Does Tucking down the Straightaway Actually make you Faster?
Vložit
- čas přidán 14. 06. 2024
- #karting #kartingemotionandpassion
Today I'm breaking down a common practice among kart racers - ducking your head down on the straightaway. Hope you guys enjoy, leave a comment what you would like to see on the channel. - Sport
on engines like OK or X30 typically you set up your sprocket to hit the limiter, once the engine is at the limiter the wheels will simply not rotate faster so tucking ,slipstream or anything that will "reduce load" will not have any effect, even with no load (like on the stand) the wheels will only rotate at whatever multiple of your engines max rpm is decided by gearing, however the longer the straight the longer the gearing so you will have more time before the limiter hits to gain any slight advantage. On engines like rotax (and KA perhaps?) which run out of top end before hitting a limiter, slipstream can have a significant effect and maybe a slight one if you tuck (although modern Nassau panels have reduced that). weight distribution has no effect either, what you were probably told was that by moving weight forward you have less load on the rear tyres which lets them "expand" ever so slightly increasing their diameter and thus slightly increasing your effective gear ratio, I would expect any such impact to be minimal though. on another note tucking is great psychologically so do it if you feel like it
Gotta keep eyes up for safety tho (unlike with the thumbnail and with me at the end of the video)
That is true 😂
when you are racing you are already so aware of your surroundings that sacrificing a bit of lower vision (which doesn't even matter on the straights anyway) for 0.1-0.5kph extra, even if its just a couple thousandths, can go a long way over multiple laps.
I race 4 stroke and it actually works lol. I was practicing the other day and I watched my mychron. Out of the final corner I saw my delta going from like -0.14 to -0.13 so I was slower, I tucked and it started to go back up to like 0.19 it was crazy
depends how you tuck though if you fully move your head down like i see a LOT (which i have done and do) you do notice a gain especially if theres a headwind, ive had it before ive been behind someone, fully ducked (so head just peeking over nasau panel) and have seen an increase of up to half a kart length gain per second, then when i untuck have stopped the gain
Definitely tuck during quali laps. Here in Sweden, it's incredibly tight at the top in the Junior category my son races in. Sometimes the top 15 drivers are within 0.2 seconds in lap times. A couple of hundredths lost can easily set you back 4-5 places on the grid.
Yep same in the us
Weight dfistribution change for going faster down the straight doesn't make any sense to me, the engine doesn't care, only cares about overall weight.
There should be a small reduction in drag by leaning forward vs sitting completely upright.
You still need to be back into correct position for braking with a rear axle-only brake since you need that weight on the rear tires for better stopping power.
Its doesnt do anything at psgka
We’re is your home track?
Psgka or pgp
I am going to disagree with you here Kieran, just because of simple physics. Transferring weight to the front of the kart does not reduce the weight of the kart. F=ma. Your mass does not change so therefore you need more force (engine power or other variables such as reduced headwind) to achieve an increased acceleration. Basically the "load" on the engine does not change. The only way for the load to change is if the rear tires slip or come fully off the ground.
I do however agree it's totally a physiological thing because as a driver, we intuitively are trying to do anything to make the car faster.
I didnt mean that the overall mass of the kart changes, more that it would help increase rpm as i saw in the data (similar to how hopping in the seat does). But you do make a pretty good point
@@kierantr5 From aero perspective it's really complicated and a lot of it is depends on track like you said (winds, barrier height induced tunnel effect, air density, relative wind speed, whether you are under slip stream or not), and a lot of it also depends on specific driver physical(height and weight) and setup (fairing shape). Some tall driver told me they find tucking gain them a few tenths in TriCity on a windy day, for me I got similar conclusion as you from my data, barely anything in track like PSGKA and maybe a tenth in TriCity. But in regional/national event a tenth is a lot especially in qualify :)
@@etyguo other drivers pay some hundreds or even more to be consistently a tenth faster. If it is possible for free, that is a yes from me. Especially since I am quite tall. Tanks for the vid!
I was also going to say that mass and weight do not change, however it is true that moving the weight forward reduces the load on the rear tyre, making them squashing a little less and therefore growing your final speed (by having a higher ratio).
@@fedfeder Wouldn't shifting weight forward cause the front tires to take more load, potentially squashing them more, leading to more friction, and potentially negating any benefit of what you gained from unloading the rear? I still believe any gain from ducking is from aerodynamics. Even though leaning forward doesn't dramatically change height, it may help smooth the airflow that is coming off the front fairing and help it more easily pass over the helmet. Without ducking, the air coming off the trailing edge of the front fairing is probably more turbulent and possibly leading to more drag. This is all probably very miniscule in terms of performance lost/gained.
Doesn't do squat. Except make you more dangerous because you're not looking at the track or your surroundings. The other thing I see is constantly looking backwards. Another useless, dangerous move I see a lot. If you can't see a competitor with your peripheral vision. Then there's no need to worry about it. With bumpers, nerf bars, bodywork and doing stupid shit like tucking, looking backwards and blatant blocking and pushing. Today's kart drivers are the worst they've ever been.