Same stagger different diameter rear tires changes rear ride height and where weight moving to the right when turning is aimed.
Brian isn't what's being talked about the same as if it may be better to put a larger LR on or a smaller RR when a track slicks up and you need to reduce stagger?
Same stagger but do you get there with a larger LR or a smaller RR???
Isn't it also about one of the main difference way back when when you could either run Hoosiers or American Racers with the American Racers generally being not as tall???????
The same principles apply, sure, but with a suspended sprint car you're really changing the roll center with the jacobs ladder. If you've noticed over the last few years, most chassis companies have added spuds to the frame to kick out the ladder and offer some adjustability. Most ladder manufacturers have added pick-up points to their ladders as well. This can be used to free the car up to run on a big cushion or to plant the right rear harder on dry slick tracks. Then you get into the angles of the rear arms and radius rods and timing of the bird cages to drive the car forward. There are so many tuning options available on a sprint car (even more on a dirt latemodel) that simply are not available on a fixed suspension kart. Even still, the ride height is very important on a sprint car. Where you have to (per rules) run a smaller RR tire, you do what you can to accommodate that spec tire - one such tire is the 100" RR used in a Michigan series. Between the McCreary and Hoosier, there was never that much difference in size. The McCreary were 103-104," whereas the Hoosier was 104-105." Still something to consider, but certainly not as big of a deal as some made it out to be. You just adjust your ride height at the stops and keep your arms and rear radius rods where you want them. If you're split height is 15 1/2", then you're only looking a half turn on the stops for a 1" different circumference tire. Most drivers can't feel the difference of 1/2 turn on the stop adjusters, especially with used bars that are not as sharp as new ones. I think guys started figuring this out when blocking their cars and they weren't attaining the ride height that they should. The bar raters (dynos) came about and they saw just how much used bars drop off in spring rate over time. Something most of us knew, but now you have quantitative values to put with them. Then throw in the difference of weight of cars - either running 290# engines or nearly 600# engines. Even drivers at 120# soaking wet vs 200# driver. Weight definitely has an affect on ride heights. You can see the need to block the car differently when running a 410 vs a 305 or 360 based just on the weight of the engine alone.
With a kart, we don't have that suspension to work with, so to change the center of gravity, we're stuck with changing ride height (done in very small increments) or raising weight in the car (done very easily with a driver that weighs as much or more than the chassis.) If I get to a kart track that is going to be no bite at all and I need to get the right side tires in the track (beyond normal conditions where we'd make minor air adjustments, etc) then I've got a second set of holes drilled in the rear of the seat to raise the entire seat up 1." (I use rubber grommets in the front.) This raises the CoG considerably and nails the right side tires harder at entry. I'd rather do it that way than to change the ride height of the car. If, by going to smaller right sides, you were taking tilt out, that would help get the right sides in the track better, BUT, if the stagger needs to remain the same, that means that the lefts sides also need to be smaller - thus tilt remains the same.
I can't speak for all manufacturers, but I'd suggest that most would agree that you want to keep the kart's ride height based off of 34" right side tires. Of course, nothing is set in stone, but the more consistent you are (removing extra variables such as ride height) the more predictable the kart's performance will be when you make small adjustments.
All good coffee discussion.
