Karting 101 : Lesson 2 - Braking

[@thehonorableaarongreene9792]

Excellent video for beginners like me. I finally heard in plain English what it takes to become a late breaker. Prior to this video I had no idea I should be applying 100% of the brake pressure and then backing off to 1% Thanks again I can’t wait to get to the track and practice what I just learned.

[@thevaracebikes5160]

Really Enjoyed this video! More Karting 101 Lessons please!

[@KorsasportKartingDevelopment]

Thanks! More coming... when I find some spare time! Next video will cover basic chassis dynamics and serve as an intro into tuning a kart.

[@JiffyDealer]

Great video! 👍 Any chance you could do one on “What to do if you under/over break during a turn”? Also, really enjoyed Terrance Dove’s book!

[@dobsonmartin]

Great video, really enjoying this series. Your mic levels are great too, very easy to follow and understand.

[@jasong712]

I really enjoyed this. Keep it up

[@merrick51]

Another great tutorial. Thanks dude

[@terrier53]

Great video.....thank you.

[@pippen001]

Great video!

[@countduku959]

I was told that being light on the brakes help with keeping momentum, can you still keep good momentum when braking hard?

[@KorsasportKartingDevelopment]

There are instances where light braking can be beneficial for faster corners with almost no braking zone. But for hard braking zones, you want to slow down as quickly as possible and spend less time braking. If a corner has an apex speed of 30 mph, you need to get down to that speed no matter what, so if you are just lightly braking, you are spending more time slowing down, which of course means less time accelerating. There’s no difference in momentum if you are reaching the same apex speed. A good general rule is to make all the braking zones as small as possible and all the acceleration zones as long as possible (while maintaining the proper racing line).

[@human890209yang]

Hi, thanks for your great tutorial. I have a question about the trail-breaking. The basic kart uses a rear brake and the front tires lift the inside rear wheel up when steering. So if a brake force is applied only to the outside rear wheel during trail-breaking. This brake force is against the steering inputs. But the braking moves the COG to the front, which helps the front tires steering. Does the braking help or resist the steering after summing these up?

[@KorsasportKartingDevelopment]

Interesting points. Yes, it's probably true that if the inside rear wheel is unloaded, leaving the outside rear wheel to brake while you are trying to turn-in, that braking force is probably working against the turn-in somewhat, however the mechanical jacking of the kart far exceeds this loss and isn't really noticeable when trail-braking.

[@human890209yang]

@@KorsasportKartingDevelopment Thanks.

[@mtbikerbob]

Good Video TJ! Maybe this is a more advanced braking technique but what are your thoughts on early braking (backing up a corner).

[@KorsasportKartingDevelopment]

Hey Bob, braking earlier can be useful if you're trying to optimize your run off the corner and get on the gas even earlier in a battle or something, where you're setting up the other kart. In general though there will be a point where you can't get on throttle earlier, or you'll be too quick at apex, so in most cases braking early will be slower overall. Straight-line braking would probably be the example of "early" braking that can still be quick.