Kart Racing Parts

Kart racing (as the word is so spelled by enthusiasts) or karting is a variant of open-wheeler motor sport with simple, small four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts depending on the design. more...

By definition a kart must have no suspension (relying on chassis flex), and no differential (solid back axle). They are usually raced on scaled-down tracks, but are sometimes driven as entertainment or as a hobby by non-professionals. Karting is commonly perceived as the stepping stone to the higher and more expensive ranks of motorsports.

Karts were initially created in the United States in the 1950s post-war period by airmen as a way to pass spare time. Art Ingels is generally accepted to be the father of karting. He built the first kart in Southern California in 1956. Karting has rapidly spread to other countries, and it currently has a large following in Europe.

Components

Chassis

The chassis is an extremely important element of the kart, as it must provide, via flex, the equivalent of suspension to give good grip at the front, and must be stiff enough to enable the inside rear wheel to unload in corners. If this did not happen, the grip of the rear wheels trying Kart chassis are also classified as 'open' or 'caged'. Caged karts have a roll cage surrounding the driver, and open karts have no roll cage. Caged karts are not used in Europe.

The stiffness of the chassis enables different handling characteristics for different circumstances. Typically, for dry conditions a stiffer chassis is preferable, while in wet or other poor traction conditions, a more flexible chassis is better- for some karts. For other classes / driving styles, there will be stiffening bars on the kart which are done up tightly for dry and loosened to give more flex for wet conditions. Further complications can be added by changing floorpan materials / fastenings to change the effective stiffness of the chassis.

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