Karting? Any one here do it as an adult?
Discussion
started at 6 in a Cadet at Tilbury in the rain. (I'm 26 now!) has been the most on and off sport I've done over the years, but have proabably completed about 6 or 7 seasons. Still adore it. Still haven't had a go in a 250 yet though 
4WD said:
It all gets a bt silly in karting, from what I can gather. My boss is getting into it and will be buying a mechanic, trailers, self grenading tuned engines etc. I agree, a charged honda mower engine is the way forward for no nonsense fun. Pah, I'll stick to the usual 20 quid a session.
Precisely.
I raced competetively for nearly three seasons, and I still maintain that the best fun I have on track is when you and a mate of similar karting ability pops up beside you in a mechanically identical kart.
I've swapped positions nine times in one lap whilst racing at Bayford Meadows a couple of years ago - finished ahead of him too. I didn't come first and I never intended to - so if you're not bothered about doing it competetively, why not just get a couple of cheap karts so you can race your makes?
No different from buying a couple of tennis racquets IMO - unless you think you can make a serious charge on the Davis Cup is their any need to buy anything endorsed by Roger Federer?
Twincam16 said:
4WD said:
It all gets a bt silly in karting, from what I can gather. My boss is getting into it and will be buying a mechanic, trailers, self grenading tuned engines etc. I agree, a charged honda mower engine is the way forward for no nonsense fun. Pah, I'll stick to the usual 20 quid a session.
I didn't come first and I never intended to - so if you're not bothered about doing it competetively, why not just get a couple of cheap karts so you can race your makes?
If you weren't bothered about coming first, why were you overtaking him in the first place!!
TIGA84 said:
Twincam16 said:
4WD said:
It all gets a bt silly in karting, from what I can gather. My boss is getting into it and will be buying a mechanic, trailers, self grenading tuned engines etc. I agree, a charged honda mower engine is the way forward for no nonsense fun. Pah, I'll stick to the usual 20 quid a session.
I didn't come first and I never intended to - so if you're not bothered about doing it competetively, why not just get a couple of cheap karts so you can race your makes?
If you weren't bothered about coming first, why were you overtaking him in the first place!!
He should really just stick to talking about cadence clutching......
Used to go to Tibury a lot when I ran the Uni kart club, then belonged to London Kart Club running in Formula 100 TKM. I really loved that circuit, buked off a lot of lectures to go there during weekdays.
When I was karting though there weren't mechanics unless you had a drive with Zip, so you bought the books and learnt yourself. I got a real kick out of blowing away a very braggy guy with a featherweight son who was allegedly fantastic, with our old kart and overweight driver (moi) but with a sound understanding of what was happening and how to optimise the kart.
However, as much fun as a 100 TKM is they're useless compared to a 100 Nat or Super, and they feel decidedly slow compared to a 125 National. And that was boring compared to an old Zip / Yamaha 250E we had. I was 'running it in' at Kimbolton and blew everybody away (closest in performance there were some 250 Nats)and enjoyed every moment of it.
For me if I was going to kart again I would buy a 250 E, they give serious thrills whether you're at the back or the front of the grid, and old ones come at a serious bargain basement price.
lockup said:
Oh yes I did this for 4 years, fantastic fun and you dont have all the problems of owning and maintaing your own kart. As all the karts are equal it just comes down to driving skill
Oh and I didnt start karting properly until I was 30 years old
Edited by Cotty on Sunday 6th August 14:55
MrFlibbles said:
I used to, still dabbel a bit now, doing Buckmore Park next month, sprints in the morning and 3 hour enduro in the afternoon. Will be using the thunderkarts
I managed to get down to 46.3 second lap of buckmore Park in a Club100 kart, these corporate thunders will be lucky to breat the 50 second mark
I've driven a couple too. A guy down the street who had a few. He had a bit of a fetish for them or something. Had one with 2 engines I believe. 80-90 down runways in seconds and stuff. They are fun but scary when you're driving close to things. I also went on a day out with a ford dealership I worked for, against all the other dealerships, not that fast but still fast enough to be dangerous. After a while you get used to it and cut close to tires and walls. You can get them right on the limit and it's great fun. Great to learn the basics of racing as well.
If your thinking of buying one but aren't sure, I'd reccomend it.
If your thinking of buying one but aren't sure, I'd reccomend it.
Try going to rental places for a year or so before convincing yourself you are sure that you want to buy. Owning one is a completely higher level of expense, time, and possibly hassle in finding parts, etc. At a minimum, you will need an estate or SUV to carry it around. Then there's:
- tools
- dolly/work stand
- fuel canister
- helmets, gloves, rib protector, shoes, other gear
- tyres
- engine rebuilds
- parts
- entry fees/club memberships
- time commitments to get to tracks, set up, and tear down/pack up at day's end
- cost of fuel itself, plus other fluids
- a hundred other things!
- tools
- dolly/work stand
- fuel canister
- helmets, gloves, rib protector, shoes, other gear
- tyres
- engine rebuilds
- parts
- entry fees/club memberships
- time commitments to get to tracks, set up, and tear down/pack up at day's end
- cost of fuel itself, plus other fluids
- a hundred other things!
ApexClipper said:
richa said:
I tried Ice Karting the other day for the first time. It's more like rally driving than normal karting, and huge fun!
Where?!
Tell me more!
We had the place hired exclusively for a corporate event, not sure if they do evenings where you can participate as an individual.
Brilliant fun, the idea was to get as many laps for your team (4 teams), but frankly the team I was in were not bothered about winning or doing fast laps, it was simply about how sideways you could get round the bends (oval track), and if you get a complete lap with the back end out (I only managed three quaters of a lap going sideways!!).
They are normal single engine karts with studded tyres, and they are suprising easy to handle. Very easy to hold them in huge slides, which compliments the average driver (i.e. me) very well
. During the break they then made the track wetter, which makes it even more fun, and you get completely soked. Can't wait to do it again.
Rich.
I race 250 superkarts, the best fastest fun you can have for a few quid.
0-60 in under 3 secs and 150mph
As said www.karting.co.uk is the best site
Even 100cc fixed drive will put big grin on your face!
Harry
0-60 in under 3 secs and 150mph
As said www.karting.co.uk is the best site
Even 100cc fixed drive will put big grin on your face!
Harry
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