Go Karting

Adamal · Post by **Adamal** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:27 pm

Is anyone here an active Go Kart racer? Or has anyone been into it?

I'm thinking of getting into it and would appreciate any info, like what I'd need to get, what I'd need to do in terms of racing competatively etc.

Looks like heaps of fun, and is probably one of the cheaper forms of motorsport!

Thanks

Madfx · Post by **Madfx** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 10:27 pm

I was into it for a few years and if you think its cheap its not... but that also depends on where u want to run...

if you want to be competetive u need good gear from chassis to motor tunes sprockets new tyres each round etc etc....

I still have all my gear except the motors and its all worth nothing but hey it was fun... and it will be once i get a motorbike motor to run on my longwheelbase

But u can enjoy it whilst not costing moonbeams.....

Adamal · Post by **Adamal** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 12:53 am

Yea, I don't expect it to be 'cheap as bro!', but in comparison to other forms of motorsport, its a lot cheaper

gurutasker · Post by **gurutasker** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 9:00 am

Adamal wrote:Yea, I don't expect it to be 'cheap as bro!', but in comparison to other forms of motorsport, its a lot cheaper

Comparison to what? From what i've been told a lot of club-sport motorsport is cheaper over-all than kart racing.

Adamal · Post by **Adamal** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 9:11 am

Anything that involves buying a car and building it to meet MANZ's checklist?

OMG so shiny! · Post by **Dell'Orto** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 9:51 am

Yeah, the Motelliers Association is pretty hard oncars :lol:

Jdawg · Post by **Jdawg** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 9:54 am

http://www.ss2000.co.nz/
I bet you can go racing ss2000 cheap
Anybody here doing it already know?

Adamal · Post by **Adamal** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 9:56 am

Alright, so maybe I'm missing something, so to avoid any arguments, lets just put cost compared to other motorsports aside, shall we?

mr2_t · Post by **mr2_t** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 11:59 am

theres a guy on mr2.org.nz - 'tronic' who seems to be into his karts.

Leon · Post by **Leon** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 4:04 pm

Adamal wrote:Anything that involves buying a car and building it to meet MANZ's checklist?

Buy stock standard car, fit fire extinguisher, drive the hell out of it.

$x? for car, $35 for extinguisher.

I did 18 months worth of racing in a stock 1984 Pulsar I was given for free.

So, cost ... $35 + bits I wore out. Not really that expensive I thought.

Oh yeah, sold car for $400 at the end of it.

Bazda · Post by **Bazda** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 7:47 pm

SS2000 is actually quite $ to run in apparantly.
Entry fees, petrol, and accomodation (pukekohe, taupo, manfield)

Stott69 · Post by **Stott69** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 9:37 pm

cheak out Kart vader on youtube for some inspiration http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYREdEJLWyA

Trevor · Post by **Trevor** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 7:06 am

Hey,

I raced karts, and still do occasionally and am at most meetings helping out, as my brother and my girflriend race. Best bang for buck class would be rotax lights or heavys (depending on your weight). You cant do much to the motors at all, just changing your jetting and barrel height pretty much. They're relatively low maintenance and very reliable, and electric start

. And they're quick. A reasonable second hand chassis and motor would probably be anywhere between 3000 and 5000 depending how new you want your gear. You'll need a set of slicks and wets, a racesuit (which is different to car ones btw), some sprockets, jets, tools, a kartsport license, and practise. Most things you will pick up as you go along.

Tires are controlled and are about $240 a set, but will last you quite a while. Karts are great fun and closest thing you'll get to a single seater and alot cheaper. Checkout http://www.kartsport.org.nz for more info. Two tracks in Auckland, Rosebank domain and Mt. Wellington. Check the calendars and come down and watch sometime.

If you want to visit a shop to have a look at how much thigs cost, my dad runs the Auckland branch of Lascom Motorsport. http://www.lascommotorsport.co.nz He can give you a good rundown on how everything works.

And oh yea, a few people I know do various forms of circuit racing, and karting is by far cheaper. Even the e30's are expensive, entry fees are $$$

Post by **Mr Revhead** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 8:10 am

from what i'v learned over the years
you still need a few $k to get into karting.
for the same price often you can buy a built up car ready for race/rally.
once the bits and pieces are purchased karts seem to have a lower running cost though. but i guess you can change that if you try hard enough.

however depending on where you live access to a track can be better for karts, lots of places have kart tracks but the nearest race track is 2 hours away.

it also depends on what you want to do. some ppl want to do circuit racing. if thats the case then the racing leon is talking about wont do it for you, even though is much fun.

you should go hang out at the kart tracks and see if you can get a drive. you may find you hate it!

rolla_fxgt · Post by **rolla_fxgt** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 9:36 am

Does anyone know what age kids can be to get into karting? I was thinking of getting my son into it in the next year or so, but unsure what age is too young.

Think it looks like a good father son sorta thing

Trevor · Post by **Trevor** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 9:57 am

Minimum age is 6 if I remember correctly

.

Adamal · Post by **Adamal** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:02 pm

Thanks Trevor, thats exactly the kind of info I was after

thornz · Post by **thornz** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 10:35 am

Has anybody here ever raced superkarts? Proper ones, not the indoor kart raceways. They look like mad fun, and aparently are one of the fastest forms of motorsport in NZ. Would love to give one of these a try.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 230416.htm

I think bang for buck they would be pretty much unbeatable.

1I1 · Post by **1I1** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 12:38 pm

A few of the guys at work race/have raced. It can get fairly expensive if you are right into it and want to be at the front. I remember one of the guys saying that he spends up around $20k a year

Trevor · Post by **Trevor** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 4:49 pm

Superkarts are scary fast but you gotta be a little crazy to race one haha. Hey Mark I met Brendon the other day up here when he was racing.