Go Kart Seat Position: What Moving It 1 to 2 cm Does

By Alessio Lorandi, 2013 CIK-FIA World Champion, KF-Junior

Wanna know about seat position? Honestly, it’s everything.

Get it wrong, and you’ll feel like you’re wrestling with the kart the entire race.

But get it right, and suddenly everything feels smooth and natural.

So in this guide I go through what the seat does when you move it forward, back, up and down, how much you need to move it, and how soft or stiff it should be.

Why is seat position 80% of the setup?

The thing that affects the setup the most is the seat position. If you are getting the seat position right, you are done 80% of the work.

Why? Because you are the heaviest thing on the kart, and the seat decides where that weight goes.

Imagine trying to balance on a seesaw that’s uneven. That’s exactly what happens when your seat position is off.

The seat is still, I think, the core of the chassis. The seat position and the seat stiffness are still key. Because if the weight distribution is not enough at the front, or not enough at the rear, or it’s not enough in terms of lateral roll, that’s not good. You’ve got to have that one nailed first.

That’s why the top teams always have a baseline setup which is going to be good 90% of the time. And in the other 10% it’s going to be a bit of suffering.

So it’s worth spending an extra hour or two on a race weekend nailing the seat position with your mechanic. A well-placed seat keeps everything under control, and the kart feels like it’s working with you, not against you.

What happens when you move the seat forward?

When you go forward with the seat, you centre the weight. You take weight off the rear and you put it on the front.

So the rear gets more loose, and you pick up a bit more front. The kart becomes very, very reactive and it has a lot of rotation.

That’s why, if you want more rotation, the seat goes more forward.

I always like to be nice and forward with the seat. I was raised like that: full caster and a seat pretty far forward to free up the rear. So I can’t quite remember the last time I had to think twice about making a move because the front wasn’t enough.

But I have to be honest. In many cases it’s not super fast, because I end up sliding too much on the rear.

And there is a limit. If you are too far in the front, you have probably zero stability in the rear. You’ll have really high minimum speeds, but you’ll probably struggle on traction, and you’ll struggle on braking especially.

So I prefer to be slightly towards the front rather than slightly towards the rear. Slightly.

What happens when the seat is too far back?

If you are too much in the back with the seat, it feels easy to drive. The kart feels very predictable.

And the reality is that the lap times are going to be worse most of the time. Unless the track is very slippery, or very green.

With the weight on the rear you get understeer. The kart takes more time to rotate, so you turn the wheel more. And in a kart the steering acts as a brake, it’s friction. In 60 Mini, where you have very little power, too much steering angle from the mid corner to the exit is quite deadly.

And there is a second problem. You don’t really learn and practice car control when the seat is too much towards the back.

That’s why I prefer kids to drive with the seat slightly more forward. They learn to drive a kart that oversteers, and they develop the car control. If you only ever drive an understeering kart, you never learn how to find the rotation.

So a seat that is back is the right call sometimes. On a green track, when everybody is sliding, it gives you the rear. But don’t leave it there because it’s comfortable.

How much do you need to move the seat to feel it?

Not much.

If you need to turn the steering a lot because the kart is not turning, that’s a setup problem. You don’t fix it by driving harder. Probably you don’t have enough front, or the rear is too much and it’s pushing.

The easiest thing to do is to go further with the seat, at least one, two centimetres. Try that, and you’re going to see the kart change drastically without you doing anything else.

I’ve said it another way too: go further with the seat by 1.5 centimetres and you already extremely affect the rotation of your kart.

So that’s my number. One to two centimetres.

What I can’t give you is a lap time for every centimetre. Setting up a kart is more of an art than a science. In karting pretty much nothing is quantified as a number, only front alignment, ride heights and the front and rear width. The seat flexibility is not really quantifiable, even though it plays a major role.

So you move it, you do your laps, and you write down what changed. Small changes are key. Big moves can throw off the kart’s balance completely, leaving you worse off than before.

What does seat position not fix?

You may think the seat position decides whether the inside rear wheel lifts. It doesn’t, not massively.

I mean, at some point, yes, it does. But it’s not that much.

What affects the inside rear lift the most is the seat stiffness, whether it’s soft or hard, the rear axle, whether it’s soft or hard, and equally the front geometry, so caster and camber.

And remember that the front geometry is really what’s going to make the difference for rotation. The seat and the axle are important, but the front geometry is very, very important.

So this is how I think about it. I like to tweak the weight distribution first, with the seat. I even have different seats placed at different positions, some more forward, some more back. Then I work on the rest.

For how the weight moves once you are on track, read my guide on go kart weight transfer.

Listen, the seat can give you the rotation. Then you still have to drive the kart. That is the part I teach in my six month training program.

How high should the seat be?

Height changes your centre of gravity, and that changes how much weight transfer and how much grip you make.

I once did a training day where I mounted a seat that put me very low. I wanted to reduce my centre of gravity massively, to reduce the drag on the straights and also to reduce the grip level.

It was quite extreme, because it made me slide so much. I also moved the seat forward to free up the rear. So I had very little traction, but a lot of rotation.

Why would I do that? Because I was preparing for a track with a lot of grip. I knew that the moment the grip came, my kart would be nice and low and way better for those conditions.

In the wet it’s the opposite. I love going with the seat far at the front and actually quite high, to create some extra weight transfer and load on the tyres.

And being tall costs you. One year I had possibly grown too tall, and my higher centre of gravity wasn’t giving me enough cornering speed in high grip, when we would get on two wheels. Drivers like Lando Norris were 20 to 25 cm shorter than me, so they could place all the extra weights as low as possible on the seat.

So if you are tall, you sit as low as you can.

Should you move the seat when the grip changes?

Every time the track goes from green to grippy, the rear picks up more grip than the front. Simply because the rear tyres are wider.

So the balance moves towards understeer during the weekend, without you touching anything.

And 99% of the teams and drivers are not going to change the seat position between a green and a grippy track. They change the axle, or they work on the front.

So I stay forward with the seat. I will be struggling a lot when the track is green, because I’ll be sliding like crazy on the rear. But that teaches me a lot about car control. And when the grip is going to come and everybody is struggling with understeer, I’ll be flying.

In the wet I go the same direction, more. Forward, higher, and I may change the inclination of the seat as well. Because in the wet everybody wants rear grip, but what you need is rotation.

I don’t want a driver who has to rely only on moving his body to rotate the kart. Most of that should come from the setup: the seat height, the seat position, the inclination.

One more thing. Lean your back against the seat. A lot of drivers lean forward, almost like on a motorbike. That raises your centre of gravity and takes weight off the rear tyres.

Soft seat or stiff seat: which one is faster?

There’s no such thing as a faster seat or a slower seat. Each stiffness is going to be better or worse in different conditions.

A soft seat creates more weight transfer. Is that better or worse? Well, do you need the weight transfer or not?

I spoke about this with Steve Tillett himself, when I went to see him in England for a custom rib protector. This is basically what he told me.

When you have a stiff seat, the inside rear wheel is going to lift up less. So on a slippery track a stiffer seat keeps both rear wheels more firm to the ground.

With a softer seat the inside rear lifts more easily, and three wheels on the ground rotate more than four. So when there’s a lot of grip and the kart is stuck, the softer seat frees it up.

So the rule of thumb is simple. If you need more stability from the rear, go with a stiffer seat. If you need more rotation in the mid corner, go for a softer one.

The wet is the counterintuitive one. It would make sense to stiffen the seat, but then you have less rotation. So I soften the seat a lot in the wet, either by changing it or by loosening it, mostly at the bottom.

Which seat stiffness suits your size and your class?

I don’t like to play too much with the seat stiffness. If you try to be too smart about it and change the rigidity all the time, it’s going to be a bit of a mess.

I always like to have three rigidities from Tillett. The VTI, which is the softest. The VG, which is the medium. And the T, which is the stiffest.

If there’s a lot of grip and I want to free the kart up, I go with the VTI. If the track is super slippery and I want more support on both rear wheels, I go for the T.

If you are not sure, the best bet is a medium stiffness like the VG. In KZ and shifters it’s the one that works the best.

In 60 Mini we always drive with a VTI. With so little power you need to release the rear grip to have better exits.

Then there is your body. Tall drivers already have a lot of weight transfer themselves, because they’re tall, and heavy in most cases. So they normally work better with a stiffer seat. Small kids have less weight to transfer, and they work better with a softer one.

A tip: drill your softest and your stiffest seat in the same position. Then you can swap them just to make a test, and you know the only thing you changed is the stiffness.

How should the seat fit you?

You need to be one piece. Literally one block between the seat, the rib protector and your rib cage.

I’m very picky about the seat size. I want a seat that fits without extra padding on the ribs, the hips or the back.

I learned that the bad way. I once had a seat that was too loose, and I was moving inside it. I put a lot of foam on the sides to stay more stuck. It was better than nothing, but it was the wrong decision. The right one was a tighter seat.

So slightly on the tight side rather than on the loose side. Being too loose is worse than being too tight overall.

But too tight is a problem as well. If you put too many washers when you tighten the seat, it compresses even more. And then when you jump over the kerbs, your ribs take it. In a corner you can reach up to 2.5 lateral g, on a seat made of stiff resin. I cracked a rib like that, smashing kerbs in the wet with a seat that was too tight.

And check the screws. Each screw on the seat has to be perfectly flat. I got mad when new seats arrived with screws sticking out, because that’s enough to distract you from lap one.

How do you set your seat position, step by step?

Adjusting your seat might sound complicated, but it’s actually pretty straightforward.

1. Start with the manufacturer’s position. Most karts come with guidelines for seat placement. Don’t just guess. That’s your baseline.
2. Fit the driver. The right seat size first, then the position. The goal is to feel balanced, not cramped or stretched out.
3. Do your laps. If the kart understeers and struggles to turn, move the seat forward. If the rear is sliding too much, move it back.
4. Move it one or two centimetres. Then go out again before you touch anything else.
5. Take notes. Keep a record of your seat setup for each track. That way you have a starting point every time you race.

And if you’re unsure, talk to your mechanic or a coach. They’ve seen it all.

The full order I work in, from the seat to the axles to the front, is in my karting setup masterclass.

What are the common seat position mistakes?

Changing it at the last minute. One time we decided to change the seat position last minute before the final, to try adding more weight on the rear and rebalance the kart.

It felt similar when I checked the driving position in the tent. Then on track it felt quite weird. It took me some laps to adapt, and it never ended up feeling quite as good as before.

I shouldn’t even mention that the race didn’t go very well.

What I wish I had done is ask to bring the steering closer to me, to compensate for the seat going backwards and get my initial driving position back. So if you move the seat, check the steering position too.

Focusing only on comfort. Comfort is important, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of performance. The seat that is back and easy to drive is the example.

Making big adjustments. One or two centimetres already changes the kart drastically. Start there.

Changing the stiffness all the time. Pick a medium baseline and swap only when the conditions are extreme.

Trying to fix a loose seat with foam. Get the right size.

How did I learn it the hard way?

Let me share a quick story. During one race in La Conca in 2013, my kart felt impossible to drive.

It was like the kart was fighting me in every single corner. I struggled all day, trying to figure out what was wrong.

Then I realized my seat was too far back. I moved it forward just a bit, and the difference was immediate. The kart felt more pointy, more balanced, and way easier to drive.

That experience taught me to never underestimate the importance of seat positioning.

So check your setup, make small adjustments, and test until it feels just right.

Frequently asked questions

Should the seat be forward or back in a go kart?

I prefer slightly towards the front. A forward seat makes the rear more loose and gives you more front and more rotation. A seat that is too far back feels easy and predictable, but the lap times are worse most of the time, unless the track is very slippery or very green.

How much should I move my kart seat?

One to two centimetres at a time. Going further with the seat by 1.5 centimetres already extremely affects the rotation of the kart. Then do your laps before you change anything else.

Where should the seat go in the wet?

I love going with the seat far at the front in the wet, and actually quite high, to create extra weight transfer and load on the tyres. I also soften the seat a lot, mostly at the bottom, because in the wet you need rotation.

Is a soft seat or a hard seat faster?

There’s no such thing as a faster seat. A soft seat creates more weight transfer and more rotation, so it suits high grip. A stiff seat keeps both rear wheels planted, so it suits a slippery track. If you are not sure, start with a medium stiffness.

Should a tall driver sit lower in the kart?

Yes, as low as you can. A tall driver has a higher centre of gravity, and in high grip that costs cornering speed. Tall and heavy drivers also normally work better with a stiffer seat, because they already have a lot of weight transfer themselves.