[SteveC]

I've always loved driving and really enjoy a spirited drive on a nice dry, well sufaced B road. But last week I discovered a level of intensity I never knew existed. Go-karting. Holeee Moleee. I have never had so much fun in my entire life. We're not talking huge HP or mega top speeds, but what we are talking is late braking, high g-force and the amazing ability to take corners without lifting off.

A group of us were invited to a 2/3 mile long open air go-kart track near Denver. I'd never driven a go-kart before but fancied the idea. The go-karts have a top speed of around 55mph but the track was custom built so the whole exercise was about chosing good fast lines and late braking points.

We had 15 laps of practice followed by a 10 lap race. Discovery 1...don't touch the brakes in a corner....you'll spin out. Discovery 2....when something doesn't weigh much, it doesn't need much distance to slow down. Discovery 3, when something is on slick tyres, has a CG a few inches above the ground and a wheel at each corner it goes around corners pretty damned quickly. Discovery 4 anything with a 6' wheelbase turns in pretty sharpish. Discovery 5 its possible to get out of breath while driving (Denver is a mile high). Discovery 6 you can drive a lot faster when under the influence (of adrenaline) and Discovery 7 there is such a thing as 'red mist'

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Driving absolutely flat out, braking as late as possible, drifting through bends, using the curbs, late brake passing or blasting round the outside, setting up a pass 2 or 3 bends in advance and pushing the limits until the inevitable happens.

[CarAbuser]

I went recently, really enjoyed playing around with the kart on corners, getting the thing to slide.

One major downside for me was that the karts had a single gear with some sort of slush-box style transmission. The engine seemed to bog down hard at low revs meaning it was actually beneficial to slow down more than the corner required then build revs while still cornering so the engine had time to wake up.

[sheps]

We've arranged a few Karting meets on here before and they have been tremendous fun.
Carlos is our resident champ and is incredibly handy at it; he did it for many years as a youngster and did very well and still attends meets with his own kart even now.

I'm sure we'll have another meet soon, so keep your eyes peeled for the announcement and come along and enjoy it!

[Baby Dave]

Karting is awesome but getting back in your car afterwards and it feels like a sponge

[parapaul]

Originally Posted by Baby Dave

Karting is awesome but getting back in your car afterwards and it feels like a sponge

A quiet, smooth sponge, with nice, soft, comfy, supportive seats!