How NOT to drive in Karting (5 common mistakes)
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- čas přidán 29. 04. 2024
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HOW NOT TO DRIVE IN KARTING (5 COMMON MISTAKES)
In today's video we review 5 common mistakes drivers make at the Go Karting Track and how it impacts your lap time!
Thank you for your support! Today the channel reached 25,000 subscribers 🎉 I've got some exciting videos coming soon. Let me know any particular videos you would like to see!
Could you do a track guide for whilton mill???
I would really like to see your full experience driving an F4 car. You have one video in the channel talking briefly about that but it'll be good like a live commentary on what you felt and how was the experience, more than the technical differences or something like that
Just a quick question. Can the sleep condition negatively affect lap times? I often practice karting only few hours, like 5 or even 3 hours before I go to sleep and sometimes, I had to wake up earlier than I normally need for full sleep just to practice.
Leaning out is such a good tip. Gave that tip to my family last time karting (and it was a really long corner covering almost a quarter of the track) and they all gained at least a second per lap.
plus, on the overdriving part, when someone is right behind you, they'll put lots of pressure on you which leads to stress. and the stress might cause you to overdrive yourself and screw up on track. therefore you need to stay calm and drive fast but responsibly.
And resist the temptation to look behind.
On the flip side it is a great way to encourage the driver ahead of you to overcook their corner and open the door for you to slip past.. as long as you’re ready for it.
I really don't like when slow drivers hug the corners. Especially in these small indoors.
Just give them a little encouragement to dive into the corner faster and use the good ‘ol cutback move on them.
What’s behind me doesn’t bother me. 😂
Braking point is such a slippery meaning. It depends on many conditions: weather, your weight, condition of the kart you are driving, but most important thing that changes throughout the session is the tyre temperature. The longer you drive, the closer is the braking point to the corner.
Very good point. Time of year and time of day can play such a huge factor in my experience and I’m still in my first year of league level karting lol. The cooler evenings have surprised me in really slowing down tire warmup. Becoming proficient at feathering the throttle has helped a whole lot.
@@flatlanderfl hot weather isn't good either. Myself, I did my fastest laps during something like +18 sunny weather.
@@demandredlfc4180engines are less efficient in hot weather as there’s less pressure difference
It really is slippery, my karting coaches and even their head say that nobody can teach me the exact braking point, they can only say where they brake or the point where many people either brake or close to the many people's braking points, but to find my braking point, they say that only I can find it.
the leaning bit is a new one for me. thanks for pointing that out!
Step 1: being able to afford 50 quid a week
It’s more than that buddy 😢
Buckmore is £49 per 30 minute session, they do offer discounts on multiple same day sessions. They do offer larger discounts on quieter days, so for example I recently had three sessions back to back. It would normally be a £10 discount for 2 sessions, but they gave a further £20 discount for a third session.
This is not always guaranteed and is very dependent on availability/demand. However, they are very helpful the sales team and the classic “don’t ask, don’t get” very much applies here.
@@graememcallister6002 unfortunately I don’t live near buckmore
Do Simracing
@@graememcallister6002 at least you get 45 minutes near me if you go late
the main reason is because it costs $15/10 mins
I sometimes think its cheaper to just get your own kart
I have no idea why I found this but I really want to go karting again now 😂
Learnt something on the lean though. I was always the fastest in my group but was leaning into turns (my group are not necessarily very good 😅) interesting to see the physics behind it have to give that a try now
Same for me, what he says make a lot of sense however
The most important part (which is not mentioned in this video) is that gokarts have no differentials. Therefore you get a lot of friction during a turn that brakes the kart, also working against turning the kart. If you put more of your weight on one side, the other side will lift off easier and you get less tire friction (on the inner tire) during a turn. This is also the reason why you want to steer as little as possible.
Great video, really practical tips, really well illustrated. I need to work on the leaning, I think instinctively I keep bolt upright! Your point about working at it, not getting disheartened, is well made. Driving a kart fast is a skill and like any other skill, progress comes only from working hard and being prepared to learn. It's a tiny percentage of racers that have so much natural talent that they can win without the work!
Thank you for your videos. I learned so much from it and with a lot of practices I can shave a second off my fastest time at my first ever session and only 0.6 seconds behind the fastest time of the month. I might invest on a camera so that I can learn more about my driving style
The good part is that this doesn’t only apply to go karts, but actual racing pathing or sims as well. Great stuff!
The circuit you show is way better than what we have. That's the issue...
I love Karting but on that circuit you can't go to the top speed of the kart...
We had a good circuit near my city, but then porche bought everything and decided "nah ah, porche center for car testing..." it was not a bad decision, but we loved that circuit...
On the circuit we have now it is so hard to overtake because the space is small and they had to make lots of 180 degrees curves
I learned something new. I never knew about leaning out to get better grip and minimising oversteer. Thank you.
Good tips. Our rental kart track only has one zone where you really need to brake though. It's kind of frustrating but you can keep the gas mashed the whole way around.
I always thought i had to lean in, this trick will definitely help thank you
Some of us renters drift on purpose- I usually do this toward the end of a session after I've gotten comfortable driving the Kart. My last few laps are always junk! But they're the funnest laps!
When the Eurobeat kicks in.
Also same. When the tires have started to degrade a bit and you just start to drift through every second corner, it's really fun.
Another tip is setting your seat forward, it really helps
I thought I won't learn anything new, but I was leaning incorrectly(although I do remember last time I went Karting that by the end of the session I was just chilling into the seat, letting it swing me), and it definitely makes sense to try to put pressure on the outside tire, just like skiing - it is a bit counterintuitive because you would think improving contact on all 4 tires should be better.
This is the best karting video for any beginner
I think it would be worth it to mention how certain corners reward a good exit more than others.
Like the example you had at milton keynes daytona, that corner is a perfect example of "critical" exit speed because its huge straight and uphill so every mph you hold on to it is time down the straight, but some corners are tighter and lead straight in to the next corner and some times some agressive rotation and sacrifice of ultimate exit speed will win you time by track positioning.
Excellent! Thanks for sharing your knowledge
Great vid. It's hard for me to do karting often because it's a bit too expensive where I live. I basically do maybe three 8 minute sessions a month. But I got myself a simracing setup as of late and now I basically have unlimited track time whenever I want. It's not a perfect practice for karting which is very different to more "proper" cars you can drive on the sim, but even the universal things that carry over to every single type of race car or kart are enough to cut a few tenths easily. It helps especially with properly using your brake and throttle. You learn this quickly on the sim where you can see a lot of people on the kart track try to use these just as if they were driving a road car. It also helps with track awareness and dealing with slower drivers quickly because you do that very often on the sim in rookie categories. I drive Formula Vee on iRacing for now and let me tell you, it's a lot closer to a kart than to an F1 car, even if it's a bit more complicated.
But fanging it into the corner and sliding is so much more fun for casual karting 😎
I always thought that that leaning in helped a lot, as it made the cart bounce much less in the corners and keep grip. Keep neutral or outwards leaning made it bounce much quicker at the limit, while leaning inwards kept it clean of sliding and bouncing? I assumed the carts do have a diff...
Ive never EVER heard someone mention body positioning with a kart.... thats awesome
I personally was never a consistent driver on track, but i was a fast one. I've always understood what a good racing line would be and i always experiment and drove to the limit wheter itd be a karting or a car, but i was horribly at passing others. I never found the balance of being bold and stupid with overtakes. Still i have a blast at racing others sense i think ill get the hang of it someday
this is an excellent video dude, good job.
Saw so much videos about how specificly in Karting drifiting is a thing you SHOULD do and not avoid.
But I guess it depends on what kind of track you are on.
I used to live near the IMI track in Colorado and went semi regularly for a while. I was getting ok and qualified to move up to their shifters.
But I moved to Washington and there’s no good tracks for high performance carts anywhere:(
I miss it… especially since now I have some cash I would consider buying a decent cart.
Iam allready in the Top 5 on my local Track and its getting incredibly hard to improve but ill try to alternate my leaning the next time im there. Maybe i can gain something from that, because im leaning in heavy. My main Problem however seems to be that im super small and sit far forward which means i got less weight on the backaxle.
Finally, I can now start putting my extra weight to my advantage knowing to lean outwards.
being an ATV driver, you always need to lean into the corner, when i did karting it was so strange that doing the same make me slower, now i could see why i was doing a bad job since i preffer much more other type of racing instead of open wheel
thanks for the video and info
The direction you lean in depends on the weather conditions, the corner and where others are compared to you.
In optimal conditions you lean outwards to increase the grip through the turn.
Technically, you lean outwards to decrease grip on the inside rear tire, to allow it to slip easily. Otherwise, a grippy inside rear will be trying to send you straight.
Great Video, simple and clear…thank you
My karting coaches say that it significantly gets more difficult during the early parts of the session in indoor karting rentals if you're the first customer and you're practicing alone because the tires and track are cold which really reduces the kart's handling which is why they suggested that I do it in times when there are also other customers, but not too crowded, just enough to ensure that the track is warmed up at least, but preferably if both the track and kart tires are warmed up.
Began my karting career this winter at my local indoor track, already challenging the top racers by 10ths after just 6 races. Been getting very discouraged by walk in rentals though. The races are just 8 minutes, most of that is taken up battling thru slow drivers who hog the inside track and don’t ever look behind. A lot of them have to be spinning out every lap because even if I pass them, I’m right back behind them shortly after. 🙄
I'll try to remember that next time I'm at St Eval track, although it's a lot smaller than that track...
Very good video straight to the topic and of course thanks to this video I managed to do it 2 seconds faster 👍👍
Amazing, I’m happy to hear that 🙌
The over speeding for a corner is a big one. Many newbies don't understand, the limit of cornering speed is a real thing. A tyre can only generate so much cornering force and if you exceed the speed carrying capacity of that cornering force, you will slide which will make you understeer or oversteer (depending on whether it was the front or rear tyres that dropped off in cornering force first...seating position being the significant deciding factor of which of the two will occur), causing you to then run wide of the racing line and make you miss your apex and to bring the kart back under your control you then have to spend time slowing down again with another braking phase and straightening your steering wheel to regain grip and then reapply steering lock after grip regained to complete the a second mini turn in phase to complete the turn needed before finally returning to a proper full unwind of the steering wheel on exit, non of which you would have had to additionally do if you had just slowed down more and/or earlier in the first place. So instead of now speeding up and unwinding the steering wheel out of the corner, you're having to perform a second braking phase at the mid portion of the corner with a second turn in phase, completing ruining your exit and losing valuable multiple tenths of a second (if not more than a second) down the following straight. Aka....slow in-slow out.
I travel alot for work and i hit any track with good rental karts i can find all over the country. I can generally post a top 5 time for the week within 3 sessions if that is being tracked. Rarely am i not the 1st or 2nd best lap of the session.
I have never even thought about the way i lean in the corners, but im pretty sure im leaning into them instead of out. I will be applying that tip going forward.
congrats on 25 keep up your nice videos
Hi, i struggle with my body. I feel very tired after racing. I dont practice i just done it a couple times in my life, is it because of one of the points you mentioned on the video (going against the force g) ?
I really appreciate your videos, Im a new sub.
time, effort... and money :/
Yooo, this track looks fire, where do y’all usually go for the nice outdoor tracks?
The point of leaning into the corner is to evenly load the tyres. A higher individually loaded tyre loses efficiency and decreases the maximum available traction. It is similar reasoning to why fatter tyres provide more grip.
thanks for the tips
I remember when they had better karts at lusail, I went earlier this year and felt disappointed in the new equipment. The pandemic really seems like it hit them hard
lean out is massive on speedway surface dirt like aidka
its the difference between WOT and gaining rpm in a sweeper vs WOT and not gaining rpm on a sweeper
also lean forward for mad weight transfer on the front if u feel the mid engine setup cuck you in a drift
At my local track at edmonton the fastest way around the track is not use the full width of the track on entry in some corners but for all other tracks i use the full widrh of the track. Should i still shorten the width in some corners at my own track even with different performing karts?
For some indoor karting tracks, taking a narrow line will actually be faster if the karts are electric because they have instant acceleration (Here's my experiment: czcams.com/video/gXyLN-Ecl0c/video.html).
this is all good advice for someone who wants to do it as a hobby or even wants to start karting for real. for the occasional race with your friends (first or second timers) this doesn’t work at all. brake? they’ll slam into you and complain. out-in-out? they’ll slam into you for “cutting them off”. want to be slow-in-fast-out? ahah good luck! some fast-in idiot is going to pass you mid corner (if he manages not to slam into you) and then you can’t be fast-out if you got a slow-out prick in front of you
What cheap camera should i get? and how do i attatch it to my helmet?
I'm 68 so will never be a F1 driver but have rented karts all over the world in the past. I wish I'd had these tips 50 years ago and been able to practise in the meantime 😁 Great video, thanks.
My last karting session was in Puerto Princesa, Palawan at PIC (Palawan International Circuit), Philippines ~6 months ago where I did a video of my GF (first time) trying it out - fun. She needs to watch this before next time. Say hi to Jon (Manager) if you ever go there.
Great content!
In New Caledonia where I live, there's only one karting track... And the biggest issue that prevents lap time improvement is that they make people of every skill level race at the same time. So when someone is braking way too much in a corner and you can't overtake, your lap time goes to trash 😂
Hey mate, what camera do you use for filming your races and how is it attached to a helmet?
Hey! I use GoPro Hero 10 and Insta360 X2. GoPro is sharper quality but Insta has wider FOV. I attach both cameras to my helmet using GoPro curved adhesive mount.
Hi! I'm nit a fast karter, but regulary had the much slower, opponent porblem. When I know of my kart was can do more speed, but the guy in front of me just turn into me when I go to overtake him. And because I usualy drive on tight tracks go out and overtake here is impossible vecause the walls. And when I change for the inner line to the outer and accelerate alongside of my opponent he decide to put me on the wall. The Verstappen mentality. "You back of or we crash." Sometimes they get black falgged but...
I'm not aganist a racing, but do it normaly and not use the kart like a weapon...
And dont hold the wheel high up like the old 10/2 positions. Hold it lower. The higher you hold it the harder it is to make small adjustments to your steering through corners. As you end up "pulling" the wheel to the right or left. If you hold it lower down it's just gentle little "pushes" to correct the steering.
First few times on a kart track I was exhausted from "pulling" the steering wheel - switching to a lower grip position and "pushing" the steering wheel helped a lot!
I tried to apply the tip of leaning out where I practice, but turns out when I lean into the corners I get more grip while leaning out I tend to slide too much. Is there a tip for that? Am I doing something wrong ( which I believe ) or it could be possibly the kart I'm driving?
Thanks in advance. And thanks for your nice videos :) I love'em.
Great feedback! It's interesting the challenge you're facing. Are you driving at an indoor or outdoor track? And are the karts petrol or electric?
I recommend do a session with NO leaning, just let your body go with the natural force when cornering. Sometimes when you lean too much to the outside it can unsettle the kart. Also try a different kart out.
Thank you for your quick answer 🙂
It's an outdoor track and petrol karts
Don't forget, there is a solid rear axle, and the tyres on the outside of the turn need to turn faster than the inside tyres to maintain the speed. If you are leaning in, you will trying to use the inside tyre's linear velocity dictate the speed that the axle rotates, and the outside tyre will scrub. It is not a huge amount, but it affects your corner exit speed. And of course the natural grip is on the outside and you want the inside tyres to scrub - faster axle rotation and faster corner exit speed
@@0b1i0 thank you. I'm experimenting some changes in the way I lean. I'll def try to apply your tip too. 😁
I only went carting once and it happened to be a 1 hour race (I didnt know this, someone else signed me up). I was drifting through every corner, didnt brake at all and still was in the middle of the group... 🤷🏻♂️
Great Video! Is the first Part from Blindenmarkt Austria? it looks so familiar

It’s actually Lakeside Karting UK
How much do you think does additional body weight impact laptime? We drive at a smaller racetrack and the karts are somewhat weaker. If one looses momentum, the kart basically is like down to 0 speed.
Not much
Is this track in Qatar? I used to live there for a few years and really enjoyed that track! Back in the UK now and using the Lakeside vid to get better! 😊
Yup, it’s Lusail Karting Track 😁
What about weight shifting forward / back? I was trying to practice leaning forward to move Cog onto front tires when entering a turn for max steering control and then leaning back to move Cog onto back tires for max grip to accelerate out of the turn. Thoughts?
Great point! I usually adjust the seat forward or backwards depending on Understeer vs Oversteer. Karts with understeer, it’s better to move the seat as close to the front as possible so more grip on the front tires. Do the opposite for an oversteery kart.
If you not able to lean out of the corner and leaning in, check that you sitting relaxed. Don't use the steering wheel as a handle bar especially in the corner.
SOMETHING REEEAALLY IMPORTANT>
In the slow in fast out method, the karts are too weak, so the acceleration is generally slow (in my local area). WHAT DO WE DOOOO
Is it necessary to accelerate gradually when exiting the corner?.. thanks for the video!
Accelerate gradually in petrol karts otherwise you’ll flood the engine with revs and get bogged down. In electric karts you can be more aggressive with the accelerator because torque is instant.
@@kartingtips thank you very much!
That first point applies to people making left turns at traffic lights on normal roads. Nobody understands how to corner correctly.
Can someone help explaining the lean-in tip? IIRC the video says if you lean in you "fight" against the forces and steer more (understeer?) and if you lean out or don't lean you can oversteer a little and turn the steering wheel less. I can't understand this because of two reasons: 1-You can overcome understeer by driving different. 2- leaning out means increasing the weight transfer outside and even more weight on the inside wheels. More weight transfer means less total grip for the tires.
The tyres have more grip than you think, but they need weight to engage the friction they have to offer. It's more a case of maximizing the tyres grip
@@Rynodinio more weight transfer = less total grip. The grip you give to the outside tires goes out of the inside tires. Is like having a car leaned with very soft suspension, isn't it?
are you sure about that leaning out? the reason i lean in is because i thought keeping weight on the inside wheels, thus making more grip on them, surely 4 wheels gripping evenly is better than 2 gripping more and 2 gripping less, even without a differential? or is it because the inside tyers will be slipping because they are spinning faster than they need to (because of no diff) so get rid?
In a proper solid rear axle kart the aim is to unload the inner wheel. The more grip thr inner wheel has with the ground, the less the Kart will rotate while cornering (understeer) because the wheels cannot rotate at different speeds eoth respect to their travel distance around a turn.. Thr inner wheel is essentially "locking down" the rear. A properly tuned racing kart will completely lift the inner rear wheel when cornering. This is called "jacking". Rental karts are typically built heavier and more rigid to accommodate amateurs, but thr affect is still significant and will shave a lot of time. I believe many indoor electric karts actually have differentials. At least the two near me are and leaning is virtually pointless. You basically drive those like a car.
Don't know why I got recommended this video.
I go karting like 2 times in 10 years, I am just there to have fun, man.
If I go serious and wanna min-max, I will go to the Nürnburgring
To each their own, of course.
Do you have a video of you racing in a race car one time at the Lucail track
I haven’t yet as the track has been closed for track days since 2021
is that losail, qatar?
Someone once told me “it’s not the speed through the corner but out of the corner that really matters”
Anyone know a good go pro or cam I can you for below 100 dollars?
Last time I went karting the staff there were excellent at helping us.
However there was an utter moron (brought his motocross helmet type) on the track taking the kids out by smashing up the inside and spinning them, racing around full speed on yellows, did 3 laps after the chequered flag as he never saw any flags and then tried to go 3 abreast into a corner the next race and ran out of tarmac and hit the wall and tried to fight the other 2 he was along side.
This approach stopped anyone on the 2 sessions getting better as the kids just spent the sessions spinning and being scared and the adults were just trying to get out his way all the time
thank you, now i know how to beat my sister in Mario Kart :D
Is threshold braking best for hairpin turns to exit fast and for timetrial?
Yes, that’s what I use! It helps me slow the kart down quickly and also get the best possible exit speed.
@@kartingtips If you visit Bangladesh for once and visit "Xtreme racing go kart"track and give a guide.
What is threshold braking when it comes to using the brakes exactly?
@@AdelWhips Threshold braking is a technique of braking where you brake for a short period.it is generally used to reduce braking distance and helps your kart exit faster out of the corner.
@@AdelWhips It's when you press the brakes hard for a short period until you feel the rear end of the kart rotate. Here's a tutorial: czcams.com/video/FsB7JhqaHqw/video.html
Super informative and engaging my guy! My 13 yo nephew is in some DEEP SHIT when next we do battle!
Haha, let me know how it goes!
カートはリーンアウトで外側のタイヤに荷重掛けた方がグリップするからね
I find the biggest obstacle in rental cars for me is that their low horse power so being overweight just destroys my speed.
Leaning out is correct, but your explanation for it is not. Carts have a spool at the rear axle and no differential. In a corner your inner tyre has a smaller corner radius and would rotate slower. Thats why cars have differentials to allow different wheel speeds left and right. Now with a spool both wheels have the same speed. In a corner this creates a force that acts against your steering causing understeer. Leaning outward reduces grip of the inner tyre allowing it to slip more easily reducing the force caused by the spool.
Where do you drive?
One thing he didn't mention was throttle steering. Once you're in the corner, your wheel should should basically be straightforward, and you're using throttle to slip the rear wheels and turn.
I am tall and heavy. Formula 1 doesn't want me, what should I do?
Nothing in there about a 230 pound man and how he can beat the lightweights! :p (good video tho)
Yeah it's the same for motorcycles, just try it 😂
"If you find yourself sliding or drifting through a corner..." you are having more fun. There, fixed it for you.
I always thought it was because I was always trying to crash into my buddies on purpose just to spite them
5th advice - is how you turn your fun and good time into job.
My problem is that I only went once in my life, maybe that's why I can't win
I can't believe that MSN fumbled like that. If he did want her give her my number lmaoooo
👍👍👍
And just have the money for the regular karting trips
Wait, people keep time?
Somethings correct here, something completely wrong.
Braking and oversteering into the corner means you have lost speed. Coasting is amazingly effective in rental karts (4 stroke) because the engine braking is fairly strong anyway and if you balance the accel/decel so that you're in a slightly slowing state, the tyre will have the most grip available for cornering. Early turn in, and then give it gas and run wide without skidding is the way on rental karts. If you're in a pro kart with front brakes this completely changes :) Cornering speed in rental karts is key because that's going to get you the fastest out you can get.
The next is the lean. Karts don't have a differential, that's true, but you need to understand how a kart rear axle works. Now it will depend on how the kart is handling to depend on which way you need to lean. You see you only want to corner on the outer wheel. However if you're sliding too much/hopping, leaning in will stop that. If you're understeeing into the corner, leaning out will help that. Pro-karts you'd adjust the axle asymmetry to compensate.
HTH
Braking and oversteering into a corner is correct though? Watch any pro karter and they do this, especially watch Hamilton in his karting days, he slides the karts around like crazy. The braking and turning is called trail braking and is a well know racing technique.
Dunning Kruger effect on display.
@@tinato67 Please elaborate :)
@@locky2562 They don't though. They'll brake and then, at the last moment, flick it in. If you're skidding under braking, you're losing time.
@Hypersonik I don't mean skidding or drifting in the traditional sense. It's about letting the back end come around ever so slightly to get the ideal slip angle. There's obviously way more to it than mere mortals like us can wrap our heads around but that's the jist I got from it. There's a racing channel on YT called driver61 who sums up slip angle and the likes if you were interested
Also, lose weight. Doesn't apply to everyone but for us big guys we may have an advantage down hills but if you just want to wreck your friends on the flat track at your local Karting place don't drink a bunch of water before you get on the track. Do it an hour ahead of time to hydrate and go to the bathroom to drop the extra pound of urine. Also, lose weight in general. My causal time improved a lot when I lost ~30 lbs but so did my health as it was 333 lbs down to 294 lbs.
You was at lakeside
Yup, I visited the UK in summer. I only managed to do 3 sessions at Lakeside but it was a really fun track to drive!
6th mistake: be overweight
**cries in the corner not hugging legs because of big tummy preventing leg bending**
Reason No.6, you're to heavy, im 45kg and racing people my own age ( 60 to 70 kg ) in open session i gap so hard on the straight
Where is this?, I need to go.
Lusail Karting Track, located next to Turn 10 of the Qatar F1 🏁