how about mounting the motor and seat over rubber mounts to reduce the vibration that wears out the driver so much during a race?

Augusto.

we already use rubber grommets for our seats, not quite sure how it would work on a motor mount

Augusto
All the 2 cycle sprint karts I've used tell you NOT to use rubber washers when mounting the seat . It changes how the kart works. I use hard plastic spacers. And yes the vibration in pace laps with a TAG is really BAD. But when they wave the rag , all that is forgotten !!!
Walt

Walt

You are correct about that but I'm thinking of a more relaxed master class where a couple of thents could be very well sacrified for a more comfortable ride, there comes a time when driving and watching the race from a driver's seat is more fun than staying up front with an inmense pressure, sure winning is great but if I already have an onboard starter why not having more creature comforts?... just in case I will not add cupholders in the future... or maybe...??

I think it's time for my customers to start winning races, this is good for the sport and of course for my bussines, if I always win, they will take their karts somewhere else, rigth? (fair is to say also that the youngsters are very hard to beat latelly, they definitely have better reflexes, admiting it is part of being mature)

I was thinking of sandwiching a piece of flat rubber between the motor and the base to cushion it a bit but not allowing it to move sideways upseting the chain's alignment, the bolts would have to use rubber washers as well.

as for the seat, a thick foam upholstery and rubber washers will do it.

I wonder if someone ever done this?

Augusto.

Most all rear engine karts of the past used Unimounts and Swing mounts which used rubber groments and the swing mounts also used springs in the front part of the mount. You could tighten the the front bolts where the springs where located to control how much cushioning you got. No problems that I know of. They are still running that way today on the rear engined Vintage karts.

__________________
Bill Johnson
Mac Daddy Racing Engines
Vintage McCulloch Engines
Vintage Laydown Enduro Karts

so that's why they mounted the engines over the axles in bearings? I never undertood why they did that.

Augusto.

I recall a fellow racer several years ago when I was sprint racing used stiff rubber belting material to suspend his seat with. He said it made for a nice soft ride but he could never figure why he snapped loose half way thru a turn.... go figure. ..... Jim

Augusto, my sprint kart from the early 90s came with rubber washers in the seat, maybe that old chassis were different, but it was not uncommon in FIA classes at that time. The engine is a different story. Anyway with today's chassis I think it would mean much more than some tenths, weight transfer would be really affected and make the kart very unpredictable IMO. In fact I still try that kind of things in Europe during summer, and anything that makes it more confortable makes it much slower, with the exception of the seat. They used to sell seats padded, they were just more expensive, and I padded mine since I started racing. As long as you are sensitive enough to feel the kart with the padding that's OK, it shouldn't affect the ride. There is a very interesting book about F1 by Alain Prost, probably the most interesting book I've ever read about racing, where he talks about the reasons for not padding an F1 and how you could feel the vehicle by basically seating on the floor and being part of the vehicle. That;s the reason they custom build the seats for an F1, so they can use no padding to have a better feeling and at the same time not being hurt by fitting perfect on them. Other people I know they just fix some padding on the sides, like the one used for insulation that you use for camping under your sleeping bag.

Michael Shumacher also said once that the seat belt must tigthtened until it hurts... but I'm not after the world championship, I think I'm gonna give it a try and since there is nothing that I can't reverse there is nothing to loose but some time and elbow grease, I'll post how it went. Thanks

Augusto.

I use rubber 1/4-1/2 spacer to mount the seat on my 08 legend and have found on a flat loose track it works great. I also left it the same for the big track this last summer but it was the first time I tried and also found to work well. My belief is that you can tune your chassis with how tight the seat is just like loosing the front bumper and nerfs it has worked like any other adjustment if you go to far its not going to work but it does help a little with vibration. This is on a dirt kart I know you some of you are talking about asphalt but i would not be afraid to try it.

I have been doing that for at least the last 20 years. LIttle 1/2 thick rubber grouments on all 4 seat mounts. Makes all the difference in the world.

#9

hey #9 ....you drill holes in them too?

On asphalt roadcourses when it rains you are suppose to loosen all the struts that tie the seat to the chassis, that's why in Europe we use locknuts instead of wire or double nuts. The you also loosen bumpers and other bars (some are even removed) to make the chassis flex on a wet track and get extra grip. On a dry track it is just he opposite.

that's because your euro tracks have lots of grip due to rubber laid down, our tracks have very little grip and behave like wet, we set our chassis very loose, torsion bars loose or removed, loose bumpers, loose nerf bars and no extra struts from the seat to the bearings, also 50mm axles don't work here.

Augusto.

so I should take my old Arisco chassis from Spain to your tracks, lol. In Europe you need the 50mm axle at most tracks.

I make fun and rental karts with 1 inch solid axles and they work great in our slippery asphalt, I laugh when I can corner faster in one of them than some friends with big 50mm axles and they wonder why this happens.

Augusto, it might also be some of your friend scan set up a modern chassis for the rain. Birel are pretty difficult to set up, but some others are much easier and if you set them right they'll finish being faster. Best laptime at the track I practice by Alonso is like 36 seconds something, while in my racing times in the 90s was a high 38 seconds, and nowadays even pouring the laptimes of some factory drivers with new chassis can't be reach with an old chassis, you just need a very good driver on a new chassis, and of course rain tires and wheels, I don't know if you are using them over there. I also tried solid axles. Anyway you know there are many kinds of 50mm axles top teams use depending on the track. I promise you if you get there a factory team from Italy with their mechanics and engineers it won't take long before they can run very very fast. They would try 10 different axles if they need to.

and 10 motors and 10 chassis also, the show should be worthwhile.

usually the best drivers are not the ones who can steer better but the ones who can set the chassis correct, or tell their mechanics what and how to do it, Alonso and Shumi are well known by this virtue.

Augusto.

Right Augusto, montoya is as fast as Michael and Fernando, but a dummy when it comes to test, and also very lazy. I bet Ferrari is gonna fly, just a pity alonso won't have much time to Test, but after some time (it might be for the second season driving for them I bet they will be unbeatable).

I hope God listens to you, ferrari was a big disapointment when Felipe got hurt and I never liked Kimi that much, I also hope Fernando and Felipe don't end up figthing for positions and ending up mowing the grass, can't wait till march the 14th to see what happens

Fernando is a much better driver than Massa, Massa can be fast from time to time but he is inconsistent and hasn't shown to be a good test driver even with the help of the best ever, Michael. The real question should be how far is Michael going to go to help Fernando? If they work together we might be having the strongest team ever, believe me. Kimi could be as good as them, but he had no discipline at all and is not a good test driver, he doesn't like testing just as Montoya doesn't either.