Big tube vs little tube chassis's?

Newbie question. What is the difference? I'm thinking it's the tubes at the front end of the chassis. Big track vs. little tracks.
 
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Its the whole RS rail, front hoop remains 1 1/4, RS rail is 1 3/8 with a thinner wall.
Either can be fast on any type of track, and any age class.
 
Understand that I'm no expert on the subject, but as I understand it, stiffness of a tube is determined by the wall thickness and the diameter of the tube.
If I was building the kart, and was thinking of changing the diameter and/or thickness of the wall, I'm thinking driver weight would be a big determining factor. I have a hard time imagining a kart being just exactly right for both a heavy and a light driver or for any kind of racing surface.
Tube diameter--- the stiffness squares as he diameter increases.
Tube wall thickness--- the stiffness is linear as the wall thickness increases.
 
Theoretically if I have it correct,

Small tube chassis are typically used by junior drivers who don't weigh enough to get the chassis to react or for adults who race on tracks with medium or less than optimal bite and need more mechanical bite in the chassis. These chassis also usually measure *slightly* differently in width and wheelbase than their big tube counterpart.

There is a fine line where a weight class is too heavy for a small tube chassis, usually around 385-400. At that point the chassis will feel dead and may not respond to small adjustments.
 
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Theoretically if I have it correct,

Small tube chassis are typically used by junior drivers who don't weigh enough to get the chassis to react or for adults who race on tracks with medium or less than optimal bite and need more mechanical bite in the chassis. These chassis also usually measure *slightly* differently in width and wheelbase than their big tube counterpart.

There is a fine line where a weight class is too heavy for a small tube chassis, usually around 385-400. At that point the chassis will feel dead and may not respond to small adjustments.
not true at all, there was a time we all raced 1 1/8 chassis, 1 1/4 tube chassis have been the standard for kart chassis from about 1999.
somewhere about 2006 1 3/8 RS rail kart started being built/played with.
They are the same width and wheelbase are the same as others, there are chassis rules that have to be followed, the only difference is the right side rail is 1 3/8 but has a thinner wall than the 1 1/4.
My son won plenty of races on both chassis, big hp on a super hard calcium track is probably the only place to see a difference, and even then its minuscule, kart manufacturers have to do things a little different to continue sales, a top chassis builder said he could put some kind of a little trinket on a chassis and sell them like crazy
 
not true at all, there was a time we all raced 1 1/8 chassis, 1 1/4 tube chassis have been the standard for kart chassis from about 1999.
somewhere about 2006 1 3/8 RS rail kart started being built/played with.
They are the same width and wheelbase are the same as others, there are chassis rules that have to be followed, the only difference is the right side rail is 1 3/8 but has a thinner wall than the 1 1/4.
My son won plenty of races on both chassis, big hp on a super hard calcium track is probably the only place to see a difference, and even then its minuscule, kart manufacturers have to do things a little different to continue sales, a top chassis builder said he could put some kind of a little trinket on a chassis and sell them like crazy

I wouldn't say thats the gospel or really explains why Triton Jr's, Cadets or other small tubes are being made and drivers have been successful on low to mediocre bite tracks. Gimmicks happen but I don't think this recent trend is one of them.
 
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I wouldn't say thats the gospel or really explains why Triton Jr's, Cadets or other small tubes are being made and drivers have been successful on low to mediocre bite tracks. Gimmicks happen but I don't think this recent trend is one of them.
And thats what they hope you think
 
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