KART TYRES (PT. 1) - TECHNICAL AND STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS

Gianluca Covini

07 August 2024 • 12 min. read

Winning or losing a race depends on them. More than any other component, tyres have the power to influence the performance of any wheeled vehicle in a more than significant way. However, to get the best out of them you must first of all know about them in depth. Find out how they're made and why

WHAT IS IT?

HOW DOES IT WORK?

IN PRACTICE

Tyres are, without a shadow of a doubt, the elements of karting that most of all can affect, for better or worse, performance on the track. This is true not only in karting, but also in all other categories of motorsport (both two and four wheels). In fact, as the only point of contact between the vehicle and the asphalt they have the task of transforming the inputs given by the driver (via accelerator, brake and steering) into accelerations that allow the vehicle to move along a circuit. While in production cars, as far as original equipment tyres are concerned, car manufacturers can ask tyre manufacturers to make tyres specifically designed for a vehicle, in karting it is not possible to make tyres for each individual chassis manufacturer, also because in most cases, in relation to races, the tyres are imposed by the regulations and, even when there are no restrictions, for reasons relating to costs and practical feasibility, specific ones are never made for each individual make/model of chassis. Therefore, the body, its characteristic angles and weight distribution must be designed and fine-tuned according to the tyres available or in any case according to the most common ones on the market.

A similar argument applies to the definition of the setup of a kart: also in this case the one and only purpose of a mechanic and his/her driver is to make the tyres work at their best, trying to optimise their performance and make their characteristics last as long as possible. Regardless of the driver's driving skills, therefore, only those who manage to fine-tune a kart in an optimal way and according to the use of the tyres can be successful in the competitions they are involved in. However, to do this it is first necessary to know how they are made and what the technical and structural characteristics that impact the operation of kart tyres are. All these aspects will be covered in the slides below. On the other hand, a second part of this article will be published relating to the functional characteristics of tyres, i.e. all those values, indices, parameters and aspects to be taken into account, to be checked and on which to intervene once you take to the track, in order to try to achieve the best possible performance.

“Only those who manage to fine-tune a kart in an optimal way according to the use of the tyres can be successful in the competitions in which they participate”