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I would like to ask you guys about a good rain setup for the Birel R32, because neither I, nor my mechanic have a clue. We’re fairly competitive on dry, but way off on a wet track. Should we set the ride height higher than normally? How wide and stiff the back and the front of the kart should be? What else needs to change? Help, because if it rains again, it’s going to be a disaster :)
2006 Englishtown Rookie of the Year
The way you set your chassis up for wet conditions, is pretty much the same for all brands. One off the best setup guides out there is the one from Arrow Karts http://www.racekarteng.com.
If you read that, you will have a much better understanding of what it takes to race in the rain. More often than not, you do not have the time to do all the changes, so what I do is widen the front, short hubs and narrow the rear, take off the seat struts, and I have a rubber mat about 1″ thick cut to fit the bottom of my seat which I sit on, that way I raise my centre of gravity.
Curious why you remove seat stays Steen?
Minus the seat stay debate, I do the same as Steen, with the addition of max caster, increase toe out, loosening side pods and front bumper bolts, and change to soft axle.
The kart needs to flex and work and with no sidebite or grip in the rain, you need to let it be soft and willing to unload the inside rear.
The amount of rain will depend on how far you go on each of these adjustments.
Driver/Coach/Wrench : Innovative Performance/Exprit
Owner : Oktane Visual - www.oktanevisual.com
www.facebook.com/oktanevisual
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TJ.
Taking off the seat struts loosens up the rear, which helps prevent understeer.
If time allows, i.e. heavy rain all day, I do a complete front end rain setup, which includes max chassis height, full caster, max ackerman, more toe out and full width as well. Basically tighten up the front, loosen up the rear with soft axle, remove seat struts, short hubs and aluminum wheels with rain tires.
What I typically do is loosen the chassis seat stays and leave the chrome ones tight. My thought is that you want to transfer as much weight as possible and try and lean on the seat to plant the outside rear in the corner.
Driver/Coach/Wrench : Innovative Performance/Exprit
Owner : Oktane Visual - www.oktanevisual.com
www.facebook.com/oktanevisual
www.instagram.com/oktanevisual
Good one, will try that the next time, a lot faster than removing seat struts.
I’ve marked the 6 holes in my seat that I use for the rain set up, which involves moving the seat forward and to a far more upright position. Because the holes are marked I can move it pretty quickly. Forward because while rear grip is nice, if you can’t turn you aint’ going anywhere, and slow on exit beats straight off the track every time. :)
Steen,
Thanks for the tips and the Arrow manual. I’ve been using it quite a bit by now, and it’s a great aid.
In general, it seems that R32 has been made for tracks with a lot of grip. Not talking about rain now, just a dry track with hardly any rubber on – I can’t get it to be close to the top guys. Whereas when there is a lot of grip, I’m a lot closer to them.
2006 Englishtown Rookie of the Year
So, been using R32 for a year now. My bottom line on this chassis (on dry track) is:
– in its neutral setup it provides less grip than say a Tony Kart, so several adjustments have to be made. In general, the more grip on the track, the better for the R32 driver.
– it is difficult to adjust, often against common sense, but it CAN be adjusted and be competitive
– going by the Arrow manual works here in general, but not always
– what worked for me is: narrow rear, seat moved back, 3 seat struts tightened, wide hubs
This is for you guys, who are considering racing it: just wanted to share my experience.
2006 Englishtown Rookie of the Year