In a straight go-kart chassis, the driver sits in the center. This layout is the familiar arrangement used for sprint-style kart racing, with the seat, steering column, and driver positioned along the chassis centerline.
Kart chassis are generally built from chromoly steel tubing and have no conventional suspension. Instead, the frame is designed to flex slightly, helping the kart absorb bumps and transfer weight through corners. A centered driver gives the kart a more balanced left-to-right weight distribution, which suits circuits containing both left- and right-hand turns.
This is easy to confuse with an offset chassis. Offset designs place the driver toward the left side and are intended mainly for speedway racing, where the kart repeatedly turns in one direction. Straight chassis are also distinct from caged chassis, which surround the driver with a protective roll structure and are common on some dirt-track karts. The centered seating position is therefore a chassis classification detail, not simply a description of where a recreational kart’s seat happens to be.