stownsen914

We're also blessed with the "NY tri-state area tax" . We may have to travel a little farther to find a good cart track ...

AudiOn19s

Yup, my kart.

It's all about cost / benefit analysis but it's real easy to spend $100+ per outing on rental karts that are fun but usually run Honda or Clone motors that are around 6-7 hp and are pretty heavy because of all the reinforced bumpers. The experience is still fun but not that crazy.

You can buy an older chassis kart with a Briggs 206, clone or 2-stroke Yamaha for $1500-2500. Personally I went with the Yamaha which isn't bad from a maintenance and running costs perspective and makes 13-14 hp. It was the best mix of cost vs performance. I could still race it on a regional level and have some fun but it's not going to compete on a national level.

TAG / DD2 / Shifter and 250 superkarts are where you're going to see really extreme performance but they are not cheap to get into nor to maintain.

badabing

Apparently they changed the name to RPM Raceway.

Have a location in Long Island too.

My993C2

I have never driven a shifter (though I am forced to compete against them), but I own a Rotax DD2 kart and my Kart is like a mini-formula car. I pull 3Gs in the high speed sweepers. Not as violent as the F1 cars, but still a very physical experience and after a 20 minute race I am somewhat dehydrated and physically drained until I can recharge my batteries. I can't imagine what it must be like to drive an F1 car for 2 hours.

mrbill_fl

How much more physical do you think karts are, and risk of injury, compared to pcar's?

the_vetman

I hear that it beats the sh*t out of you (but also sh*tload of fun). Broken ribs are not rare.

RobertR1

I did the "Dmax' 2 stroke karts in the UK at Daytona Milton Keynes a couple of months ago.

Absolutely the most fun I've had in a long time. They are night and day different to the 4 stroke junk you get when you do an arrive and drive event a regular karting place.

Karting outdoor is also much more relevant to track driving I feel than the indoor places with slick surfaces that have grip in random places.

When i get some more time, I'll certainly plan to go once a month or so and then by my own.

multi21

rib protectors are necessary. When you finish a session in a 2 stroke kart, you know you've been in a workout, but always with a smile on your face

mrbill_fl

The reason I ask, is I went to a big WKA event in Naples.

a broken wrist for 1 driver (t-boned), and a flipped kart when wheels touched, that driver landed on his head, but ok otherwise.

no ambulance or doctors at the event as far as I could tell. Driver with broken arm got a ride to hospital by his wife.

lots of trailers and karts, and seemed well attended and funded. not sure if that's typical.

MarinS4

I consider it great driver training. It's really helping me learn how to carry momentum through the corners.


The rental carts are pretty safe. Covered tires etc. The off's are pretty straight forward as well.

Sonoma Raceway is where I get all of my cart time.

9114609048

Yes...karting is really fun and very competitive. I highly recommend trying it out!
I got my son started in karts when he was twelve years old. We had many tracks near our home in the Haute Savoie, in France and would race almost every weekend. My son was much faster than I was, so I became his mechanic and drove my 125 shifter kart for fun. We won several regional championships and raced in the GP of France. That kart still sits in my office. Good memories!

sugarwood

The distinction between indoor and outdoor makes all the difference.
I only learned the difference after starting this thread.

Until then, I had only seen the indoor type.
To me, it was nothing like driving a real car on a real track.
The indoor kind was little more than a glorified amusement park ride to me.

I felt like I was missing something big, since I saw almost zero correlation to real track driving.
Karting was just "floor it" that required almost no skills whatsoever.
It also did not see how it could possibly make you a better track driver.

Then I saw this, and realized "kiddy birthday party karting" has no relevance to this kind of karting that looks identical to real track driving. He hits 100+ in the straights!
These two barely are the same activity.

Dr911

I LOVE karting, and would like do it more often.
Unfortunately, motion sickness is much more intense when on a kart track and so I've had to stop.

fleadh

Here's a couple laps running my CRG 125cc shifter at Sonoma -- it's great fun and practice for racing the big cars. Super physical too and is pretty much my only physical training besides racing. It hits around 99mph on the front straight without a draft. It feels like 200mph.



And here's a couple laps in damp conditions -- best way to get wet driving practice! The shop knows to prep my kart when it's wet and the track is open...



-mike