I saw the thread about other racing types in LFS, and i was thinking about the pros and cons of having karts in LFS...
I was thinking of 2 types of kart, 100cc karts such as ICA and FA, and gearbox classes such as 250cc karts with 6 gears.
100cc karts can reach 0-60 in about 2.3 seconds, and reach a maximum of 100mph on some kart circuits. They rev up to around 21,000rpm.
Gearbox karts have 6 gears and can reach speeds of about 175mph on normal car circuits, and i beleive that they dont have chassis flex like a 100cc kart, so they would be easier to model. Their level of performance is similar to that of a Formula 3 car.
Cons:
I was thinking of 2 types of kart, 100cc karts such as ICA and FA, and gearbox classes such as 250cc karts with 6 gears.
100cc karts can reach 0-60 in about 2.3 seconds, and reach a maximum of 100mph on some kart circuits. They rev up to around 21,000rpm.
Gearbox karts have 6 gears and can reach speeds of about 175mph on normal car circuits, and i beleive that they dont have chassis flex like a 100cc kart, so they would be easier to model. Their level of performance is similar to that of a Formula 3 car.
Cons:
- Chassis flex would be hard to model
- It might take major alterations to the physics (maybe, i dont know)
- When the kart stops, it would be unrealistic to have them remaining running, so they would have to be bumpstarted everytime u stopped.
- Braking may be hard to simulate correctly, karts are best braked with a semi lock status, where the wheels are turning slower than the kart is moving, but not 100% locked. Braking like this kicks the kart sideways.
- Maybe the caster of the kart could be made to be an artificial chassis flex, the rear wheel lifting on entry. (to reduce scrub due to the solid axle)
- due to karts having no suspension, tyres provide the only suspension, so i would think that they might be easy to model in that way
- There are no decent kart games available, so it may increase LFS' target audiance to include karts
- They provide close racing, like the GTI, but faster.
- They look damn cool!