Discussion
As I live within easy distance of a couple of good kart tracks, and I no longer have a track car, I fancy a quick Kart for some circuit fun. The twin engine lawnmower things used at tracks are not fast enough TBH.
My intention is to eventually get a fully sorted 250cc gearbox kart, but would like to test the water first as I may find out that it's boring just doing test days for a bit of fun - I'm also far too big and heavy (6'5" and 16.5 stone) for racing in anything other than the heaviest of classes, and don't see the point in merely making up the numbers.
Based on this I did a bit of research and am utterly confused by all the different classes out there - there are dozens of them. So, what's the sweep spot with regards to cost vs performance. The 115cc direct drive two strokes seem like a good bet at around £400-800 second-hand and should be good for 20-25bhp I would imagine.
All suggestions welcome chaps.
Thanks!
My intention is to eventually get a fully sorted 250cc gearbox kart, but would like to test the water first as I may find out that it's boring just doing test days for a bit of fun - I'm also far too big and heavy (6'5" and 16.5 stone) for racing in anything other than the heaviest of classes, and don't see the point in merely making up the numbers.
Based on this I did a bit of research and am utterly confused by all the different classes out there - there are dozens of them. So, what's the sweep spot with regards to cost vs performance. The 115cc direct drive two strokes seem like a good bet at around £400-800 second-hand and should be good for 20-25bhp I would imagine.
All suggestions welcome chaps.
Thanks!
I think I'd spend a little more and go for a Rotax max, 125 water cooled and around 28hp
Long time since I've had a kart but Rotax classes were certainly taking over the club level stuff and therefore I would guess less likely to become obsolete.
Rotax also had longer rebuild times, my older 100cc engines had rebuild times quoted at around 8 hours if I remember correctly were as the rotax engines would do 50-80 hours due to a lower rev limit, somewhere around 14,000 rather than 22,000 rpm.
Might be worth asking on www.karting.co.uk for more info on options.
2 stoke karting is a great laugh, highly recommend it.
Long time since I've had a kart but Rotax classes were certainly taking over the club level stuff and therefore I would guess less likely to become obsolete.
Rotax also had longer rebuild times, my older 100cc engines had rebuild times quoted at around 8 hours if I remember correctly were as the rotax engines would do 50-80 hours due to a lower rev limit, somewhere around 14,000 rather than 22,000 rpm.
Might be worth asking on www.karting.co.uk for more info on options.
2 stoke karting is a great laugh, highly recommend it.
andye30m3 said:
I think I'd spend a little more and go for a Rotax max, 125 water cooled and around 28hp
Long time since I've had a kart but Rotax classes were certainly taking over the club level stuff and therefore I would guess less likely to become obsolete.
Rotax also had longer rebuild times, my older 100cc engines had rebuild times quoted at around 8 hours if I remember correctly were as the rotax engines would do 50-80 hours due to a lower rev limit, somewhere around 14,000 rather than 22,000 rpm.
Might be worth asking on www.karting.co.uk for more info on options.
2 stoke karting is a great laugh, highly recommend it.
Thanks - hadn't realised there was such a difference in refresh / rebuild times. 2 strokes are a doddle to fiddle with though, and the spikey power delivery should keep the interest longer.Long time since I've had a kart but Rotax classes were certainly taking over the club level stuff and therefore I would guess less likely to become obsolete.
Rotax also had longer rebuild times, my older 100cc engines had rebuild times quoted at around 8 hours if I remember correctly were as the rotax engines would do 50-80 hours due to a lower rev limit, somewhere around 14,000 rather than 22,000 rpm.
Might be worth asking on www.karting.co.uk for more info on options.
2 stoke karting is a great laugh, highly recommend it.
I'll have a look at the max's though and see what they sell for.
Rawwr - Mmm - old 600cc engine from a breakers in a kart chassis might be an interesting project though
If you consider yourself too big and heavy for competitive racing (I know, I'm 6'1" and 13-odd stone) then you might find you're better at 'ironman' endurance events and team enduros with a group of mates. I used to go karting every week back at university and still go a few times a year, but there's a group of us who just aren't very competitive in the sprints so we're setting up an endurance team. Bigger drivers seem to be able to push their karts harder for longer, probably something to do with muscle tone, so a team of you over a race taking 2-3 hours may well do better. There's more camaraderie too, especially if you get yourself a set of biker's in-helmet mikes and earpieces for 'pit-to-driver' banter.
Race all year round too, go to the track when it's wet and icy, you'll find you have a significant traction advantage. Steering karts on the throttle round icy hairpins while lighter drivers suffer from wild under- and oversteer is massively satisfying.
Race all year round too, go to the track when it's wet and icy, you'll find you have a significant traction advantage. Steering karts on the throttle round icy hairpins while lighter drivers suffer from wild under- and oversteer is massively satisfying.
The issue with gearbox karts is finding somewhere to drive one.
I had a Dino / Rotax 124AC around 20 years ago and while it was a great deal more fun than a 100 National, the number of places you could run it was very limited.
Going the 250 route is a couple of leagues above that. They are noticeably faster, pull more Gs and are utterly physically exhausting to drive. But I still remember just how good I felt the first time I took a 250E to Kimbolton and was blowing everybody away - it was so much faster than 250 Nats, 210s, 125s etc and just fantastic to drive.
So OP, I'd do the research, find out where you can drive it and then buy the 250.
I had a Dino / Rotax 124AC around 20 years ago and while it was a great deal more fun than a 100 National, the number of places you could run it was very limited.
Going the 250 route is a couple of leagues above that. They are noticeably faster, pull more Gs and are utterly physically exhausting to drive. But I still remember just how good I felt the first time I took a 250E to Kimbolton and was blowing everybody away - it was so much faster than 250 Nats, 210s, 125s etc and just fantastic to drive.
So OP, I'd do the research, find out where you can drive it and then buy the 250.
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