6 Key Areas To Look At For Kart Side Bite

Side bite is a crucial element of your kart’s handling. However, it can be difficult to fine-tune your side bite to be at an optimum level. This is because there are just so many ways of adjusting it, so it’s key to understand where to look for kart side bite.

Side bite is a term used by kart drivers in reference to the amount of grip you have throughout a corner. Having a lot of side bite means that the rear of your kart has a lot of grip, but it can lead to understeer. Having less side bite is when the rear of the kart feels looser (more oversteer).

6 key areas to look at for kart side bite are:

1. Tires
2. Track width
3. Seating
4. Torsion bars
5. Axles
6. Ride height

Various factors play a part in how much side bite you need and how much you can get from your kart. This depends on the amount of grip on track, the circuit layout, and the weather conditions. Below, we go into each of the areas above in more detail.

Why Not Have As Much Kart Side Bite As Possible?

Contrary to what many beginner racers might believe, there is such a thing as having too much grip. Higher grip means higher cornering speeds, but when a track surface already has a lot of grip, karts need to have less mechanical grip to balance that. When you have too much side bite, your kart will ‘bind.’ Binding is when your kart loses momentum and cornering speed.

Too Much Side Bite

If you have ever pushed your kart in the pits and turned the steering wheel into full lock, you know how hard it becomes to push. It feels like the brakes are being clamped down and the kart doesn’t want to move. This is binding, when none of the wheels are able lift and you start to lose rotation in your kart.

Having a lot of mechanical grip as well as high track grip means that the chassis is does not flex properly. This can cause your kart to hop from mid corner all the way through to the exit of the corner. Hopping is going to cost you speed and smooth cornering.

Not Enough Side Bite

On the other end of the scale, if you have too little side bite, your kart will slide into corners. The oversteer will cause you to drift through corners, which might feel fast and look cool, but you will end up in last place!

This is why it is crucial for you to understand the concept of side bite, and why it needs to be balanced. Remember these two things:

1. If your kart is sliding too much there is not enough side bite
2. If your kart isn’t sliding enough there is too little side bite

6 Key Areas To Look At For Kart Side Bite

1. Tires

Tire pressures is the first item on this list when you’re trying to get more side bite. This is because it’s the quickest and easiest way to adjust the handling of your kart. In fact, if you go to a race weekend, you will see almost every driver next to their kart with a tire pressure gauge in their hands at some point.

Tire Pressures

Tire pressures can vary depending on weather conditions and the amount of grip on track. They can go from 10 psi all the way up to 30 psi. Generally, lower tire pressures equal more side bite due to there being a larger contact patch between the rubber and the track surface. However, tire pressures that are too low will create too much side bite and cause the kart to lift both inside wheels off the track.

There are other elements to take into consideration when adjusting tire pressures though, such as the rate at which your tires get to their optimal temperature. Decreasing your tire temperatures will mean that your tires will heat up slower, and this means it will take longer for you to reach optimum grip levels.

Tire Compounds

Tire compounds have a huge effect on your kart’s side bite levels too. Softer tires equal more grip, but these tires tend to overheat and wear out quickly. Harder tires will have the opposite effect, offering lower grip levels but they will keep temperatures down and last longer.

2. Track Width

We have discussed track width before, but that article was dedicated to your kart’s rear track width. This can really help with increasing or decreasing your side bite. It is important to only adjust one track width at a time to find your balance (i.e. front or rear), as they work in conjunction with one another and losing your balance on track width can be a nightmare to recover from.

Front Track Width

Front track width is the easiest to adjust. This can be done quickly by using the spacers behind the front wheel hubs. I often used to adjust my front track width between sessions as the grip levels on track changed. Your front track width adjusts your kart’s turn in.

Widening your front track width gives you more front-end grip and more front bite. The result is a quicker and more responsive turn in. Narrowing it gives you the opposite effect and will create less bite at the front end, which can be useful for high speed circuits.

Rear Track Width

Rear track width is where it can become confusing, because this is the opposite to the front end of the kart. Narrowing the rear track width can give you more rear bite. However, it can become too narrow and cause your kart to hop through corners.

3. Seating

Seat Position

You can adjust your kart’s seat position to change the amount of side bite you get too. The easiest adjustment to make is to increase the seat angle so that you are leaning further back. This increases the side bite of your kart because your shoulders are further back, putting more weight over the rear tires and pushing them into the track.

Setting your seat to be higher up will also give your more side bite because your centre of gravity will be higher, leading to more weight being pushed down onto the tires.

Driving Position

Driving position is another key factor that can determine how much bite you get from your kart. Many karting drivers who are just starting out struggle with their driving technique and positioning in the kart, which causes their kart to be unbalanced and unstable.

Be sure to not lean too much when cornering. Try to push your steering wheel forward rather than pulling on it in order to shift your weight further back.

4. Torsion Bars

Torsion bars can be useful in adjusting the rigidity of your kart’s chassis and in turn adjusting the amount of side bite you can get from your kart. Some newer spec Tony Kart models have an adjustable torsion bar underneath the seat. It can be adjusted vertically or horizontally.

Having the bar flat (horizontal) will free up the kart and give you less side bite. Setting the torsion bar to its vertical position will do the opposite and give you more side bite. Furthermore, these torsion bars can be customized in terms of their stiffness, and a softer bar will give less side bite, while a harder one offers more.

Front torsion bars can also be adjusted to increase or decrease your front-end bite. Stiffer settings of the torsion bars will give your more bite and a more responsive turn in. However, the kart can become more ’darty’ and have too much oversteer, so as usual there’s a balance to strike.

5. Axles

Axle stiffness also play a role in determining the amount of bite you get from your kart. Axles come in three different stiffness levels: soft, medium and hard.

Softer axles lead to less grip, but they absorb bumps on the circuit better than harder axles. They will essentially act as a shock absorber and also allow the chassis to flex more. Harder axles provide more grip as they allow the chassis to transfer weight to the outside tire and help it to dig into the track.

So, if your kart is loose through corners and you find the rear end sliding, opt for a stiffer axle to create more side bite. If your kart struggles to lift the inside rear wheel to rotate, your axle is too stiff and you will need to use a softer setting.

When racing on circuits with a lot of grip, we recommend you use a softer axle as stiffer axles will cause too much side bite and lead to your kart hopping through the corners.

6. Ride Height

Raising your ride height will have the same effect as raising your seat position. It will add more weight pushing down onto the tires and raise the centre of gravity. This will give you more side bite and higher grip levels. The consequence of having your ride height too high will be that your kart will be lifting both inside wheels off the ground.

Lowering your ride height will take away some side bite. This means that the tires will then be more prone to sliding rather than gripping onto the circuit. With this in mind, adjust your front and rear ride height according to which side of the kart you want more grip on.

Lowering your rear ride height will solve hopping by shifting weight more towards the front of the kart. Raising your rear ride height will help to reduce oversteer as your weight is pushed more onto the rear axle, increasing rear grip.

Karting Side Bite Quick Solution Guide

Adjustments to make if you have too much oversteer (not enough side bite):

• Increase rear tire pressures by 1 psi
• Tighten sidepods
• Increase torsion bar stiffness
• Narrow rear track
• Stiffer rear axle
• Lower rear ride height
• Increase seat angle
• Lower all tire pressures by 1 psi

Adjustments to make if you have too much understeer (too much side bite):

• Increase front tire pressures by 1 psi
• Loosen sidepods
• Lower torsion bar stiffness
• Widen front track width
• Lower front ride height
• Soften rear axle
• Increase all tire pressures by 1 psi

Final Thoughts

Side bite is a key element of your kart’s handling ability, but you need to find the balance in order to use it to your benefit. There are lots of ways to adjust the bite of your kart, and it will require a lot of testing in order for you to find your ideal setup. On top of that, weather conditions and grip levels on track change up what you need to do to find your balance again!