Never been into sims and suck at computers in general. But Kart Racer Pro:
Gimmick or genuine training aid?
Should i spend the money on a steering wheel setup in order to accelerate the new to karting learning curve?
I like it. Although itās been a while since Iāve had time to play with it. Sometimes the physics are quirky, especially over the limit, but it does a good job of replicating the āfeelā of a kart. For sure you need a wheel, but that doesnāt have to cost a ton of coin either.
KartPulse setup a download mirror for KRPā¦ doesnāt look like they are using it though 
ghost kart is in the dry 
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I played when it first came out many years ago, and it was a ton of fun if you had a wheel, especially if you drove the KZ with a sequential shifter.
James is right, it feels pretty close, but itās not perfect.
Even if itās not a perfect 1:1 comparison to actual karting, I firmly believe that ANY racing game (or any high intensity video game in general) has applicable use in training for karting. Just things like hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness, mental multi-tasking etc. Even if you do a race in Forza with a controller, many of the skills that are required will still help in actual racing.
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Awesome. Wanted to build one of them so bad. But you know how that sometimes goes 
They are phenomenal! Totally adjustable in every way. Easy 6 hours in planning cutting drilling. But once it came together it was a dream. Jumped on gran turismo and rocked the nurburgring like Iāve never done before with a wheel and tv tray lol since these pics Iāve added a small amp and bass shaker under the seat to simulate bumps and such
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Iāll be the first guy to say HELL YEAH to Forza on a controller. I used to love racing in competitive series online (i.e. TORA) in Forza Motorsport and Iāve met some of my closest friends doing it. Many fundamentals I learned from racing on a controller definitely applied when I first started karting: building hand-eye coordination, being consistent, smooth on the wheel (control stick in this case), basic racecraft, etc.
I still have a long way to go and a lot left to learn (if my weekend at USPKS is anything to go byā¦), but playing Forza for the better part of a decade made first starting out in a go kart relatively seamless.
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We had a KP FM for a league for a while.
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Sweet, free additional seat time here i come!
So i went to the local PC place and picked up a thrustmaster wheel and pedal thingy. Came home all amped up. Downloaded KRP and tried to playā¦
Apparently my computer is a dinosaur.
So back to the local PC place and bought a new Ryzen? Something PC with a flash graphics inbuilt box thingy. Got that home, Unboxed etc but couldnt get any display on the computer screen.
So back to the local PC place which resulted in a new TV being loaded into the truck.
God help me when i eventually want to look at race studioā¦
Wife is going to get a surprise when she gets home 
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KRP is on sale
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Convenient timing wasnt it. Although the saving was somewhat negated!
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Great, I was going to ask about this, and then the thread popped up.
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Had a chance to do the computer change over this morning and get it all running. Looked up the most realistic ffb and wheel settings on the krp forums.
Itās interesting just how much I already rely on kart feedback to make decisions. Lack of felt G and traction really messed with my experience. Still, i think it will be great for practicing looking ahead and minimal steering input even if breaking forces etc dont transfer. 
Yes, when I worked at iZone (sim training place in UK) we started out with KRP. If you forget the physics issues, and you tune the set ups not for speed but realistic steering input angles and crank up the force feedback then you can get some utility out of itā¦ especially for understanding the effects of where you focus visually.
Sims in general are also fantastic for learning what your ideal process is for improving your driving. I personally learned a great deal from playing Indy 500 on PC (1989) and it was keyboard only 
ā¦edit - the shock just hit me that the Indy 500 game was 30 years ago!! 
Super stoked @Terence_Dove for the response. Youāve completely reinforced exactly what I had focussed on with KRP. Iāve been reading your book repeatedly lately and made a list of items to work on in order to set up good practices and techniques from the get go. Braking techniques, focal points and shifting brain processing to autonomous control via looking ahead without lingering too long. And a carry over from my dirt bike background, dismissing mistakes for later processing rather than dwellng on them and compounding the error. These items topped my list.
Seeing as picking out braking points due to difficult 3d depth perception plus the braking and G forces canāt be felt correctly, iāve been tuning settings for realistic input feel and response and cocentrated on my focal points and looking ahead. Aiming for smooth driving and clean lines combined with accurate pedal control. Iāve basically dismissed lap times for speed purposes knowing that the lap times will come down by doing the above correctly.
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Sounds perfect to me!
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Well. I reckon i can categorically state that as a rookie to karts, this was absolutely most definitely helpful to me. Which answered my own question. This can be a genuine training aid, at least on a rookie level.
As above, despite missing G forces i have learnt some of the karting specific basics AND they have transfered to real life track driving. On my first lap at tonights closed practice and testing I was 3.216!!! seconds quicker then my P.B. If i can replicate that come race weekend i should be right up the pointy end of business (yes, reality will be a hard mistress).
I set myself tasks and goals for each session and timed my sessions to 20 minutes.
Looking ahead, mental focus, identifying key points and being smooth were my big big big takeaways. Trying to force myself mentally into that nirvana driving bubble. Worth every cent it cost to setup imo and i gained 1200 laps free āseat timeā this week alone.
Next, i plan on building up my mental focus duration. Practicing staying on it up to 150 lap sessions. Our local club has some enduro format race within regular club rounds coming up and iād like to be up to the task.
āKarting, the art of going slow - really fastā
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I added this last weekend. Yes, it needs more tracks. And many of the other comments are certainly valid. The shifting using the H pattern stock doesnāt work very well - Iād rather just use the paddles instead.
Butā¦ the thing that struck me the most is that the brakes are defective, at least with the out of the box settings. I have a shifter cart with only a rear brake, but it stops much faster than the karts in the simulation. That really throws me off as a late braker.
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Thatās weird, I never noticed that. Although I mostly drove the 100cc FA kart. The KF of course has a hand operated front brake.
My pedal box came with some mechanical means to change brake feel. That combined with soft pads and some in game controller calibration have managed to replicate for me the breaking feel. I am only trying to replicate an Arrow x4 X30 125R though, not a shifter.