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TKART magazine Tech Talk | The toe
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THE TOE

TKART Staff
22 January 2016
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Toe is a fundamental parameter of kart performance that affects how corner entry handling, straight-line speed and tire wear
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The toe is the angle formed between front wheels and the kart’s longitudinal axis. This angle is responsible for how fast the kart goes on straights, how it handles corner entry, and how tires wear.
Taking the distance between the front tires and that between the rear tires, toe angle can be calculated based on this formula:
TgA = (Lf – Lr)/2/ D
A = arctg ((Lf – Lr)/2/D)

TgA is the tangent of the toe angle; Lf and Lr are front and rear distance

between tires; D is tire wheel diameter.
Math aside, measuring toe by using alignment discs on the front hubs instead yields more precise and effective results.
Toe-out (negative toe angle) is when front tires are farther apart compared to rear tires, i.e. they are angled outwards. Vice versa, toe-in (positive toe angle) is when they are closer together than rear tires, i.e. they are angled inwards. Zero toe is when Lf = Lr, i.e. front tires are perfectlty parallel to the kart, just like rear tires.

THE STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS RESPONSIBLE FOR TOE ARE THE STEERING RODS, WHICH CONNECT THE STUB AXLES TO THE STEERING COLUMN
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