Anyone Here Kart

[Paragon]

Just getting into Rotax racing, wondering if any of you guys are already out there with www.canberrakarts.com.au

Its great for competitive people as its a sport where you can actually race other people rather than doing trackdays where you don't race anyone other than yourself.

I found after doing track days, the costs were adding up to.

A new set of slicks for the kart is $250 compared to $500 a tyre for RE55s.

Brake pads are less than $50 compared to $600 for a set for the car and everything tends to last longer too.

And the main thing in karting is everyone all has the same gear, so its a real chance to test your driving skills against others.

Hope to see some of you out there!

[Trozzle]

I'd considered it, but it's a bit too much of a dedication for me. There as a dude here trying to get rid of all his karting gear for around the $6k mark I believe (inc trailer) which looked pretty amazing since it should get you straight into your first race...but the time would just be too much on the side

[J'son]

It is nomething I wanna get in to someday... but funds are non allowing atm.

[a20089]

I found after doing track days, the costs were adding up to.

A new set of slicks for the kart is $250 compared to $500 a tyre for RE55s.

Brake pads are less than $50 compared to $600 for a set for the car and everything tends to last longer too.

Get the Federal tyres for a good cheap alternative to RE55's, and my full race brake pads I imported from America at half the cost locally. You can make a lot of savings if you try.

Saying that any smaller vehicle is far cheaper to run and less damaging to components. I run a stock motorbike that apart from fuel has never cost me anything to repair or replace doing multiple track days.

Only advange to the car and bike over a cart is I can drive them to the race track and drive them back, and they have a much broader market when I want to sell them.

[zebra]

Only thing with running the federal RSR's is that you are instantly 2 secs a lap slower over RE55's even more so if you run AO50's or DZ03's.

A mate of mine was QLD u16's cart champ a few years back....carting is all about budget/the best equipment, he went from mid pack with a cheaper cart, then bought the best cart avaliable and blitzed the field everyrace without trying.

So its cheaper if you wanna go have fun, but if you want to win it gets just as expensive as running a car at supersprint days.

Which is why I never bought a cart when I had the chance.

Not saying dont do it, because its awesome fun.

[a20089]

Only thing with running the federal RSR's is that you are instantly 2 secs a lap slower over RE55's even more so if you run AO50's or DZ03's.

Never.... That would put me in the same time bracket as Dennis in Duncan's full race car. With Dunacan only a second and a half faster again. http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?05/03/2011.WAKE.S6.Y

With Slicks I could probably pick up 2 seconds, but you seem to be saying upgrading the RSR's to real semi slicks will gain about 3 seconds. That's like saying my mostly stock GTR is as fast as the best SAUNSW car around Wakefield.

I'd love to say you are correct, but I'm not that good.

[Broken_R31]

Perhaps he meant Federals new range of motorsports tyres which are next bracket up over the RSR's i think they're called the FZ-201, but they're not even posted on the Federal AU website.

[Galois]

It's a fantastic sport and you'll have a blast mate.

Karting forums often mention that if you're going a bit slow it's a problem with the spacer. Spacer refers to the item between the steering wheel and the seat, ie: the driver. It is true that if you buy a brand new chassis and engine you'll have an advantage, but it is mostly driver skill. I'm sure lewis hamilton could get in a kart 10 years older than the field and blitz them, at sub world class anyways. Setup also makes a big difference, by changing to the correct jet you can save a full second a lap.

But instead of spending the best part of 10k on new parts, you can buy a kart plus engine for 2500 and go. Mine is for sale for 5k ono now, and i really regret leaving the sport. Unfortunately I can't afford it atm, I couldn't afford to keep the r34 either.

One more point, if you exchange some paint on a track day it's a big pain. If you do it in a kart it's just normal racing. There are no fancy paint jobs to scratch or delicate panels to bend. I've seen some fairly high speed crashes (maybe 80km/h backwards into the tyre wall) where the person dragged his kart back onto the track and started up again, kart un-damaged.

I look forward to the day I get back into it, but at the moment I'm just trying to get enough money together to last this year at uni, so I can get out and earn some money!

[Trozzle]

and THERE'S the man I spoke of. Buy his setup! haha

[Galois]

Lol, funny you say that, paragon and i had a good chat about it. Unfortunately it wasn't quite right for him (trailer-wise). Thanks for the plug the trozzle!

[Trozzle]

I thought Paragon was a chick....awkward.

lol

And no worries haha