I figured I would finally make myself an account since I seem to always come lurking here for information. The name is Jacob, 28, engineer with Toyota, and I bought my first kart (a 2019 Birel AM29) back in April and have been racing with the OVKA this year in the 206 Senior class. Its been a blast so far.
I’m new to karting, but kind of not new to motorsports or turning wrenches. I grew up a car guy, done the whole track day thing and autocross, but I kind of found out the hard way that being any sort of competitive in a car is very expensive. I also grew up in central KY where there are no kart tracks around other than dirt oval stuff so I never knew this existed! Which is why I’m late to the party.
Anyways, I’m looking forward to chatting with everyone and hopefully I’ll see you all on the track!
(the other toy if ya’ll are into this kind of thing)
Awesome, welcome! I also caught the karting bug after doing a little bit of car driving. All of the plans I had for my car budget have now gone into me and my sons’ karting budget
Unless you started as a kid I would say 28 is not a late bloomer, actually quite the opposite. I started in my late 40’s when my son wanted to try karting as a teen. So unless you have someone helping you financially, most adults will need some disposable income to get into racing.
I suppose i call myself a late bloomer because im racing against kids who’ve been racing a lot longer than i have Lol. But you made a very valid point! Its a big investment to dive into the sport when you’re by yourself.
Welcome jacob ! Thats a sick japanese car ! In my case every month start with a rush to pay the bills just to see how much is left over after that to spend on the karts ! Or for tools or …or… or … it never ends man ! I hope you have a blast with karting!
Those wheels do look nice on the fiat, TJ. Sporty! How does that car drive.? I’ve always wondered because they look very tossable. Enough power?
Oh yeah, come to think of it, I also initially started with cars but rapidly realized I was not wealthy enough to race cars, really. From there I stumbled upon karting, which was far more manageable for a father/son duo who both race.
It drives like a kart. No power steering, no power brakes, very good weight balance, very light, and no horsepower. It’s really fun to wring it’s neck and rev it hard. For a 40 year old car it really handles amazing. A little soft compared to modern cars so a sway bar kit should help. These still win auto cross events today.
Right now the starter is seized up so haven’t been able to drive it recently. Planning on an engine swap over the winter; going to drop a Honda B series in it I think. Double the hp and reliability should make it a lot more fun.
The more I drive the more I want a small underpowered car I can actually drive with vim and vigor at modest speeds. (This may also explain all the dudes on Harleys on Sunday, modest speed country roads). That sounds ideal! While the Miata seems to be the perfect modern car for this, I’d want something with more unique caracter.
