go kart or aw11

[redsprinter]

hey guys .

so have got some cashed saved up .. and im at a cross road . last week i did a formula ford day and loved it . ive got the bug again to go back on the track (will be doing another one but 1on1 next time!).

i was doing easy 1.10 around wakefiled with some really bad down gear changing . so i reckon i can take another 2 sec of my pb just by getting a used to the friggin dogboxes.

and since then ive been thinking of what I should be doing next . do i go the go-kart route and try persue a career in racing starting from go-karts and hopefully in the next 5 or so year try out forumla ford (im 24 this year)

or

there is a particular aw11 mr2 sc thats for sale atm and its cheap enough for me to get running and do some track days and hopefully hone my skills on .. so later down the track (no pun intended) i can do some serious time attack and maybe try ipra or irace and even a bit of drifiting (havent rule it out yet) ..


what to do what to do .. my budget is 5k .

[RRX-007]

well it all comes down to what you really want to start doing?

[Gunner]

In my opinion dude, I would go the MR, it will be far more versatile then the kart which you will be extremely limited in, in the long run overall costs wont be that different to run them, from what I have seen anyway, real karting can get very dear very quickly, especially if you want to be competitive enough to gain sponsorship etc, and move your way up to the formula cars.

With the MR you can run it anywhere, circuit, non speed events etc etc etc, you just can't do that in a kart.

[Andy San]

no offence but you're probably too old for formula ford :( seeing as the average age is around 20ish in the national series cars. Budget around 150k per year running costs to do the national series plus car.

[redsprinter]

In my opinion dude, I would go the MR, it will be far more versatile then the kart which you will be extremely limited in, in the long run overall costs wont be that different to run them, from what I have seen anyway, real karting can get very dear very quickly, especially if you want to be competitive enough to gain sponsorship etc, and move your way up to the formula cars.

With the MR you can run it anywhere, circuit, non speed events etc etc etc, you just can't do that in a kart.

hey man .. yeah that what i was thinking aye . a track car is alot more versatile. have you done much karting ?

[Gunner]

No, not really, I have had a go in a 6 speed super kart, fucking awesome, but never a proper run, my bro in law services 2 supers, and they are in his workshop after every meet to be inspected, I know one of them was saying he does 8 pairs of tyres a weekend. 3 front 5 rears, and this changes dramatically with varying track conditions, not to mention if the tyres are hot, and you go off, they're fucked, if you lock the brakes up they're fucked. I just can't see it as a viable form of motor sport. not when a weekend could cost anywhere from 200-5000 to drive a fast lawnmower.

with the mr atleast you can go to any club meet and have a fang, and then when your done, service it, inspect and of you go again. Decent tyres will last a lifetime under a stock 4a, use quality oils and parts and it would be nearly bullet proof, provided you dont abuse it. That said a super kart will shit all over it in speed, but the mr is far far more user friendly and would be my choice, though I'd buy a race only 98 sti for 6k and use that.

forgot to add that some of that info such as the cost of a weeked of racing is from when i was working at ec karts

[OMG866]

Get the MR. i have a go kart and it never gets used anymore. Yea you might love racing on the track and everything. but after doing it 20 times the go kart will become like a boat that just sits at home and never gets used. just my 2 cents.

GL whatever you do..


MR aw11 FTW

[mack 10]

Motor racing is expensive. Nuf said. If your serious about karting you will need to be testing every weekend once fortnight minimum to stay at the front. You will need Tyres every meeting, plus race and practice motors, different sets of axles, rims bla bla bla not to mention learning how to set the kart up for each track. Motorsport is money, and if you can drive you might just win.

[skit]

Agree with Mike86. Dejavu actually, there was a thread like this years ago. I've spent a little time karting, owned a few, and worked on them for a few years. A few freinds and aquaintances have been fairly heavily involved in car racing, and I've been out and about helping in the pits etc - so thats the baseline of my opinion.

I think it depends if you want to drive against yourself/the stopwatch, or race others. Most of the modified production style car race meetings I've seen, the racing is not particlularly close across the field, as the performance of the cars varies so greatly (not talking HQ's or gemini production classes). Alot of guys just run around solo, 5 seconds apart from the next car. Not really my idea of a race given all the effort in preparation and costs of attending a meeting. In karting, I would say that the racing will likely be much tighter, even if you're in the slow bunch. There's always amateur guys there who can't afford a motza of spare tyres and engines as Mike86 said, and who are also not in the same race, talent wise as the guys at the front. So you might be racing for the bottom 5 positions, but you should be able to see your opposition and get some good wheel to wheel fun.

The other thing is simplicity. A kart is so simple, compared to a car. Much less to go wrong, and less time involved to work on it. Sure they're not particularly cheap, but if you bend a kart frame beyond repair, go and buy another ax-8 (or whatever model theyre up to these days!) for $900 and spent a couple of hours changing everything over, and you're done. Hit a wall in a car, and spend a few weeks transferring all your gear to a new shell. As I get older, the more I appreciate my time, so I think this is a factor worth considering.

If you were going to keep the aw11 registered and use as a casual track car/hill climb car, then I think it starts to become a more sensible option. It is annoying having a kart sitting there that can't be used at anytime (in the same way it is for a track car/bike etc). If you can drive the car whenever, you'll get much more return for your investment.

[RRX-007]

like andy san said, probably to old for fomula ford. but if you are 100% willing to put in time money and effort, go karting would be best suited, because you will learn alot more about racing if you do end up making it to a higher dicipline of racing, compared to being fast in the mr2 then going somewhere else and not having to much knowledge on competitive racing.

[hollywood89]

aw11 - so i can drive it to the track for you!!!!!!!!!!!!

and what do you plan to do with that other engine anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

gotta use it sometime!

whats better than to put it in the aw11!!!!!!!!!!!

[ae71]

ive always disliked the idea of a 'track only' car as i really like street driving/drifting. i dont drive my car much here unless its going to see the missus or going to the hill/track. but i wouldnt really like to have it as a track only ar because i still like street.

a few advantages of a track only car is no defects, no engineering for mods, no insurance and rego hassles (also save a bit of coin). also you wont mind if it doesn't have A/c, interior, audio etc etc at the track.

but if you want something just to fang around and have a few laps in then on the weekend then street rego saves the hassle of having to have a capable tow car and buying/hiring a trailer.

i cant see a stock aw11 being ball tearing fast, but its light and with slicks it should be reasonably nimble in corners. then again having a near stock motor its far less likely to break and wont burn up tyres/brakes as fast.

dont forget that if you spend all the money you have saved up on the car you will still have to spend that again on getting it ready for even beginner track work.

[mitchy]

not all of us live in japan.......