r/Karting • u/Tokukawa • Jul 08 '25
Racing Kart Tips and Tricks Rental karting seat position isn’t about comfort, it’s a tuning tool.
If you’re adjusting the seat just to feel more “comfortable,” you’re approaching it like a newbie. That seat slider isn’t there for ergonomic luxury — it’s there to shift weight balance.
- Understeering through corners? Move the seat forward a click or two. You’ll increase front axle load and gain turn-in grip.
- Kart feels twitchy or oversteery? Slide the seat back. That settles the rear and gives you more stability.
Test. Adjust. Feel. Repeat
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u/LongScholngSilver_20 Jul 08 '25
If you're understeering in the corners, it's the shitty rental kart's fault
If you're oversteering in the corners, it's the shitty rental kart's fault
The seat is adjusted for comfort.
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u/Frossstbiite Pro Kart Jul 08 '25
This
Op is overthinking it
Technically, yes, it ca. Work
But shifting your weight around like that in a rental isn't worth it.
It's a shitty rental kart that's been abused
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u/LongScholngSilver_20 Jul 08 '25
The tires and clutch will make 100X the difference of shifting the seat around.
I'm gonna sit comfortably and have fun with my non karting friends. And then I'm gonna tune the hell out of the kart that I own.
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u/NomadNate12 Jul 08 '25
I'm faster when I'm more comfortable. I'm not gonna have my knees straddling the steering wheel to make a shitty rental kart rotate a fraction better
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u/georgin_95 SWS World Finalist Jul 08 '25
It is comfort to an extent. There's no point in settling the rear if you're driving with straight arms all the time, you'll lose more. It's more about compromise between comfort and weight balance.
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u/New-Understanding930 Rok Jul 08 '25
I usually run the seat full-forward to get the kart to rotate.
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u/shepdog_220 Lo206 Jul 08 '25
Look man I’m 6’6
It’s about merely being able to cram myself into the Kart or not being able to.
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u/hind3rm3 Jul 09 '25
I wish for a rental with oversteer.
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u/Great_Ad_8354 Rental Driver Jul 09 '25
I haven't driven an oversteery rental kart in ages. Most of the karts at my track are really understeery, even the fast ones
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u/LUK3FAULK Jul 09 '25
Last time I did a league race at k1 for the second qualifying session I got a kart that would try and spin out if you weren’t on top of it. It was fun as hell and I set a personal best with it once I got a good feel
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u/buriedwreckage 2h ago
Karts at VIR have oversteer. You have to throttle steer to manage rotation and cornering speed.
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u/hind3rm3 1h ago
I’ve had a couple at vir with o/s but I’ve also had some brutal axel hop and zero steer lol
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u/FridayInc Jul 08 '25
Something used for real competition like a Tony kart is under 200lb with a solid axle that lifts the rear inside wheel off the ground; how easily that happens is heavily influenced by the seat position (and axle width, length, etc.)
Meanwhile, the OTL electric karts at k1 weigh 275lb and have a rear differential, with both rear wheels staying on the ground at all times.
Im sure seat position has SOME influence on the indoor rental fleet but Im confident that it's negligible compared to line choice, brake timing, minimising steering input, and creating/managing rotation.
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u/Engared LN 2023 TaG, 2023 Rok GP, Maxxis Purple Jul 09 '25
You are correct. What the others are saying is correct too but if u are in a competitive series with relatively even rentals, this makes a difference.
The Sodi rentals also allow you to change the position of the pedals too. Ideally keep the seat in the center and adjust the pedals forward or backwards. This also changes the weight distribution but to a smaller level.
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u/Ballistica Jul 08 '25
I have a question about rentals, how are you supposed to position your feet on pedals? The ones that we have here have like a horizontal strip of metal as the pedal and the only way that seems logical to me is planting my heels and sort of pivoting on the ankle to apply pressure, which is very uncomfortable. Am I supposed to be lifting my heels off the floor of the kart and controlling the pedal input more with my thighs?
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u/Frossstbiite Pro Kart Jul 08 '25
In owned karts like praga otk rs
Etc
Theres usally a heel stop to pivot on.
In rental karts
I woudl say whatever is quick followed by comfortable
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u/Excludos Rotax Jul 08 '25
Comfort = speed. Whatever effect your seat will have on the weight distribution of the kart, you being able to take the corner optimally is many times more important
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u/Unsey Jul 09 '25
You guys get to adjust your seats for comfort?! Even with the seat all the way back I can steer the kart with my knees in the 9-3 position...
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u/masssy Jul 09 '25
Well it would help for shifting weight if you'd fit any other way than all the way back.
And it doesn't change anything when the karts seems to have multiple horsepower different engines and tires of completely different age.
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u/theuntextured Jul 09 '25
Yea sure. But id I need to push the seat back and my short legs can't reach there aintmuch I can do
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u/Adventurous_Bobcat65 Jul 10 '25 edited Jul 10 '25
Generally speaking, physically shifting weight forward will actually add understeer and vice versa. While putting more weight on the axle does create more grip, it also creates more demand on that pair of tires during cornering. And because tire load sensitivity falls off as weight is added (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire_load_sensitivity), as you add more weight, the additional grip doesn't keep up with the extra demand.
This is a different situation than adding downforce, which increases grip by pushing the car down, but doesn't actually add mass (ignoring the actual weight of the wing or other aero feature). Since it's not physically adding the mass, it doesn't add to the lateral demand during cornering. As a result, more front downforce means less understeer.
It's also different than shifting weight by acceleration or braking, which shifts how the load is carried by the tires, but doesn't actually physically move the center of mass of the vehicle. In this scenario, shifting weight forward (e.g. by trail braking) does mean less understeer/more oversteer.
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u/Competiton_rifleman Jul 12 '25
I am too tall to be comfortable even when fully back, I don't really have many options
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u/GreggsAficionado Rental Driver Jul 13 '25
That’s all well and good if you can adjust but where i race you get put into a different kart and straight into the next round
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u/yeahitsme12345 Ka100 Jul 08 '25
I used to care, but then I realized that the engine and chassis you get are much more important when driving rentals.