Glossary
Plain-English definitions of the karting and software terms used in this guide, in alphabetical order.
6-step adjustment
An optional, more detailed pressure calculation in the Tyre Calculator that starts from the tyre's baseline range and applies up to six adjustments in turn (for things like temperature, wheel, race distance, track condition and surface) to produce an adjusted target range. Turn it on with the 6-Step switch.
AI Coach
A chat assistant that answers your driving and setup questions using your own session data. It's a Pro feature.
AI coach level
A setting on your Profile — Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced — that controls how detailed the AI Coach's answers are.
bar
A metric unit of pressure. 1 bar ≈ 14.5 PSI. Some screens show pressures in bar and kPa alongside PSI.
Baseline pressure
The starting (cold) tyre pressure range for a given tyre before any adjustments for temperature, track or session are applied. In the 6-step adjustment, the baseline is the first value, and the adjustments are added to it to give the adjusted range.
Baseline setup
A setup you mark as a clean starting point. Your saved setups stay as baselines; you change individual fields per event or session as overrides without altering the baseline.
Bulk Upload
A page that imports many AiM telemetry files at once (up to 20), grouping them into events automatically by track and date.
Cold pressure
The pressure you set in the tyre before it heats up on track. Apex's per-corner readout is the target you set cold; the hot pressure is what it rises to once running.
Compound
How soft or hard a tyre's rubber is. Softer compounds grip more but wear faster; harder compounds last longer with less grip. In Apex the compound is the Tyre Make you choose for your tyre brand.
Direction (track direction)
Whether the circuit runs clockwise or anti-clockwise. It affects which side of the kart works hardest, so the Tyre Calculator can suggest slightly different pressures for the inside and outside tyres.
Driving style
How aggressively you drive — smooth, balanced, or aggressive. A more aggressive style heats the tyres more, which the Tyre Calculator allows for.
Event
A meeting or test day at a track that groups several sessions together — for example a race day with practice, qualifying and a final.
Event type
The kind of meeting: Practice, Qualifying, Heat, Pre-Final, Final or Endurance.
Flying lap
A full-speed lap, as opposed to an out-lap (leaving the pits) or in-lap (returning). Best-lap calculations use flying laps only.
Gay-Lussac's Law
The physics rule behind the Tyre Calculator: for a fixed amount of gas in a fixed space, pressure rises as temperature rises. It's why a tyre's pressure climbs as it heats up, and why Apex adjusts your target pressure for track temperature.
Grip (grip level)
How much grip the track surface is offering — from Green (a freshly watered or very new surface with little grip) through Low, Medium and High, to Very High (a rubbered-in racing line).
Home track
The track you nominate on your Profile as your main circuit. Apex uses it as a default when creating events and as a fallback when resolving which setup to use.
Hot pressure
The pressure a tyre reaches once it's up to working temperature on track. The Tyre Calculator shows a Target Hot Pressure range — what you're aiming for when the tyre is hot.
In-lap
The lap returning to the pits at the end of a run. Not a flying lap; you can hide in-laps in the lap table.
Inheritance (setup cascade)
The way a setup's values flow from a track default to an event override to a session override, each able to change individual fields while inheriting the rest from the layer above.
Kart class
The racing category, which sets engine and weight rules — for example Cadet, Junior, Senior, Masters, Shifter or Rental. Different classes load the tyres differently.
kPa (kilopascal)
A metric unit of pressure. 1 PSI ≈ 6.89 kPa. Shown alongside PSI on some screens.
Lap
One complete circuit of the track. Apex records lap times and telemetry per lap.
Nominal pressure
The single recommended pressure for a tyre corner — the middle of the suggested range. The Tyre Calculator shows the nominal figure in large gold text, with the low–high range beneath it.
Out-lap
The lap leaving the pits at the start of a run. Not a flying lap; you can hide out-laps in the lap table.
Override
A value you set for a specific event or session that replaces the inherited setup value for that level only, without changing your saved setup.
Primary kart
The kart you nominate on your Profile as your default. Apex uses it when creating events and in the setup and tyre tools.
PSI (pounds per square inch)
The unit kart tyre pressures are usually quoted in. Apex's main tyre readout is in PSI. (1 PSI ≈ 0.069 bar ≈ 6.89 kPa.)
Purple Sector
A feature that analyses an event corner by corner across all its sessions to show where you're losing the most time, with a track map and plain-language advice. The event needs more than two sessions.
Sector
A timed segment of the track between split points. Lap tables show your time in each sector so you can see where time is gained or lost.
Session
One run on track — a practice outing, qualifying run, heat or race — together with its laps and telemetry.
Session type
What kind of track time a session is — Practice, Test, Qualifying or Race.
Setup (kart setup)
A saved configuration of your kart — chassis, axle, seat, gearing, tyres and more. Setups can be assigned as track defaults and overridden per event and session.
Telemetry
The data recorded by your AiM logger during a session — speed, RPM, throttle, braking, GPS and more — which Apex reads from .xrk / .xrz files.
Track condition
An optional extra describing the day's track state for the 6-step adjustment — for example Slippery, Visible Race Line, or Large Race Event.
Track default setup
The setup you assign to a track so new events there start from the right baseline. If a track has no default, Apex falls back to your home-track default.
Track record
Your personal best lap time at a track (separately for dry and wet conditions). Apex flags sessions and events that set one.
Track surface type
An optional extra describing the tarmac for the 6-step adjustment — for example Brand New, Coarse, Dusty, Bumpy, or Smooth.
Track temperature
How hot the track surface is, in °C. It strongly affects tyre pressure (see Gay-Lussac's Law). The Tyre Calculator can estimate it from the weather forecast, or you can type it in.
Turn analysis
A per-corner breakdown of your performance in a session — how you took each turn.
Tyre setup (saved)
A saved snapshot in the Tyre Calculator — a name, date, track and all your tyre/condition/session choices — so you can reload the same starting point instead of re-entering everything. (Different from a kart setup.)
XRK / XRZ
The file formats produced by AiM data loggers. Apex imports .xrk and .xrz files (up to 50 MB each) to create sessions.