Help with understanding gearing

D

dcRacing85

Member
Hi everyone,

Returned to karting this year after a decade away, and it seems I'm still just as clueless as before when it comes to gearing. Started off this past weekend with a 16-62 setup, ran it in single kart and group practice, was noticeably off the pace, but not too awful. Mind you too, it was only my second race in this kart and first at this track. For second practice I dropped the rear gear to a 60. Felt a little quicker, but tough to really say. Dropped it to a 58 rear for the heat. Stayed tighter to the pack, and passed a kart. Was going to try dropping down a 56 for the feature, but one of the competitors suggested I go to a 61 rear. Lost a lap and was running by myself the entire 25 laps. I would like to point out too that I am a lot heavier than the rest of the competition. With no added lead, my kart comes in around 444lbs for a 425lb minimum division. With that being said, I'm stumped.
Should I try starting out next week with a lower rear gear, say the 56 I was going to try? Do I try matching the ratio (3.81) for the 16-61 setup with a 15 tooth driver and 57 rear (3.80)? Handling wise, the kart felt very smooth. There is some fine tuning to be done, but overall drove great.

Looking for some ideas. Thank you for taking the time to read.

ADDED: Senior Champ with a black side Lo206 motor
 
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Did he realize you were on a 16 front driver when he told you a 61 rear ? 16 front driver is pretty big for AVG Kart track size for a Champ do you know how big the track is ? and how tight are the turns how much off the throttle ? Sounds like you don't have a tach ?
NO If the 16/61 was No where close trying to match same ratio with a 15 front is not the answer.
 
He asked what I was running for a front driver, I told him 16. 1/5 mile track, turns are fairly wide and very banked. Running wide open. I've got a Mychron4, but I'm still not very good with using it or knowing how to recall. It was reading around 2900 at the end of the stretch, but that seems extremely low.

Added: I'm looking over the Mychron manual now and I may have my RPM lead setup wrong on the spark plug wire end
 
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dcRacing85 said:
He asked what I was running for a front driver, I told him 16. 1/5 mile track, turns are fairly wide and very banked. Running wide open. I've got a Mychron4, but I'm still not very good with using it or knowing how to recall. It was reading around 2900 at the end of the stretch, but that seems extremely low.
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Ya something a miss with the tach, what R.P.M would you like to see ? I'm not up on the LO 206 But a 16/56 don't sound close either can't believe the 206 would vary that much from a Reg Animal which on a 1/5th mile would be like a 15/66, hopefully someone with 206 experience that might know the track will chime in.
Which track is it ?
 
racing promotor said:
Ya something a miss with the tach, what R.P.M would you like to see ? I'm not up on the LO 206 But a 16/56 don't sound close either can't believe the 206 would vary that much from a Reg Animal which on a 1/5th mile would be like a 15/66, hopefully someone with 206 experience that might know the track will chime in.
Which track is it ?
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Ideally I'd like to be as close to 6100 as possible by the end of the stretch, that's the rev limiter. This is 106 Racepark in New Hampshire
 
With the mychron . Even setup as it was , double that 2900 is 5800 so your real close on rpm.
Is this asphalt.
 
When I saw North East I was getting ready to ask what flattop confirmed, I was giving reference as dirt I should of clarified that earlier, I'm no asphalt guy either but still cannot imagine a 16/56 where you were heading, would turn 5800 RPM on a 1/5th mile.

Good Luck !!
 
Just keep adding teeth to the rear until you hit the rev limiter where you want to on the track.
Then you can fine tune it from there.
 
If you are making better lap times in whatever direction you change gears you are going in the right direction. Listen to your lap times not your competitors.
RPM does not equate to better lap times in all cases.
 
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