Race Go Kart Overview

A Kart is a sophisticated racing machine, with a 125cc, water-cooled 2-stroke engine, producing around 33 horsepower, with the power-to-weight close to most modern super cars! In addition to the rapid acceleration, the cornering and braking performance is even more impressive, and “neck stressing”, achieving lateral cornering forces of around 3G’s, with rapid de-acceleration the experience of karting is hard to match by almost any other motor sport. Depending of gearing and set up the kart accelerates from 0 - 60 mph in only a few seconds and has a top speed of around 90 mph.

Driving Karts are as close as you can get to drive a Formula One or Indy Car, in respect to the skills and reflexes needed to pilot these machines due to the speed in which these Karts react to the drivers input. In fact, many of the top professional race car drivers train in these types of Karts to stay sharp and in shape, as driving Karts is extremely demanding physically, due to the high g-loads put on the driver's body.

The chassis is made of steel tube. There is no suspension therefore the chassis have to be flexible enough to work as a suspension and stiff enough not to break or give way on a turn. The stiffness of the chassis enables different handling characteristics for different circumstances. Typically, for dry conditions a stiffer chassis is preferable, while in wet or other poor traction conditions, a more flexible chassis works better. The chassis allow for stiffening bars at the rear, front and side to be added or removed according to race conditions. Braking is achieved by ceramic disc brakes with carbon pads mounted on the rear and front axles.

Karts do not have a differential. The lack of a differential means that one rear tire must slide while cornering; this is achieved by designing the chassis so that the inside rear tire lifts up slightly when the kart turns the corner. This allows the tire to lose some of its grip and slide or lift off the ground completely. Power is transmitted from the engine to the rear axle by way of a chain or direct drive. Both engine and axle sprockets are removable, their ratio has to be adapted according to track configuration in order to get the most of the engine.

Wheels and tires are much smaller than those used on a normal car. Wheels are made of magnesium alloy or aluminum. Similar to other motor sports, Karts have different types of tires appropriate to track conditions. Slicks for dry weather and special threaded rain tires for wet weather. Depending on chassis and engine setup, the tires can support cornering forces around 3G.

We run an unmodified '99 spec Honda 125cc two-stroke 6 speed engine. The "Moto" Honda CR125 is the most common shifter engine platform in the US. Its ability to make power, Honda reliability and the availability of reasonably priced parts have made this the engine choice for most racers.