Tales of a First Time Go-Karter

"404usernotfound" (404usernotfound)
03/20/2015 at 21:10 • Filed to: Go Karts

Today, I went go-karting for the first time. I'd compare it to a drug, it's pretty addictive. The place I went to is called Autobahn Indoor Speedway, in Jessup, MD. Was $50 for three 14 lap races, which was probably a bit too expensive, but its the only indoor place I could find within about 50 miles of me. Got there at about 1:30, and it wasn't to busy. There were a few 20 somethings, and a few families. I was there with my dad. We signed in and watched a safety video, and was in a car within maybe 10-15 minutes.

There were two tracks to choose from, LeMans, and Monaco. LeMans is Shorter and faster, and Monaco is slower and more twisty. The karts are electric and feel quite powerful, they say they can get up to 50, but there is nowhere on these tracks you can really go that fast. Because they are electric, you cant just keep the throttle pinned and use the brake with the other foot. Apparently it stalls them out.

The first race was on Monaco, and I was pretty bad at first, and was passed multiple times. It really took some time to get used the handling of the karts, and the braking zones. These karts really don't like to slide, and you can actually get them to understeer quite a bit. Before I got in, I was really worried I was gonna spin, after seeing, multiple people spin and crash out in the previous race. If you dive them properly, they just stick, with maybe some understeer if you really push it. I never spun, but I started out really sloppy, and slowly got better. I don't remember what place I got (only me and my dad are listed my time card) but it cant have been very good. My fastest lap time was 26.592.

Race two was on LeMans and was so much better. This track is so much fun, because there is only one turn you really have to brake, the one after the (kinked) straight. It felt like you could almost slide around that whole turn. I really started to get competitive here. In this race, instead of being the one holding people up, the mom from the other family was holding me up. I ended up getting third with a quickest lap of 20.642.

Up to this point, the officials were attentive and actually paid attention to the race, but on my last race they just didn't care. The officials have a "let them pass" flag that is for someone who is t00 slow and holding someone else up, and they were using it a lot before, but not on this last race. This was back on the Monaco track, and had me, my dad, and 3 others. I started out front, got about 4 clean laps in, and then got stuck behind the other 3 people after they got into an accident, and for the last 10 laps of the race, wouldn't let me pass, even though I was clearly faster. I got past two of them after they crashed out again, but the third guy (Ian) just kept blocking me in the corners. Meanwhile the officials were just having a conversation with each other not paying attention at all to the bumper car race the guy was causing. I ended up getting past on the last lap, and ended up with a fastest lap of 26.357, only about two tenths faster than my first race. (The other guy was over a second slower) I could have probably saved another half second off my lap if I had gotten the "let him pass" flag from the officials.

Overall though, the experience was very enjoyable. The facility was clean, and when the officials were paying attention, they were quite fair. I really got into the spirit of going faster, and improving my lap times, and I definitely want to do more karting. I was multiple seconds off the fastest times on both tracks, so I definitely need more practice. There are some outdoor karting places near me, and when it gets warmer, I will check them out, and bring some friends along so I can have someone else to be addicted with.

DISCUSSION (12)

PS9 > 404usernotfound
03/20/2015 at 21:34

The Ultimate Indoor Speed Check; Tales from the Black Cart

^^Opportunity missed.

vdub_nut: scooter snob > PS9
03/20/2015 at 21:38

Then we could see it every day for the next nine months on the featured articles sidebar.

vdub_nut: scooter snob > 404usernotfound
03/20/2015 at 21:41

Sounds hella fun. Are you from MD? There's a new place (well, like 4 years old, but I fear change) up here in PA (Slick Willies n Reading) that I wanna go to. Only been karting once, and I held my own decently, considering I was the heaviest participant by probably 2-3 inches of height and 30 pounds (sophomore year of college I was a lardass).

PS9 > vdub_nut: scooter snob
03/20/2015 at 21:41

You mean 90 months, right?

... * cries*

Manuél Ferrari > PS9
03/20/2015 at 21:53

all hail Oppo God Brian Schul

404usernotfound > vdub_nut: scooter snob
03/20/2015 at 21:55

Yeah, I'm from MD, this place was only like 20 minutes from my house and I didn't even know it. I have family up in PA so I'll definitely suggest that as an outing next time I'm up there.

vdub_nut: scooter snob > 404usernotfound
03/20/2015 at 21:58

It's probably a hell of a drive for you, but there are a bunch of central PA jalops, I wonder if I could set up a karting night?

vdub_nut: scooter snob > PS9
03/20/2015 at 21:58

;_;

No, I meant 900 months.

404usernotfound > PS9
03/20/2015 at 21:59

Why didn't I think of that myself?

404usernotfound > vdub_nut: scooter snob
03/20/2015 at 22:03

that's a possibility, sounds like it would be a blast.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > 404usernotfound
03/20/2015 at 22:33

I did karting today too. It was $28 for one race we did 2 but the second was free (Yay coupons!). I was always the fastest out there, and people aren't aware of their surroundings well in those karts. I got ran into a wall at least 6 times trying to make a pass. I was faster, tried to get past them, and they just turned across me. It was very frustrating. Especially those that basically stopped on the apex...

Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST) > 404usernotfound
03/20/2015 at 22:46

I've been to an indoor karting place with these same type of karts. I don't like how the karts understeer, and the track is too narrow to really get any potential out of them. Added with how short each lap is, as in the case of an accident, or somebody being spun out, there is absolutely no room to go around or avoid them when you catch up to them (or the karts probably get their throttle cut until the track is green again).

I prefer gas powered (weight bias here: I'm 115 pounds) and outdoor karts, which I should do a write-up on, considering I signed up for a karting challenge of 4 rounds and managed to scrub 3rd in the championship.