Kart Racing

As a beginner, you probably never got the tires hot enough to work properly. Don't feel bad, I think everybody spins when just starting out.

Also, as Heat Seeker said, find your braking zone and slow the kart down before turn-in. I coast to the apex after turn-in, then get back on the gas and unwind the wheel towards turn-exit.

It sounds simple, but it takes a lot of practice to become competitive. Car guys tend to struggle with the transition, at least at my track.

 

Make sure the tire pressure is correct. Tires come in soft, medium, and hard compounds. Each compound requires a different tire pressure depending on the temperature, UV index, and track surface. Spinning is usually the result of going to fast into a turn and braking too late, forcing the lockup and spin. It's takes seat time and a bit of kart setup knowledge to get everything right.

 

Not wanting to sidetrack but it's kind of on topic:

What should I budget for a first season club karting and then each after that? I've heard $6k and then $3k-ish. Is that a realistic number? I can maybe swing that assuming its a reasonable number, but I can't if it's an overly optimistic one....

 

You could find a used chassis to start off with from a few hundred dollars to maybe 1,500 depending on type, age of it & brand. Same thing with engines- different class types will be different price brackets. A 100cc that has has no rebuilds left can be had for as low as $600 and may last a few races. Wheras a new motor of the same that has not been rebuilt may run about 1,500 or a bit more.

Here's a Merlin f/s ready to go! http://www.franklinkart.com/files/Used/2007_MR30-32_KT100.pdf

Consumables that you'll need for each race/event will be gas, castor/blend ($8-10 bottle), tires ($225/set), carb rebuild kits, chains, variety of axle spockets of varying tooth counts, and tools.

Also, a MyChron data acquisition system with transponder will be needed. Figure about $350 for a basic new setup.

You'll want a suit, or good leathers, rib vest, neck brace, shoes, gloves and helmet as well.

There's more but thats most of the meat & potatoes of it

 

I started in TaG seven years ago and run a Shifter nowadays. Here's my $.02:

TaG is a great class to start in. They are physically demanding, very fast and the racing is great as the grids are always deep. If you are intending to stay in the sport a few years, buy a new kart and engine. Find out what the fastest guys at your local track are running, and buy the same setup (chassis and engine). It's hard enough learning about adjusting for track conditions, tuning the carb, etc. without constantly doubting your equipment.

I bought my first chassis (MGR) and engine (Parilla Leopard) along with a Mychron 4 gauge, suit, helmet, gloves and shoes for $5,500 if I remember right. Each weekend I spent approx. $250-300 to run the kart. Rough breakdown of costs:
- Tires $225/set - I could get two race days out of a set (each day is 2 heats and a main), and then use them for practice.
- Fuel $15/gal - You burn maybe 1.5 gallons on a race day, practice days can go through 4-5 gallons.
- Entry Fees $50/day - Varies by track, but that's the average around here.

Some weekends I would practice on Saturdays and race on Sundays. Some I would only practice, some I would only race. It is very tiring, especially your fist season as your ribs adjust, wrists and neck strengthen, etc.

So, to answer your question, it entirely depends on how often you want to be on the track. If you do a full 20-race season around here, I would expect your first year will cost more like $8-10k. Your second year would be more in the $4-5k range.

For comparison, I budget $7,500/year to run the shifter.

 

I've heard wild $ for kids karting for Dads who are very serious.

I thought $50k was a lot till I heard Dads in EU spending $1M a year to make their son the next F1 Champion.

I have to get him to control the kart well before we go racing for real

 

The last number I heard to run up front the whole season in SKUSA was $150k/year. Coaches, mechanics, transportation, multiple engines and chasses, etc.

It's really tough to say though - you could do it for much less if you just hit your local tracks endlessly to train and then showed up at SKUSA events with your own car, trailer, etc. You'd have to tune on your own though, which can be daunting unless you're very seasoned. Setup is everything, even in karting.

 

Geez!, Kart racing sure has changed. Here's my son in the Enduro Kart I raced a cazillion years ago at Riverside, Willow Springs and Laguna Seca.
The next pic is him a couple years ago...time goes by too fast.
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That number initially blew my mind. The more I think about it though -- I believe it is an accurate number.

 

We ran 3 karts at each of the 5 rounds of our series this year and in just kart materials alone it came out to about $600 per kart/ per event. (fuel, registration, carb kits, consumables, replacement parts & tires). We lucked out in that we didn't severly trash anything overly expensive like a frame or grenade an engine though.

Hotels (always 2 rooms), gas, and misc travel expenses for the season totalled about- 2,200. We just went the route of the cheaper hotels and worked discounts.

Last spring we got a new 16' trailer and after modding it to our needs it came to about 6K.

Other expenses this year were that were (crossing fingers lol) one time only purchases- custom vinyl graphics (all 3), streeter double stacker stand, single stand, more tools- 1,100

We landed several sponsors that helped with our costs- K1 Kacegear (for which I am a dealer for now), local machine shop (any material workings & rebuilds) & local battery shop (lol that came in handy a few times)

As far as paid coaching or shop/setup/ trackside support goes, we had Franklin Motorsports here in WI do an initial baseline setup and scaling on 2 of our karts and then we pretty much did the rest of the tuning ourselves through the season.

Find out when the karting swap meets are and make sure to hit them up!

Pic of our trailer loaded with all 3 and out typical paddok setup.
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Looks like you're ready for a pilgrimage to the Wilson circuit at Pittsburgh International !

 

And I'd bet it was worth every penny!

 

Additional to that were quite a few test days at our local track, and it was definately worth every penny spent for the experience! Very lucky to be able to run cars as the same time as karts!

 

Heat Seeker WS6, if you haven't yet, you absolutely must go drive at USAIR in Shawano! The most incredible kart track to drive in the world! It is Nurburgring for karts!

 

Haven't run there yet but have several friends that have and heard a lot of good things. I'd like to run both the car and karts there.

 

Is anyone familiar with Mari karts? I found a 100cc with an ital sistem engine.
I don't know much about them other than the couple times I've ran them at Calspeedway

 

I don't know anything about them and never seen one but here's some spec's I found on the ital ML31 100cc:

1900rpm
32hp
horstman direct drive
carb is a tilotson hl360
It also looks like there's both air and water cooled variants.

I haven't found any US dealers or any recent information on Mari chassis or anything more on ital, so finding parts & support can turn into an issue. I'd find out from CalSpdeedway who their supplier for spares is.

Are you looking for a kart just to have for fun or to race?

 

For both. I figure it's a better option than tracking my car too often. I've always wanted one, I just don't want it to become a statue from not getting to use it enough.
The guy did tell me it redlines about 19000. It's in great condition. Not being able to find one to compare price to has been my problem. I've been more inclined to purchase it cause it was Italian too..lol

 

See if you can get the series/model number of its motor, it may or not be what I found Tom.
If its going to be setup to be raced competitively at a local track your going to want to find one that fits within the rules of whatever classes the track or racing series has, that's why I ask about its usage. A pure fun kart, it really doesn't matter what you buy.

Engine- There are specific motors and displacements for various classes. I'd get a typical race schedule from the track and see whats raced there and use that as the list from what to choose to buy. I run in Komet Sr class. Those are 100cc Horstman motors, Walboro carbs (with adjustable high & low carb settings), spec airbox, spec exhaust system, spec tires & a minimum weight w/ driver of 365 lbs. Those rev to about 17,000 also and have enough power to run very quick but they have only so much of a useable rpm range- so that teaches you to drive efficiently and not bleed off rpm's & speed. This is a very fun & rewarding kart to run and you will feel the workout from it . Another popular 100cc racing class is the Yamaha/ KT100.

If you want more power and have very well honed karting skills already, you could look into a 125c class such as the Leopard or the Briggs & Stratton LO-206. These are water cooled.

Chassis- Go with a well known brand for parts and support like Merlin (Italian! & we run these), Margay, Birel, Top Kart, Tony Kart, CRG, Kart-Mini Brasil & Arrow.
Best bet is find your closest kart race shop and use what they sell- you'll find that soooo very advantageous when it comes time for setup & replacing parts.

You can find good used rolling chassis, at least here in the Midwest for as low as $500 and up to about 1500. A new chassis can run up to 4500! I know of a Merlin right now with good racing pedigree for 500 with no wheels or motor. Engines- all depends on what it is, but they usually start around 1K or so for a race ready 100cc.

One of my sponsors is K1 Racegear. They're in CA and if they're somewhat close to you, have a talk with them!

 

William, it is amazing how he has grown up in front of us all. a handsome boy and a proud father! cheers!!

 

John thanks for all of that info. It was a spur of the moment idea. I'm sure it would be more for open track days, however I'm sure entering in a series would be exciting. I've done the Calspeedway track and it was very fun. I'll definitely start looking in the Midwest trades.
Again, thanks.

Here are a few pics. These are what the guy who's selling them sent me. He was asking 1500 with the stand.
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No problem at all Tom and wow that's nice! In great looking shape, ready to run, padded seat and with a stand, 1500's a great price. I see a lap timing pickup on the front number panel... does it have a MyChron 3 or 4 data acquisition unit on the steering wheel? Also, does it come with a starter or any other spares like sprockets?
Assuming the engine is a fresh build that would be great for open tracking. I'll check around and see if any series are open to running that engine.

Check out Comet Kart Sales - The Largest Kart Shop on the Net - Racing Karts, Go Kart, Go Karts, Go Karting for parts & other stuff

 

The Briggs LO-206 is an air-cooled four-stroke motor with relatively low horsepower. It's probably one of the best choices for beginners.

Anyone coming to Pittsburgh for the F-series race at the end of this month? We had pretty good numbers for the USPKS race a couple of weeks back and it looks like the F-series will be a big event too.

 

It is really clean. And it looks pretty cool. I am not sure if it's MyChron 3 or 4. It does have the unit on the steering wheel. Just not sure of the brand. Everything seems to be super clean and in great shape on it. Just be a bummer if I got hooked on it and wanted to race with it to find, just to find out that the Kart doesnt qualify for that particular class.

The K1 page you told me about has some very cool stuff.

 

The series we run in here in the Midwest created a class for the LO-206 this season and its gaining popularity.

I saw that the X30 Rl TaG 125cc is also on the rise and next year there will be a class for that as well. In making the jump to TaG, we're thinking about that vs the current Leopard.

We have no plans to head to Pitts for that one but thinking about Daytona at the end of Dec!

How are the field sizes for Komet out there?