I'm one of those guys who got into racing by going to BMW CCA and Car Guys DE events. Unfortunately, I think I missed out on a lot by not getting involved in karts earlier in life. In my first full season of racing this year, I'm constantly impressed with the abilities of guys 4-5 years younger than myself who have spent 1-5 years racing karts. I am getting to the point that I can compete with them, but my learning curve has been a LOT steeper and a lot slower.

The good news is, my home track, VIR, is opening a karting track this month. I was supposed to compete in the grand opening karting enduro tomorrow, but there wasn't enough interest to get the race going.

With the new track opening, I am excited about the chance to get some relatively cheap track time in. The problem is, I don't know jack about karts. I am working on race deals for formula cars or sedans for next year, so I don't think actually racing karts is in the cards for now. Thus, owning the latest and greatest kart isn't necessary at this time...though that could always change. :evil2

What should I be looking for in a good used kart that I could take out for test and open track days to get some seat time in? Perhaps a kart that is a season old, still fast, but not the latest chassis design? What type of engine is reliable? I want something that is going to crank when I get to the track and not give me any trouble running an entire test day. I'm assuming a shifter kart would be the best, but what are the other options? Any other advice?

Thanks.

Bryan,

Call me sometime..we'll chat about things.

There are lots of options for Karts. A shifter is great fun, but it is really easy to pick up bad habits in the land of point, shoot, and slide around. I'd look for a couple year old Rotax series Kart. They are fairly easy to drive, you have to really learn to use momentum to get the kart to go fast, and you learn a lot of race craft because they are a spec series.

A good used kart will be the same as any good used racecar -- engine rebuilt on some schedule, everything taken care of, and plenty of spares. The Trackmagic karts I've driven seem to be pretty sturdy, but the shifters seem break down a lot more often than the standard ones. The rotax karts seem to be a good deal reliability-wise, but they certainly can break down just like anything. Unfortunately, the local Russell school at Sears Point is really hard to get in to, but I'd like to do that sometime soon.

The vast majority of my experience comes from a local indoor karting venue (www.speedring-kartracing.com) that provides karts for you. Definitely the easiest way to go, but you're stuck with what you get, too. It's tough starting a race then realizing you've got a crappy kart. :chix

But like you say, there is so very much to be learned from karting -- I'm glad I got some experience with that before I did my first DE. Even after a few years of autocrossing, I realized I had no sense of front-rear weight transfer in the car, I couldn't compensate quickly for changing ractrack conditions, and I believed that just finding the perfect line through a corner would win. Obviously, lines go to hell when there are cars on all sides of you -- you've got to take advantage of what you do have going for you on a variety of levels -- grip, changing conditions, other driver's weaknesses, etc. And I can put in more laps in two hours afternoon than a year of autocrossing and any two days of driving events.

Anyway, have fun with it, and let us know how it goes.

Does anyone know of a Karting forum, like this one? Or somewhere else with some good info?

I'm also trying to get into karting. Mostly because I can only afford one car right now, and some of the mods required to my m3 to make it a competitive track car would greatly comprimise its streetability.

Not to mention track time and spares cost next to nothing compared to other types of racing.

Not to mention karts are totally bad ass. I just went for a ride in my first reasonably quick go kart, at a (the world's largest) shopping mall, in Edmonton, Alberta (stuck up there on business). I was blown away by how hard those crummy little 9HP karts could corner -- easily pushing 1.5+ G. 10 or 15 minutes of driving later and I was already getting worn out.

Now I just need to get one to the autocross and set FTD.

That said, today we went out to allsports grand prix karting in NoVA, and it was deeply underwhelming. These karts couldn't take the corners as hard, and with only ~5HP were slow as all get out. It was still kind of fun, but I don't really feel compelled to go back and spend more money at the place.

Also, some of the karts have noticeably more HP than others, which takes some of the fun out of racing.

I guess I'll just have to buy my own $4k shifter kart.

Part of the un-fun at some indoor places is that the tracks are designed by lawyers and not people that are interested in having fun & really driving by passing and having some higher speed areas on the track.

FWIW, (for those of you in the Bay Area!) Speedring has a great track, several areas to pass, and it's pretty wide, yet still relatively safe. If you're looking to see what it's all about, try it.

Spencer -- I'm not sure that karting is really that less expensive. Even spec series like rotax stuff seems like it can run up the $$$ quickly. Just because there's no shocks or springs doesn't mean there aren't plenty of handling adjustments to be tinkered with too. I've been pondering the options for my next step, and while I like karting a lot, I'm not sure that racing GTI Cup or Spec Miata would be that much more expensive, and just as fun. It certainly doesn't seem like anywhere like an order of magnitude of difference, IAC. Obviously, if you want to race, an investment is involved no matter what you do.

If I didn't have so many durn BMWs in my garage, I'd probably just go find a sorted Spec Miata and be done with it. :) :dunno

Oh, here's Speedring's track. I've got a race tonight, round 5 in a year-long series, and I'm running a close 4th place, just 2 points behind Robert Orcutt, a local notable karting and race driver. Wish me luck!

Andy,
Speedring is having the 3 heats (practice session) for $30 again. I'm thinking about going this week, as it ends the end of this week. In my opinion, that's the best deal they offer right now.

Recently, they just raised a practice session price from 20 to 25 dollars. That's just a rip when you have to deal with as much traffic they are stuffing on the track these days- close to 14 people each session. Not to mention that 75% of the drivers are slow-asses who don't respect the passing flag.

I could rant on about Speedring's practices, but I still find myself going there because it's *realtively* cheap way to satisfy my open-track urges.

Now with NASA being kicked out of Marina, I don't know what I am going to do...

Drive Safely,
Raza

Raza --

Yeah, I keep hearing rumors they're getting things together to open another one...just rumors for now though. Sucks when prices go up, but, right, there's precious little competition for that kind of thing right now. Later evenings and earlier weekends are way less crowded. Things will always be busy when they're running their promotionals like that. While the track's slippery right now particularly through 1, 2, and 6, the karts are all in pretty good condition overall.

I think they're having a night with the ALMS drivers around the Laguna Seca Weekend. Did that last year, it was a complete blast to drive with a bunch of real pros. :eek:

If you plan on going down during the week, shoot me some email beforehand. I'm always up for a trip down there. :)

Andy,
Maybe I've always been stuck with the worst karts at most crowded times, bu I still have managed to eek out a couple of consistent 30's with traffic. I'm on SpeedRing's mailing list, so I have all the promotions sent to me, and for the rest of August, they are having the 3 for $30 deal.

You have to tell me when the ALMS comes up, I would ABSOLUTELY LOVE to drive with people of that caliber.

I will let you know if I decide to come this week, as the 3 for $30 is only good on weekdays. Hey, I wouldn't mind missing classes...

Drive Safely,
Raza

Raza --

30s with traffic is really good. The karts are up for that right now, but it would take a lot to go faster than that with the condition of the track as of last night, very slick. I think even the track marshals are having trouble hitting 31s right now.

I can usually skip out during the day, particularly with a day or more notice...except Thursdays. Let me know! :)

Last time I went they resurfaced, I was only able to pull some high 31's and consistent 32's, while the more seasoned karters were running consistent 31's. I got stuck with the big-guy's kart in which I would constantly get thrown into the sides of the seat: NOT FUN! To add insult to injury, my kart had no brakes and and my timer was broken.

And the time before that, when they had the All-You-Can-Drive for $55, I drove so hard that I blew 3 tires on 3 different karts. I know I really push those buggers.

Drive Safely,
Raza

Someone needs to go to the jim hall kart school down in ventura, CA and tell us if it's any good.

It's pretty cool looking: http://www.jhrkartracing.com

About $350-400 for a one day class with some very fast karts. You can take a one day sprint kart class and then take a one day shifter kart class. The shifter karts are supposed to be good for 90mph, I think.

If it weren't 3000 miles away, I'd be all over this. As it is, I'm trying to figure out if there's a good business trip I can take out in that neck of the woods...

I raced karts a bit in High School, and attended the two day Jim Hall school. It was outstanding, and I can't recommend it highly enough. Of course, this was back in 1987, but I'm sure the school has only gotten better.

Now, I have yet to go to a Skip Barber type school, so I can't really comment on how it compares, but I can assure you that the cost is a bargain (two days for $625!!), especially when you factor in the kind of experience and car control skills you will learn.

Hell, I'm only 30 minutes away, if anyone wants to sponsor me, I'll be glad to attend again and give you guys a full report:D.

Chris

Originally posted by BMLRacer
Bryan,

Call me sometime..we'll chat about things.

There are lots of options for Karts. A shifter is great fun, but it is really easy to pick up bad habits in the land of point, shoot, and slide around. I'd look for a couple year old Rotax series Kart. They are fairly easy to drive, you have to really learn to use momentum to get the kart to go fast, and you learn a lot of race craft because they are a spec series.

Brian hit it right on the head. Avoid starting out in shifter karts. Get a 1-speed.

I race Rotax Max 125cc karts in the Philippines. Just enough power to be a handful, yet still require proper and smooth racecraft to maximize corner speed and minimize lap times. In other words, a shifter kart will mask poor driving techniques because you can use the horsepower/gears to make up for lost time.

Rotax 125cc spec is among the most reliable, maintenance-free classes I know of. 50 hours between rebuilds on average. Get one with a proper maintenance history.

As for chassis, don't get wrapped around the axle over chassis choice. The differences are very small, only significant in top-tier competition. Just find one that is in good condition, without obvious dings or misalignment. As you said, you're karting to hone your racing skills, not to win the nat'l karting championship.

Overall, after the initial investment of purchasing the kart, the operating expenses are reasonable. The greatest parts expense is tires ($100-$200 per set). Stick with harder compounds that will last longer and force you to drive smoothly, FEELING the kart balance and available traction. A harder compound can last several weekends of track time.

Another useful tool you might want to purchase, if you don't already have one, is proper timing equipment. This will give timely and accurate feedback on your driving technique with lap/interval times. Check out Alfano and AIM My-Chron systems.

Some links:

www.aimsports.com
http://www.co-race.com/alfano.html
http://www.dpeng.com.au/parts/alfano_main.htm

p.s. Don't laugh, but if you have a decent computer, you might want to look at racing sims to maintain your racing skills during the off-season. I highly recommend ES Sports' F1 2002 for PC. Invest in a quality force-feedback racing wheel. The title includes full car setup, tire choice, pit strategy, etc. Helps me understand and practice car setup and tuning, racecraft, as well as maintaining concentration under race pressure.

Pit Row