wedge body vs swoop body

Tires make you faster. :rolleyes:

That being said, we did not get a wedge body only because of safety. I tho't an aero body
might scoop another kart on top (we are talking less experienced drivers.)
We went w/a high side body from M&M and have used it 3yrs and it still looks decent.
The wedge I had looked at has not been made for awhile. From somewhere is TN if memory serves.
Everybody else is running the swoop.
Pick what you want and work on tires.
 
I have ran both on the same track, same kart, same day back to back and honestly only saw 2 tenths of a difference in lap times with the wedge body. This was on an open kart, 1/5 mile track, tires were more than likely the reason for the 2 tenths difference in my opinion. The only difference I noticed was that with the wedge body, I had a little better cornerspeed and didn't have to get out of the throttle as much, I'm guessing from slightly increased downforce
 
I have no real expertise in aerodynamics, but I do know this, the faster you go the harder it is to go faster. If you were comparing running no body to running with a body, I could see it making some difference, but the difference between two different bodies, at those speeds, I have my doubts, especially on dirt.

Tell me what would happen if you went out in practice 1, got some times, and those times would have to be all within 1/10 of each other, then go out in the next practice, with no changes, and tell me if you can run identical laps compared to the first practice?

Tell me something else; if one body was better than the other body, I would think the difference would show up more on the top end than anyplace else. Tell me how much the rpm increased with the faster body? If one body was better than the other, it would have to be going faster, and turning more RPM.
 
alvin l nunley said:
I have no real expertise in aerodynamics, but I do know this, the faster you go the harder it is to go faster. If you were comparing running no body to running with a body, I could see it making some difference, but the difference between two different bodies, at those speeds, I have my doubts, especially on dirt.


Tell me what would happen if you went out in practice 1, got some times, and those times would have to be all within 1/10 of each other, then go out in the next practice, with no changes, and tell me if you can run identical laps compared to the first practice?

Tell me something else; if one body was better than the other body, I would think the difference would show up more on the top end than anyplace else. Tell me how much the rpm increased with the faster body? If one body was better than the other, it would have to be going faster, and turning more RPM.
Click to expand...

If you are on the right setup, and the track is anywhere near decent shape, you will almost always practice, then get faster the next time out because dirt tracks are almost always changing. Most good racers already turn laps that are consistently within 1/10 of a second apart in lap times. Someone who is on top of their game with the right setup for a given track, right tire choices and prep choices, and right gearing choices each time out will usually practice and get a baseline lap time, and each time they go out after that, their lap times will be faster. Now that does not mean their lap times will always get faster, dirt tracks usually do get to a point where they stop getting faster and start getting slower, or start falling off as we call it in dirt racing Al. Gearing, tire selection, and chassis setup plays a huge role in lap times on dirt...rarely will anyone who is fast or winning races be turning within half a second of their practice lap times after the feature/main races are over on dirt tracks unless the race for example were to start early in the day and go on until 2-3am the next morning, which actually does happen more often than you might think, especially at big shows with 200+ kart counts....at races like that you may see lap times start off at say 15 second lap times and proceed to get faster up to say 12-13 second lap times mid day or late afternoon, then once sun goes down start getting slower and creeping back up closer to 14 or even 15 sec times again. Hope this makes sense and gives a little perspective into dirt racing for you
 
I wish all classes would run wedges, they are just simply much cooler looking, and they take me back to the time when the wedge bodies were the norm in dirt late model racing..... :)
 
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