I think racing a Shifter Kart would be awesome. The size has a ton of advantages: Storage, transportation to and from the track, easy to work on, spare parts stash will be more manageable, and I won't have any questions about it being a track-only vehicle.
That said, what are the costs like to run one at a Kart track day? What are some good resources to get started? What are the big achievements in Kart design in the last 10 years?
Rotax or some other TAG kart is the big achievement. Almost as fast as a shifter kart wrt lap times, much less cost, much easier and fun to race.
They are every bit as awesome as everyone says and then some.
If you're a tightwad (like me last season) you can run for $300ish per race weekend.
$50 to cover a $100 top-end every few races and a $300-700 bottom-end every season. $50 for Saturday's entry fee $50 for Sunday's entry fee $50 average for broken parts due to fatigue over the season $20 for aviation gas and oil at 100 racing miles per weekend and 40 MPG, water, driver food $40 for a night in a motel $60 for towing (160 miles round-trip)
If you intend to actually win sometimes, it's gonna cost $500-750 per race weekend. $320 for the cheap race weekend $200 for a set of tires $80 more to stay two nights in a decent motel $50 for a buddy's pit passes and food $100 to the sky for extra crash damage per weekend running hard.
The definitive book on karting is "Secrets of Speed" by Memo Gidley. The only karting website that matters is http://www.ekartingnews.com.
Don't get a TaG. They are grenades. The starter costs $200, the clutch costs $200-400 if it doesn't wipe out your crankshaft on its way out, the internals aren't as long-lasting as you'd think (one season on a bottom end isn't that far off).
There's no bad shifter engine. Most competitive karting uses a lightly modified 1999-02 Honda CR125 engine called a "Stock Moto". Fun karts nowadays use other 80, 125, 250 dirtbike engines or an "ICC"/"KZ2" which is an Italian 125cc engine originally designed for karting.
If you're moving up from racing cars to karts, you'll have an absolute blast on a kart with a Briggs LO206. Once you're winning on those, you'll know enough about the rest to make an intelligent choice about the next engine.
My opinion on chassis is that the chassis on the newest tires seems to handle best, and the chassis that is bent or cracked seems to handle worst. Don't spend as much on your trailer as you do your kart! It'll fit on a 4'x6' open-deck HF trailer just fine.
Physical fitness is paramount in a shifter. If you are not up to playing an entire Ultimate Frisbee tournament on a defensive line for a competitive team, you are not physically ready for a shifter. You could suffer serious injury without even crashing. Until the GoPro came out they would break virtually any camera you tried to mount - there is very little "vintage" shifter kart onboard footage. They pull well over 2g both cornering and braking, land off curbs at around 5g, and accelerate ferociously (0.8 seconds per shift in a famous Road and Track test). Get a seat that fits and a ribvest that works with your ribs.
You need to make minimum weight to be competitive.
Breathe on the straights, you have to hold your breath on the corners.
80mph with your nads an inch off the pavement is bad ass fun!
If you want to race and be competitive go to the track and do your research.
What's the biggest one can be and race? I weigh 240 fully dressed. I've always felt that that would be a HUGE disadvantage in a cart.
Figure out who's racing what at your local track(s). Hopefully there is a healthy stock moto type class.
I bought an old beater one a while back, just used it for autocross and kart test days. Its a fair amount more maintenance to keep up with than most autocross cars. Mine fit in the back of a minivan.
Will most autocross events allow shifter karts to run?
And thanks chaparral, I'll give that link a read-through
I think the majority of SCCA regions allow shifter Karts; here in the Las Vegas Region we have run them from the beginning and I believe all of the regions in SoPac do as well. As others have said go to your local kart track and see what's running. I will tell that if you have never run a kart or single seat race car, a shifter kart is a HUUUGE step in performance and you'd be best served to start with Briggs or something like a Rotax etc. If there is a karting school near you that would be a good way to see what's what. You could also by a cheap shifter, take it to practice and auto-x and just have fun with it. With my sons Jr Kart I transported it to autocross on a hitch carrier (the kind used for a power chair).
Tom
That video looks like F1 level of violence! Why not just put the F1 drivers in these carts and save a few hundred million?
That's what they do in the offseason, so I hear... closest thi g to an F1 car, a prooer shifterkart... if I had any sense at all I'd go git wun.
NOHOME wrote: That video looks like F1 level of violence! Why not just put the F1 drivers in these carts and save a few hundred million?
Go check out Tony Kanaan's Facebook page.
One thing about the Shifter Kart: Make sure you wear a Rib Vest because you will know when a Shifter Kart is running great is when your ribs hurt! Also, The Shifters own Kmod.
Like what has been said above research see what is being raced locally. I have seen very few shifter karts run, when they do they are thrown in on another class and either get in the way or fly off. Also it's nice to run with a group in case things break or you need help. Autocross a kart in my opinion is boring, and it is more worthwhile to run wheel 2 wheel as you get a better bang for your buck. If you invest in kart racing purchase a carbon fiber seat, your ribs and body will thank you.
I have a 206 kart for sale ready to go, it is great starter kart with very little investment.
mr2peak wrote: Will most autocross events allow shifter karts to run? And thanks chaparral, I'll give that link a read-through
SCR does. Every time the guy with the shifter cart shows up, FTD goes to him. Stupid quick.
I'm reasonably certain I couldn't drive one. One, my body wouldn't take it. Two, my reflexes aren't fast enough. That would be a whole new level of look ahead. Watch the above video to see what I mean. At about the 3 minute mark, watch the head of the guy in front. He's looking way around the corners before he ever turns in for them. That has always been one of my weaknesses.
At over 175# you will get punted off the track by 14 year old kids who weight less than 100# in a kart that daddy bought for them.
Double humiliation...
There is an indoor rental cart track in Tigard that realistically adjusts weight for league racing with lead high on the seat.
trigun7469 wrote: Like what has been said above research see what is being raced locally. I have seen very few shifter karts run, when they do they are thrown in on another class and either get in the way or fly off. Also it's nice to run with a group in case things break or you need help. Autocross a kart in my opinion is boring, and it is more worthwhile to run wheel 2 wheel as you get a better bang for your buck. If you invest in kart racing purchase a carbon fiber seat, your ribs and body will thank you. I have a 206 kart for sale ready to go, it is great starter kart with very little investment.
Where are you located?
The minimum weight limit in S4 (Stock Moto Heavy) is 405 lbs. If you are careful about component selection, use lots of magnesium COTS parts, steel tube rather than bar, and mount the old "Breadbox" sidepods, you can build a 185 lb shifter. Karting gear weighs about 15 lbs (suit, ribvest, boots, helmet). Therefore, the heaviest driver that can hit the weight minimum will be around 205 lbs. If you're much over 230 I'd recommend using a 250cc two-stroke engine instead. With "big power", it's about 25 lbs per second per lap on a 40-second track.
In TaG, a similar calculation says 165 lbs for Seniors and 205 for Masters.
Senior Briggs LO206 is 360-375 - probably the easiest class for a heavy driver to get by in with a 150 lb kart. However, that 8 horsepower engine won't let you get away with missing the minimum weight.
The really tough weight limit to get to was the little direct drives, but there are no official classes left. The ICA weight limit was 308, and with a 154-lb kart that meant a 139-lb driver. I can get to 149 lbs but my body really prefers another 25 lbs of muscle and 5 of fat.
Sultan wrote:trigun7469 wrote: Like what has been said above research see what is being raced locally. I have seen very few shifter karts run, when they do they are thrown in on another class and either get in the way or fly off. Also it's nice to run with a group in case things break or you need help. Autocross a kart in my opinion is boring, and it is more worthwhile to run wheel 2 wheel as you get a better bang for your buck. If you invest in kart racing purchase a carbon fiber seat, your ribs and body will thank you. I have a 206 kart for sale ready to go, it is great starter kart with very little investment.Where are you located?
Erie,pa
If I ever move back to a place with an autocross region, you'll find me in a kart. As it is I'd like to start a LO206 program up here if I could find 5-6 other people interested to go racing for cheap every other weekend. Karts are seriously the best fun and thrill for the $$ in 4wheeled Motorsports.
I'm really having fun looking into this. So crazy fast for the $$. The 250 Karts are crazy, holding outright lap records on a few full tracks in England. Faster than most BTCC cars.
0-100-0 in 9 seconds or so for the 125cc. 250cc guys claim just over 6 seconds!
The biggest downside being no suspension so its going to beat you up depending on the surface and cost wise while a lot faster my friends who got them said they ended up spending about as much per year as they did doing HPDE with their s2000s (this is totally anecdotal its awesome just not necessarily cheap)
I'm aware it's not "cheap", but it's certainly less expensive than most other options. An acquaintance of mine said it cost him $10k a season to run at/near the front in a 125cc Kart.
As far as it costing the same as running an S2000 in HPDE. It might cost the same for basic cost/raceday, but when I factor in the fact that it's easier to work on, I can have a full workshop in a single car garage, don't have to think about registration or insurance (or worry about stuffing a 10-20k car into a wall) it really seems like an awesome way to go stupidly fast. I'm 27 and weigh ~130lbs so weight wise I'm in good standing. And then there's the fact that I will never have to make a compromise between fast at the track, and decent on the street, a single-purpose vehicle has many advantages.
I also live in the Bay Area, so I have a few tracks close enough for day trips. If anyone has any info on Karting in the Bay Area I'd be very interested.
130lbs.......at 27, dude how did you get that big? When I was 27 I weighed 115lbs then of course I got married and ballooned out to 140.....darn the wife's cooking. In all seriousness you are going to have to slap a good bit of lead on the thing, the funniest thing ever is watching a pair of 135-140lb guys lift a Kart on to the stand. At the last Autocross I helped my 135lb buddy load up his Kart.....we need to eat our wheaties. You are the perfect weight and age to be running a Kart and it seems to fit your present life.
Tom
They are getting 90 hp outta 250cc these days. This would make for a very exciting kart. I dunno if my imagination is quite good enough. That is one helluva powertoweight ratio...
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