A chassis is the most important part of a kart as all the mountings are mounted on it. Chassis are easily available online as there are very few distributors in India. The racing kart chassis is specially designed to withstand the top speeds of go karts as well as the immense amount of pressure being put on the frame when taking corners at top speed. These frames can cost anywhere from Rs. 1.75 lacs to Rs. 5 lacs brand new.
Chassis
A chassis is built on steel hollow tubes. They do not have any kind of suspension system, so they have to work as a suspension. Also they should be stiff enough not to break down on a turn. The stiffness of a chassis enables different handling characteristics for different circumstances. Typically, for dry conditions a stiffer chassis is preferable, while in wet or other poor traction conditions, a more flexible chassis works better. The best chassis allow for stiffening bars at the rear, front and side to be added or removed according to race conditions. Professionally raced karts typically weigh 75 kg to 79 kg, without a driver.
A basic chassis of a kart looks like the figure shown above. Mountings such as engine, fuel tank, brakes, etc. are later assembled on the chassis.
'Caged', 'Open', ‘Straight’ and ‘Offset’ are types of chassis available in the USA. All CIK-FIA approved chassis are 'Straight' and 'Open'. Caged karts have a roll cage surrounding the driver; they are mostly used on dirt tracks. Open karts have no roll cage and are mostly used in world championships. In Straight chassis the driver sits in the centre; they are used for sprint racing. In Offset chassis the driver sits on the left side. Offset chassis are used for left-turn-only speedway racing. Karts used in Asian and European championships are always Open chassis.
Let us discuss the mountings, which are fitted on the chassis, in brief.
Rims and Hub
The hubs are attached to the ends of the axle. In the figure above, there are only rims, which are bolted onto the hubs. Obviously, during a race, these rims will have tires on them. Rims are casted in a number of different composites including magnesium and aluminium. Hubs can also be made of different materials. Therefore, various brands differ in durability and weight of the kart.
Seat Mounts
Figure shows the position of a seat mount on a chassis. The steering wheel is attached to the front axle. The position of a kart driver is such that the steering wheel is in between his legs. This gives a better steering experience as the position of the driver is in the centre of the kart.
Throttle and Brake Peddles
Each of these peddles are located at the front of a racing kart. The brake is located on the left and the throttle is located on the right. It is noted that while driving a kart, these peddles should never be used at the same time for safety reasons. Braking is achieved by a disc brake mounted on the rear axle. Front disc brakes are increasingly popular; however, certain classes do not allow them.
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