This discussion topic is way overdue. Superkart as deserve way more hype than they get
/edit JFC they sound epic.
I was set and all excited to rent a Super Kart for Mid-Ohio, but he was also selling it and sold it. I am hoping to get into one next year.
I agree! A very different form of karting to short circuit karting. I enjoyed it in the 80ā/early 90ās. Iām sure its progressed from then but they were still very fast then. We were lucky enough back then to race on the Silverstone GP track for the British kart GP. The picture (from Autosport Magazine) is from 1989 at a televised race at Brands Hatch. Iām #97. If I was still living in the UK I would have antother crack at it even at 65 years old 
Iām heading to The Bend (near Adelaide) this weekend for R2 of the Australian Superkart Championship. Practice day Friday then racing Saturday and Sunday. A photo of the crew at the track from a couple of years ago. Fantastic fun on a stupendously good and fast track (sweepers through T8, 9 and 10 at close to 200 km/h are mind bending).
Iāve always been curious about Superkarts and would love to give one a go sometime. Just so different from what Iām used to.
Get in touch with Johnny West. You never know how much longer that itāll even be possible
I used to know Johnny a bit when I first started, but havenāt been around that scene in decades at this point. Iāve got some contacts, maybe Iāll see.
Nice helmet! 
(20 symbols)
Superkarts have to be one of the most incredible racing machines in existence. Canāt imagine what they are like to drive. Have you been?
I have been out in a 250 Nat, but not Div 1 or on the longs. Iād like to have done some stuff but couldnāt get everything together
Woah. Thatās awesome. I bet a single is still incredibly fast. Arguably the greatest value for money in the world on a medium speed / short circuit. It seems the tighter a circuit becomes the more they are favored over machines that get into pretty serious racing territory.
SCCA autocross actually bans 250cc and they say itās because of insurance. I think itās because if 250cc karts were allowed they would win nationals outright and shift focus of the autocrosser to karting. Once they discover how cheap this sport is by comparison and the speed they get I believe it could be detrimental.
250 singles are plenty fast! Thatās what I raced in the British Long Circuit championships. We raced on all of the car racing circuits in the UK.
Paddock bend in a kart at Brands Hatch is an amazing rush every lap. I would love to experience the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca in a kart, only ever done it on motorcycles.
Did I ever tell you guys I got into karting because I was scared of speed?
Fascinating. I was a coach there for a couple of years and I think the Corkscrew is the most boring overrated corner in the world. I come from roads like that with big drops and elevation so its nothing special. The corner after the corkscrew is my favorite on the track.
I mean, I can see that? The speeds are under freeway at a lot of circuits but it feels a lot faster. I got into it because I wanted to race wheel to wheel and was tired of autocross. Iām assuming youāve raced cars on full size circuits?
Jim what were you coaching there, cars? Must have been an awesome job:)
I just know on motorcycles the corkscrew is a fun sequence!
Nah, to clarify as a kid I was a scaredy Kat so I spent my yoot beating that out of myself in boardsports.
The appeal of karting was partially that it was āslowā meaning that it was unlikely to be a fatal hobby. I did start my motorsports journey trying some car schools but decided that it was not gonna be practical for me because:
A) $
B) married with kid
Karts ring the bell because when I get into something, I really get into something, and karting gave me WAY more access to driving at the outer edges of the limits in a cost effective and non fatal format! A huge win. Cars just werenāt feasible and I may have been a speed averse person once upon a time but my SOS has, well, evolved. Karts can be wrung out and have the lovely feature of releasing all of their kinetic energy in a very short ācrashā relative to the long and drawn out fiascos of 1000+ lb cars.
How interesting. Itās funny to me how so many people glorify cars and see karting as a mere stepping stone to āthe real thing.ā When in reality, I find karts to be much faster than cars proportionate to the tracks they run on, direct driver feedback w/o conventional suspension, and more physically demanding than any car Iāve ever driven.
$ is a HUGE factor in this sport and my thought is why spend more for less of an intense feeling, lap time, or competition? At Streets of Willow a TaG kart will run somewhere in the realm of 1:20 or 1:22 which I think equals a GT3 RS or something outlandishly quick and expensive.
Your philosophy on the sport is cool. I came from sports cars and once I found karting I kind of abandoned cars. We are the same but for different reasons haha. No kid here yet. Still looking for the wife part 
Karting has always had somewhat of an inferiority complex. There were brief moments at the start where it was powerful, and car people realised it was a genuine threat. However the inferiority complex has almost always been one of its biggest limiting factors, and paradoxically has caused of all the accusations of being ātoo expensiveā because it bent the knee to F1 and become subjugated.
I like that karting is kind of hidden and not respected the same way cars are. It keeps the cost down. My attitude has always been "sure go off and race cars! Thatās the āreal dealā " meanwhile I am enjoying shifter karts for pennies on the dollars.
Thatās my main motivation for wanting a 250 Div 1 kart eventually. Has to be the single greatest lap time per dollar ratio of anything on 4 wheels.