My son and his mate won two entries into FHM's search for a sports car driver 2006 round at Kings Cross in London yesterday.

 

When he started telling me all about the high-street-honeys that were going to be there and other trackside totty I thought it might be a good idea if I went along to *cough* give him some tips on go-kart driving :)

 

It was brilliant to be honest......although he only got 15 minutes on track to set a fast lap and go through to the finals in Barcelona.

 

Fastest lap of the day was set by some bloke who looked about 40 who had his own outfit and helmet with proper shoes the lot ! Not really in the spirit of it I didn't think. My son commented....."He's only still racing karts so he can beat all the kids and say 'aren't I good' ". My sentiments exactly. And he was about 4'8" tall too - needed a cushion to reach the pedals. Maybe that's why he's still racing karts :)

 

Still.....good day had by all.

 

Mark

(now wishing I was 18 again :headvswal )

come on... dont be jealous.... the other thing to think about.. is well if you could be racing around with all the vhm girls and then get a chance to go aboad at any age wouldnt you do it.. lol

 

see the other guy is wishing hes 18 too but is happy beating the kids... i would be... if i was him.. lol

lol...racing is serious :mad: :)

Glad you all had a good day

You can still do karting markyb....

Buy a race kart and take it to tracks....I do :dance:

Its fookin great fun :bow:

60+mph round the corners and upto 110 on the straight depending on type of kart and gearing...this is all goin on at about 10mm from the ground....the andrenaline is something else :wack:

How much was your kart Mr Blackmagic. Sounds like a cheaper way than thrashing the Zed round the track. Dave

How much was your kart Mr Blackmagic. Sounds like a cheaper way than thrashing the Zed round the track. Dave

 

 

and quicker.... :tongue:

Your right there bud...A trackday/petrol and wear-n-tear is around £350

As for kart racing...

Well...I have two...quite different types but both race stage.....

One is a Two stroke 100cc (TONYKART)

and the other is also

a two stroke but a 125cc with a power valve (ROTAX MAX)

 

The TonyKart is around about £800 for a race stage 2nd hand(new £3-4K)

The ROTAX MAX cost me £2500 just for the std kart...then the mods is on top :rolleyes:

A race stage engine tune up is about £300

BUT...

 

To be honest I started out on a cheapo kart that cost around £200.

It was everything you need to get into it and trash the chassis and axles....so once your confident then get a quicker one...bit like real cars but sooooooooooooo much cheaper :dance:

If you get serious then you need to take spares...theres nothing worse than getting to track only to bust something and its day over :cry:

So a huge stock of spares is very advisable(basically a spare of everything on the kart...including an engine if you race) ;)

The servicing/maintenance of them is dependant on your usage/requirements.

1) A real Race Kart will have a new Piston every race (20mins) :x:

But they are very cheap so not too bad and very quick and easy to access

2) But if you just wanna hack it around the track for a larff then a piston/engine can last 2 years with no other expense other than sprockets and tyres

 

mmmmm.....

 

this leads me onto tyres...

 

I wont lie to you and say there cheap :rolleyes:

Race tyres are around £90-£120 a set

But to be honest if your just raggin it about then a set of cheapo hard compounds could last you upto a year or so and only cost about £60

 

Realistically these are the prices you'll be looking at:-

Cheapo Kart = £200-300

Crash Helmet/gloves/overalls = £80+

Entrance to race track for a day (9am-4pm but no actual racing) = £25-£40

Two stroke oil for a day -depends on kart mixture but about = £2-6

Petrol (Ive done 20Litres of juice in a kart before in one day) = £20 (maximum)

 

 

or you can buy a PutPut 4 stroke but that rather eliminates the speed factor...its like buying the diesel version of a car :xxx:

 

If you do get into this and want to do well...whether to compete or just to thrash ya mates....

Then

Test set ups..test more set ups...then test some more

With such little chassis control around you it has to be set to your style...theres Camber/Castor/Toe-in-out settings/Wheel offsets/Wheel gapping/Sprocket variations/Roll bars/Stabilizsers/Fuel-Air ratios-settings on-tap around the track/Tyre pressures....

to name but a few....

Skys the limit in this sport and its all affordable :dance:

 

Oh...PS:-

 

Its not Dangerous but I have manged to break ribs and loose teeth along the way :duffer:

pmsl... not dangerous.. lol

 

building a off road buggy at the minute... and well cant wait... tons of places to taken them and thats even cheaper.. kit should be only around 300 to build a buggy.. all parts etc.. then day out free-25£

petrol.. well use as much or as little as you like but big bike engine so take a guess.

no oil required unless you kill your engine..

thats it...

Right that's it !! I'm buying one !!!!!

 

:)

dont buy one.. build one...

http://www.sadik.net/gokart/

take a look.... this is what i am doing.. found free plans etc.. and gonna get a back axle from a local go cart dealership... pps you might come in handy for this.. if you know of one going cheap.. or have links to this kinda stuff....

cheers.. pps send me a msg on msn if you are on it...

Right that's it !! I'm buying one !!!!!

 

:)

lol... Go on..This is one choice you wont regret...

And you can do it in the wet if youre die hard :duffer:

TONYKART

 

ROTAX MAX

Oh...and being able to dedicate your garage to it :rofl:

Ohh I like the look of that. I might consider that , it looks great fun. Dave

if you know of one going cheap.. or have links to this kinda stuff....

cheers.. pps send me a msg on msn if you are on it...

Dartford Karting bud ;) :-

http://www.dartfordkarting.co.uk/

01322 292212