tracking (your daily) vs karting

[red05five]

thanks guys for all that input. i was pretty sure this would turn into a pretty decent discussion.

with that said, about the karting im referring to, it's definitely competitive karting. the type of karting most formula drivers do as kids lol not your local rental/indoor karts and the like which are way slower/not as fun.

the appeal for me behind karting is the opportunity to actually race others. the adrenaline, excitement, and just how fun this is cant really be put into words. as my frs is my daily driver, and i own no other cars, realistically speaking, only the occasional hpde, time attack, and autocross session would be my options with the frs, as wheel to wheel racing would definitely involve more risk (im assuming) due to competing with other people/cars obviously. even if i had a second/project car, actual racing would probably not be a viable option for me due to the cost involved, as this would probably be pretty expensive due all the modifications and work which would need to be done to the car in order for it to be competitive. this would definitely be more expensive then i could possibly afford at the moment, compared to just normal hpde/autocross/time attack at the track (for which you can participate in with a mostly stock or very lightly modded car) and even karting.

another pro about karting is that the kart can take a beating on the track and cosmetically speaking it doesnt really matter because it's for racing and track only. this isnt the same case for my car, where im ocd over it looking it's best all the time as im sure others are. in worst case scenerio i can wreck the kart on the track and it's ok because i can still get around to where i need to in the frs, while the kart is being repaired at the shop. obviously this is not the same case scenerio with my car, where much more care has to be taken with it as if something happens, im going to have to walk/bike/take the bus to work.

with that said, hpde/autocross/time attack would still be something really fun and something id be really interested in doing.

like i mentioned above, the thing that has me considering one or the other at the moment is cost. at first i thought karting would be cheaper than tracking my frs. however since then, i have come to realize that it's the other way around. while i think karting would indeed be cheaper than actual racing/competitive motorsport with a street/road car, karting would in turn be more expensive than the occasional hpde, time attack, or autocross session, for which i would just need an extra pair of wheels and tires, tools, an oil cooler and performance radiator (to make sure my engine stays cool and reduce wear and tear on it) and a helmet (which i already have) and maybe a clear bra fir the hood/front bumper/front fenders to protect against rock chips and track rubber.

i have a friend who's in karting who told me to expect to spend about $10,000 if i built a new kart. $3200 of this 10k would be spent on an also new engine (iame brand, italian motor, anyone heard of them)? anyways the 10k wouldnt include the other stuff besides the actual kart that i would need among these the race suit, gloves, shoes, helmet (which i have already). honestly 10k is honestly more than i planned on spending at the moement. however, he also suggested that a better option would maybe be to find a good, used kart on ebay/craigslist and fix it as necessary and with this option id be looking at spending half of what i would supposedly spend on a new kart? the second option makes more sense to me not only economically speaking as since im just starting out i dont think i need a brand spanking new/top of the line/works kart you know? i can start little by little and as i start getting faster and improving my driving technique and racing with others and get more competitive i can upgrade it or sell it and get another kart. fyi this would be for a TAG (touch and go/automatic) kart not a shifter kart which would probably be more expensive. my friend indicated to me that the difference in the lap times between a shifter kart and a tag kart are almost minimal (meaning they're both about as fast as the other) so it doesnt make sense to spend more on a shifter as well as taking into consideration that they are more complicated to do maintenance on than a tag kart as well as it being harder to drive them too. personally, it would be awesome to drive a shifter kart, but seeing that the TAG ones are just as fast nowadays, it wouldnt make sense economically to buy a shifter. the only benefit i see from a shifter kart would be the advantage of learning to drive with a shifter if i want to someday make the step up from karts to open wheel formula cars which all have shifters (i think?). once again, open wheel cars would probably be way out of my price range.

with sll that said, im going to probably check out my friends shop this week and see what used karts/parts he has and see what chasis/engine we could possibly cobble together. hopefully, we can find some sort of cost effective solution! once i do ill make sure to update you guys.

financially, luckily i have a pretty decent job (gross salary in the early 50k range), decent credit, little debt (pretty much just my car payment), and i have no kids, no girlfriend and i live with and rent a room (pretty cheaply i might add) from an uncle of mines to reduce expenses and save money (i figure why live on my own in a glitzy part of south florida like a lot of my peers and double my expenses, if i never bring friends or girls over anyways you know what i mean? i figure i can always go over to my friends places instead and hang out and mess up their place if anything lol plus my uncles place is less than 5 miles from my job, so less money spent on gas and less wear and tear on my car and finally i know i know my uncle could use the rent money so its win-win-win). and i know with a hobby like motorsport, i need all that money im going to be saving elsewhere, so sacrifices must be made. my plan was/is to take out a 5-6k loan with a bank and finance the kart, should i still go that route. at the same time though there's still a quite a few things i want to do with my car as well, and getting it on the track too. we'll see though, 10k for a new kart is a lot and im not the type of person to irrationally spend all my money in reckless abandon (always better to have some savings for a rainy day) or live to pay check to pay check with no money in my bank account (i have friends that do this... smh)

anyways appreciate your comments guys!



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[86_Freak]

Good to hear you are looking into karts. Some of the points your friend makes are a little off, or maybe a little out of context.

The first one is speed. A shifter kart is significantly faster than a TAG kart. Yeah, a fast TAG may be close to a slow shifter, but for example, at my race last weekend, my fastest race lap in my shifter was 1:21.7 while the fastest TAG was 1:26.2. And I wasn't even the fastest shifter, the guy who won the race ran a 1:20.2, so the shifter was a full 6 seconds faster than a TAG.

The second is initial cost. For a beginner who doesn't need to go all out at the start, $10k is on the very high end. When I bought my first shifter, I spent $2,500 on the entire package, kart and engine. You could definitely get into a shifter for less than $5k if you don't need the latest and greatest. Heck, I raced on a $800 chassis for 5 years and was winning races every year.

The expensive part is when it comes to consumables. Tires, fuel, engine rebuilds, and parts that inevitably break. A kart has tons of vibration and racing is very hard on equipment, parts wear quickly. Also, you have to think about the cost of towing the kart to the track, lodging, registration cost of entering the event, etc. Typically, a decent budget is ~$10k per year on everything I mentioned above. That accounts for about 7 or 8 race weekends. You can of course spend less if you don't go to as many race weekends.

[OkieSnuffBox]

^That.

Buy used stuff to make sure you really want to invest the time/money/effort into it. You can always find deals on used race parts and get them cheap. It would be absolute insanity to dump $10k into the kart then decide after half a season, you really don't dig it like you thought you would.

[red05five]

thanks guys, appreciate the help! if i wanted to build the kart and starting buying the parts on my own where could i start? besides craigslist and ebay? where can i find new chasis? or engines? is there somewhere online that retails all this stuff? appreciate the info once more!


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