent 6 and 9 hp karts. If you drive with 6 hp, you have no chance either way. With 9 hp and enough acceleration you can partly compensate. As for the cornering technique, I'm undecided. If I can keep the cornering speed similar to the outside due to the tighter approach, then yes. But if the narrower approach slows me down more in cornering speed, then I would approach further out to carry more speed through the corner.

[@traumfxngertv]

damn, i didn't know Go-Karting is that serious, my friends invited me to go with em'. Im really nervous because i have a bodyweight of 120kg and was looking for tips, espacially since i've never touched one in real life. wish me luck

[@ingerasulffs]

Did you get to go with them? How was it?

[@cpjtaylor]

I find weight transfer to the outside of the kart in hairpins helps with the insider under rotation and helps keep revs up. I'm 100kg without equipment so every little helps.

[@ingerasulffs]

I wanted to ask about "leaning to the outside" comment. It is counterintuitive to me, unloading the inside wheels and reducing the grip there. Could this be explained some more?

[@KS7.]

@@ingerasulffs KTips has a video on how to lean in karting. To put it simple, you want to lean out a bit in corners because of the lack of a differential in karts. Leaning in will result in a tad bit of understeer, needing you to steer more/longer and losing time because of it. That lost time couldve been saved by leaning out a bit, dont do it too much cause inertia will already do it for you, to an extend. Hope it helped :)

[@Michy20]

Do you think that this is aplicable to indoor twisty circuit aswell? I can't stand being able to follow my 20Kg lighter friend just to see him disappear as soon as the main straight comes

[@kartingtips]

Definitely! Experiment with the different techniques I explained. Also check out this video specific for indoor Karting tracks: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nYncfYFjesifZsU

[@LEVIN6921]

Im 193cm and 100kg. Even if I follow a worse driver, he still faster than me.

[@jaure_jay3796]

I can relate 😕

[@ALEX-WRIGHT]

Which Track is this?

[@GooogleGoglee]

I would install NOS kit to retake the disadvantage on a first straight line.

[@badgumby9544]

This is what you need to do when racing a Lo206 heavy class in the US. No horsepower and heavy weight. Requires a different driving technique. It's all about keeping up momentum..

[@TH54_Official]

As a 35kg 13 year old, I relate. But no, seriously, I'm TOO LIGHT, I do Indoor Karting, which Is about tight turns, which isn't suitable for Light, people, my mates are in their 55Kg's area, they take turns so much easier, whilst I; however, just drift, which isn't ideal. If anyone's got tips for people who are UNDERWEIGHT, please give me some advice.

[@Nolast12503]

As a 109kg driver, i think about this stuff a lot. Hard to keep up with my lighter friends.

[@MitchArbee]

I know its not the point of the video.. but jeeeeez this track is lovely.

[@trev3971]

I'm 115kg. I chase down the 60kg teenagers at my local track through all the corners, just to see them pull away on the straight 😭

[@jsquared1013]

The true answer is "eat more vegetables and less starchy carbohydrates" 🤣 but since it is taking me a while to get that result, these tips are what I will try on the next trip to the karting circuit. The 🤷‍♂ at 4:12 as the lightweight guy just pulls away on the straight is me whenever there are skinny teenagers at the track 😂

[@dannyleeracing]

Thanks, I needed an excuse to eat one more chocolate biscuit

[@nielsdorhout058]

I weigh 85kg and still set records, but then again..im Dutch 😉

[@digosantista]

That's me and my weight... frustrating...

[@bar1ton1]

still about 3s

[@nico4319]

I would like to answer but I don't have yet weight disadvantage 😆 😉

[@kartingtips]

Hahaha!

[@ameen1358]

😂😂😂

[@Orrrg]

Can we conclude that every ten kg means 0,56 sec?

[@VascoCC95]

It depends on each track and sometimes the track workers know the average impact of each 10 Kg on laptimes

[@ameen1358]

Depends on the circuit and the kart but sounds like a good approximation (according to my experience).

[@coreywhiting6850]

I wish, If that were true I would the fastest guy in town. I am about 10kg over the minimum weight but I am not that far off the pace at a tight 1 minute lap track. It is likely compounding though, so the bigger the weight difference the more time is lost. I don't think you can calculate a 10kg disadvantage from a test with a 60kg difference.

[@Orrrg]

@@coreywhiting6850 you mean that the relationship is not linear?

[@coreywhiting6850]

@@Orrrg correct, it is just a theory though