Comment by xanderlewis
2 years ago
Why would the top speed be lower? Because of increased friction with the ground due to the weight? Ignoring friction, I think what I said would be true.
I hadn’t actually thought about it before but as an incredibly skinny person what you said lines up with my experience in a kart. I could seemingly go slightly faster than others but more easily span off and lost control.
Given two equal karts I guess top speed would be the same but most courses don't have long enough straights to let you reach full speed.
When I wrote that comment I was thinking one might tune the kart for the driver to make up for lack of acceleration which would reduce top speed.
Actually, I'm talking rubbish since without friction there wouldn't even be a top speed. It's true that having a high top speed is only useful if you have enough time to accelerate up to it!