Decided to go karting with the girlfriend

"Desu-San-Desu" (Desu-San-Desu)
08/07/2014 at 10:59 • Filed to: None

Since it's been open for a few months and seems to be doing well, the girlfriend and I decided to go to LeMans Karting in Greenville, South Carolina. It was a ton of fun and also a good excuse to test out the 720p 60fps mode on my Nabi Square HD action cam/GoPro knockoff, haha. If you want to watch it in 60fps, just watch the video in 720p HD. Youtube automatically adjusts the framerate to 60fps for HD.

I came in second by .19 seconds, but I'm okay with that since it was my first time. I wasn't too worried about having a fast lap time. I just wanted to learn the track and have fun, which I did. As for the girlfriend, she's the one with the purple Converses and the Deadpool socks that I passed 4 or 5 times, lol.

Some things I learned:

1) I need to angle the camera up higher than I expected. I didn't realize how low it was angled and I'm sorry if that makes the video hard to watch.

2) Judging by how much my head bounces, I am apparently a living, breathing bobble-head doll. So yeah...sorry for the shakiness.

3) The camera makes things look so much slower than they feel when you're there!

4) When in doubt, look around. If you don't see a marshal waving a flag, go flat out! See about the 6:08 mark for what I'm talking about. No flag was being waved, so instead of slamming on the brakes, I went for the gap, then slowed down to double check everything. After the race I talked to the marshal and he was what I did was fine, since I wasn't being reckless about it and the flag wasn't being waved.

5) The throttle lag at low speeds really makes oversteer a time-sucker, despite how fun a handful of oppo is. I decided to got for oppo over speed anyway, haha.

6) The protective case for the camera really muffles the audio considerably. I can assure you that these karts are quite loud, haha.

7) 10 minutes may not sound like a long time, but I was exhausted by the time I finally got out of the kart.

8) Now that I think about it, the throttle lag may have had more to do with the fact that the poor kart was lugging around 240lbs of Desu... >.>

DISCUSSION (9)

BKRM3 > Desu-San-Desu
08/07/2014 at 10:27

Believe it or not, side of the helmet makes for a more natural (and stable?) angle. Here's a video from a session my friends and I ran last Friday. Unfortunately, my friend and I don't actually run into each other in this session so you can't see my sweet lines and general karting prowess =P

crowmolly > Desu-San-Desu
08/07/2014 at 10:36

You buy the camera on Woot a few weeks back?

Desu-San-Desu > crowmolly
08/07/2014 at 10:43

YUP!

Potentially the best $50 I've ever spent.

crowmolly > Desu-San-Desu
08/07/2014 at 10:47

Same here LOL. Seems to work fine so far. Certainly not GoPro quality but still a huge deal for $50.

Desu-San-Desu > BKRM3
08/07/2014 at 10:47

I think I may try that next time. I'll probably go again in a couple of weeks. Thanks for the tip!

Also, where the hell is that? That looks like one seriously fast track! Also looks like a longer, faster, more comfortable kart.

BKRM3 > Desu-San-Desu
08/07/2014 at 11:32

The gas karts you were in are a pretty popular model. We have those nearby as well (or very similar), and they have 9.5hp engines and really haul ass. The electric "F1" karts from the video I posted are a whole different kettle of fish. Power delivery is different, weight is different, etc. I like to mix it up and do both types. That track is the closest one to me, so I end up doing the electric a bit more frequently. That place is called Speed Raceway and it's in Horsham PA in a building that was formerly a Wal-Mart. There are actually 2 tracks they run simultaneously. Sometimes they combine them to make a 1/2 mile "monster" track, which is a lot of fun! Anyway, if you go to the YT profile for the electric kart video and watch Run 1, that's on the other track layout. I'm not sure which is faster in terms of top speed. We are pretty quick. My first run on layout 1 came in at 6th fastest for the week (on a Friday!) and my first run on layout 2 was 10th fastest of the week.

Here's a video (not mine) from our nearby gas kart track. I did a 3 hour enduro (drove 1 hour straight!) with the BMW CCA club racers and instructors on this track. Man what a workout. We got 2nd place =)

That guy doesn't seem too quick but I got sick of looking through awful quality videos lol.

Desu-San-Desu > BKRM3
08/07/2014 at 11:36

I got so confused at first as to why the flat part of the steering wheel was on top. I was like "Did they mount it upside down!?" and then it became clear that it's to give leg clearance at full lock.

BKRM3 > Desu-San-Desu
08/07/2014 at 12:09

Hahaha I thought the same thing!!

Flugtechnik > Desu-San-Desu
08/07/2014 at 16:58

"5) The throttle lag at low speeds really makes oversteer a time-sucker, despite how fun a handful of oppo is. I decided to got for oppo over speed anyway, haha."

Couldn't agree more. I had more fun sliding sideways than I would have winning. And the lag was excruciating.

My son and I went there about a month ago for a friend's birthday party. We had a blast. The guy said I could bring my own helmet next time if I wanted.