Kart Quick Start Learning Guide
Get started on your race car project today with this Quick Start Learning Guide to help you choose books that will provide the best initial value, information and guidance.
Tips On Choosing Kart Books
Most karts used in alphalt or dirt racing are available in bare chassis form (requiring a build assembly with other purchased components). Others choose to build their own chassis to exploit characteristics like flex using their own approach. Regardless of the approach, there are numerous books on driving and karts, but none that we’re aware of on the concept of competitive kart chassis design.
Therefore, we suggest starting with a comprehensive kart driving/purchasing/setup/maintenance book as it will provide good insights into all these areas and help later in designing, building and racing.
If you are interested in building your own chassis, we suggest learning the vehicle dynamics of karting from a preparation/setup book and potentially general vehicle dynamics. We would also suggest studying existing kart designs, materials and components and metal fabrication techniques.
| Book Category | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chassis |  Chassis Engineering: Chassis Design, Building & Tuning for High Performance Handling  (4.5 / 5)Chassis Engineering is a great introduction to race car design. In a practical and down-to-earth way, it covers the fundamentals of how race cars handle and the requirements for designing and constructing a car. The book includes chapters on chassis design, suspension design, frame construction, aerodynamics and tuning. Overall it provides the reader with the foundation of how the key components of a race car work and interact together. Get "Chassis Engineering: Chassis Design, Building & Tuning for High Performance Handling":    | |||
| Driving |  Kart Driving Techniques (4.5 / 5)Teaches kart driving techniques. Covers cornering dynamics, lines, approaches to braking, prioritizing the corners of the circuit as well as race craft and mental preparedness/approach. Special chapters on Shifter karts and oval racing techniques are also included. Get "Kart Driving Techniques": | |||
| Fasteners/Joining |  Carroll Smith's Nuts, Bolts, Fasteners and Plumbing Handbook  (5 / 5)Teaches how to use the correct fasteners and fastener materials. This book includes extensive information on fatigue properties, joints, mounts, and vehicle plumbing. Get "Carroll Smith's Nuts, Bolts, Fasteners and Plumbing Handbook": | |||
| Fasteners/Joining |  High Performance Hardware: Fastener Technology for Racers and Enthusiasts  (4 / 5)High performance hardware provides both theory and extensive practical information on hardware and fasteners. It covers material properties that relate to fasteners as well as pretty much every type of fastener used on a race vehicle. Get "High Performance Hardware: Fastener Technology for Racers and Enthusiasts": | |||
| General |  The A-Z of Grand Prix Cars (4 / 5)For builders of pre-WWII styled Cyclekarts and vintage Grand Prix race cars, this book includes every car made from 1906 to 2000, including one-off manufacturers. Also includes information on how technical regulations have evolved and alphabetic listing of every manufacturer. Get "The A-Z of Grand Prix Cars": | |||
| Interior |  Custom Auto Interiors (4.5 / 5)Step by step guide on creating custom auto interiors. Includes over 800 color photographs and instructions to guide builders through the process and techniques. Get "Custom Auto Interiors": | |||
| Materials/Fabrication |  Advanced Automotive Welding (5 / 5)Advanced Automotive welding teaches basic and advanced welding skills specifically geared toward race car construction. Joint types, metal types, and welding processes such as TIG, MIG, oxy-acetylene and stick welding are covered. Includes projects such as roll cage, seat supports, floor pan and others. Get "Advanced Automotive Welding": | |||
| Materials/Fabrication |  Fiberglass & Other Composite Materials: A Guide to High Performance Non-Metallic Materials for Race Cars, Street Rods, Body Shops, Boats, and Aircraft. (4 / 5)Forbes Aird's guide to composites. Includes sections on (FRP) fiber reinforced plastic basics (Fibers/Resins), basic layup techniques, advanced layup techniques as well as molds, plugs, tools and equipment. Also includes a chapter on FRP sandwich construction. Get "Fiberglass & Other Composite Materials: A Guide to High Performance Non-Metallic Materials for Race Cars, Street Rods, Body Shops, Boats, and Aircraft.": | |||
| Materials/Fabrication |  How To Weld (4.5 / 5)A complete guide for beginner welders on the history, safety, equipment and techniques for welding. The book covers metal fabrication tools, types and properties of metals, welding joint designs, gas welding, brazing, arc welding (MIG, TIG, stick) and cutting. It also includes sample exercises to help the reader practice what they have learned. Get "How To Weld": | |||
| Materials/Fabrication |  Metal Fabricator's Handbook (4 / 5)Teaches welding techniques, metal forming, hammerforming and practical metal fabrication projects. Project include forming custom body panels, tanks, roll cages/safety cells and exhaust headers. Get "Metal Fabricator's Handbook": | |||
| Materials/Fabrication |  Racer's Encyclopedia of Metals, Fibers and Materials (5 / 5)Provides introductory and more advanced information about metals, metal fatigue, composite fibers and the uses of a wide variety of materials in race cars. Get "Racer's Encyclopedia of Metals, Fibers and Materials": | |||
| Materials/Fabrication |  Welder's Handbook : A Guide to Plasma Cutting, Oxyacetylene, ARC, MIG and TIG Welding (4 / 5)Teaches the essentials of fabricating with metals including metal properties, welding equipment, jigs, welding safety, brazing, cutting, and forming. The book goes into details on types of welding as well as consumables, fluxes and sample projects to practice with. Get "Welder's Handbook : A Guide to Plasma Cutting, Oxyacetylene, ARC, MIG and TIG Welding": | |||
| Whole Car (Design) |  Race Car Engineering & Mechanics (5 / 5)Paul Van Valkenburgh's guide to understanding how the many components of the entire race car fit and work together. He provides design theory and practical information on tires, wheels, suspension geometry, springs, anti-roll bars, brakes, aerodynamics, handling, engine supports, chassis, safety and even racing operations such as testing and pit lane procedures. Get "Race Car Engineering & Mechanics": | |||
| Whole Car (Preparation) |  Kart Chassis Setup Technology (4.5 / 5)Racing kart handling/dynamics, setup and tuning. Covers a large number of performance related areas such as chassis weight distribution/transfer and geometry as well as the setup for track conditions, dirt and asphalt track types, and engine types plus more. Get "Kart Chassis Setup Technology": | |||
| Whole Car (Preparation) |  Karting! A Complete Introduction (5 / 5)Karting information for new and prospective karters and their parents. The Complete Introduction looks at US and Canadian karting scenes. It offers information on choosing a class, chassis and engine as well as buying safety gear. Advice is also offered on dealing with kart shops, buying used and how to save money. Get "Karting! A Complete Introduction": | |||
| Whole Car (Preparation) |  Sprint Karting: A Complete Beginner's Guide (4.5 / 5)An introductory book for new karters it covers basic chassis, engine, and race preparation as well as maintenance. Get "Sprint Karting: A Complete Beginner's Guide": |
More Information
For complete information on the design and construction of the Kart race car type and a full listing of books and learning resources, see our Kart race car type article.