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UK Karting
(58 posts, started )
Quote from ayrton senna 87 :u dont need to shift S u jus carry on racin!

That's after a nice man has pulled you outta the tyre wall and you've lost the race effectively
#27 - Jakg
Quote from Gentlefoot :That's after a nice man has pulled you outta the tyre wall and you've lost the race effectively

i spun in the wet (tried to overtake, went off the dry bit and locked up) and was on the grass going backwards into a wall - suddenly the LFS'er inside took over and i jammed the throttle (rather than sitting there like a stuffed lemon!), the marshall was ready to give me a push back on the track, but my wheels started spinning, and i coated him in mud
Quote from Gentlefoot :Got the lowdown about Butmore Park (near Chatham Kent) from my next door neighbour who is a jap crap freak. He says the Karts at Butmore do 80mph and are 200cc, no clucthes. They will spin with power oversteer if you don't respect the throttle. Now that's my kind of Karting

Anyone brave enough?

Anyway - whatever is decided count me and at least one or two other mates in.

I doubt it. Maybe in the wet with slicks you'll get power oversteer. The karts are 200cc four-stroke AFAIK and they'll do nowhere near 80mph. They also have clutches.

Quote from Jakg :i spun in the wet (tried to overtake, went off the dry bit and locked up) and was on the grass going backwards into a wall - suddenly the LFS'er inside took over and i jammed the throttle (rather than sitting there like a stuffed lemon!), the marshall was ready to give me a push back on the track, but my wheels started spinning, and i coated him in mud

I bet you avoided him after the race
#29 - Jakg
Quote from Leifde :I bet you avoided him after the race

i didn't see him (thank god!)

I've got pretty scared by the environment tho, when the kart in front goes through a puddle you get a 5 ft vertical wall of water you CANNOT see through, and i hope that stuff like that (and dirt on your windscreen after a "shortcut") goes in LFS in S3
Quote from Jakg :i didn't see him (thank god!)

I've got pretty scared by the environment tho, when the kart in front goes through a puddle you get a 5 ft vertical wall of water you CANNOT see through, and i hope that stuff like that (and dirt on your windscreen after a "shortcut") goes in LFS in S3

Try that at 60mph, then its scary

Yeah, it would be good to have that in S3 but think of the FPS hit you'd get
It will be nice to see LFS do this eventually. I see LFS heading into the problem that system requirements will start going up once this is put in the game.

As for tracks I would like to goto MK. I have heard good things about it and I heard the karts themselves are very good too. There is a problem with people coming to the track though.
Quote from Leifde :I doubt it. Maybe in the wet with slicks you'll get power oversteer. The karts are 200cc four-stroke AFAIK and they'll do nowhere near 80mph. They also have clutches.

I bet you avoided him after the race

OK, I'll be sure to go round there tonight and call him a liar. And if you've learnt anything from playing LFS you'll know that a vehicles ability to power oversteer does not come about through power as much as setup.

And anyway, you should check your facts. These are two stroke Karts!!
Quote from Gentlefoot :OK, I'll be sure to go round there tonight and call him a liar. And if you've learnt anything from playing LFS you'll know that a vehicles ability to power oversteer does not come about through power as much as setup.

And anyway, you should check your facts. These are two stroke Karts!!

I've never heard of a place that hires out 2 stroke karts without a MSA racing license and this is usually done by people who run businesses selling karts, not clubs or corporate hire racing. It is also usually at a premenium, £100 for 4 races about 6mins in length if I remember correctly. Nor are there many places that do this, because most 2 strokes require rebuilds every 10 hours and haven't near the same reliability as a 4 stroke. Also the marshals would do there backs in bump starting the things... the list is endless as to why places don't hire out clutchless 2 stroke karts and especially to someone who could freeze and drive flat out at the claimed 80mph into a wall. It's bad enough in 200cc 4 stroke hondas when someone freezes up and keeps the foot planted straight into a tire wall, and it happened a hell of a lot at my local clubs open day.

I've checked Buckmore's website and they only advertise 4 stroke karts, thunderkarts and cadets for kids.

Up this way I've never heard of a 2 stroke 200cc kart with no clutch... closest I've heard of is a 210 which is a gearbox kart. I'd say 50mph is probably the absolute quickest at the end of a fairly long straight you'll get in a hire kart without having a MSA competition license.

I'd love to come down for some karting but it's just too far to travel for such a small event. Although if there is another LFS Enduro kart meeting I hope to make that, now I have some money coming in it should be easier to afford

Keiran
Quote from keiran :I've never heard of a place that hires out 2 stroke karts without a MSA racing license and this is usually done by people who run businesses selling karts, not clubs or corporate hire racing. It is also usually at a premenium, £100 for 4 races about 6mins in length if I remember correctly. Nor are there many places that do this, because most 2 strokes require rebuilds every 10 hours and haven't near the same reliability as a 4 stroke. Also the marshals would do there backs in bump starting the things... the list is endless as to why places don't hire out clutchless 2 stroke karts and especially to someone who could freeze and drive flat out at the claimed 80mph into a wall. It's bad enough in 200cc 4 stroke hondas when someone freezes up and keeps the foot planted straight into a tire wall, and it happened a hell of a lot at my local clubs open day.

I've checked Buckmore's website and they only advertise 4 stroke karts, thunderkarts and cadets for kids.

Up this way I've never heard of a 2 stroke 200cc kart with no clutch... closest I've heard of is a 210 which is a gearbox kart. I'd say 50mph is probably the absolute quickest at the end of a fairly long straight you'll get in a hire kart without having a MSA competition license.

Keiran

Well, either he's lieing (which I doubt), he doesn't know the difference between the sound and smell of a 2 or 4 stroke motor (which I also doubt) or Buckmore now use different machinery. I'll chat with him about it on Friday night.

But he was pretty sure about the whole 2 stroke thing. He reckoned they had a typical 2 stroke power band and revved high. He also was sure that they were clutchless because he mentioned locking the back wheels braking which then caused the engine to stall. Obviously this would not happen with a centrifugal clutch. You could then release the brakes and bump start it, also difficult with a centrifugal clutch.

I just find it hard to believe that he was wrong about all this stuff. He's a total petrol head and isn't completely clueless.
TKM engined karts are quite capable of pulling over 80mph at some kart tracks, but not in club 100 because they are long geared, and I seriously doubt it's possible at Buckmore Park. They accelerate, even with club 100 gearing, like a bat out of hell though - it's like being strapped to a space shuttle on take off and the first few corners you're holding on for dear life whilst your brain adjusts to the speed you are moving...
When I went to Buckmore (which was ~2 years ago now ) we were given thunderkarts. They were quite quick in a way, but no way 80, and they didn't give power oversteer. Just slightly quicker than indoor karts.

But a 200cc two-stroke in the hands of novices would be suicide! And without clutches? The race would be stopped every 30 seconds when someone spun and had to bump start the kart.

Your friend is either misinformed, a liar, or both.
Quote from Gentlefoot :[...]
He also was sure that they were clutchless because he mentioned locking the back wheels braking which then caused the engine to stall. Obviously this would not happen with a centrifugal clutch. You could then release the brakes and bump start it, also difficult with a centrifugal clutch.
[...]

This can happen with centrifugal clutches if they springs are too soft. Also when you do this in a clutched 2-stroke kart it can sound like the engine stops since you've just had it blaring away at 12k+ RPM and it suddenly drops to around 2k with hardly any load.

He might be thinking about Club100 as Will said, that would explain what he's said.

EDIT: @Becky - then you get to the braking, then the corner. In the classes with grippy tyres thats pretty surprising when you first go out too. After a while you get used to it. Funny thing is my parents never get used to me karting, they still worry like hell (especially my Mum)
Why would they bump start Karts with centrifugal clutches though? Maybe it was some kinda special day or something but he was there and that is what he said.

Sure, maybe they were 100cc and not 200cc.
Budget Banger Track Day Challenge
Slightly off topic I know but:

I think we should ditch the karting & race real cars on real race tracks. I had this idea last year but due to circumstances beyond my control it did not happen

http://viewmorepics.myspace.co ... 471&imageID=567897100

The idea is cheap affordable racing:

Buy a budget racer lets say 400 price range
Budget mods only upto 150

Then thrash it around some of the best tracks in the country

cars we could use include 205gti's, axgt's, swifts, xr2's, civics etc

What do ya think??
It's 'track day racing' anttt, which means it's unstewarded and has no official start and non-exclusive use of the circuit - which is a damned expensive way of not actually getting any quality racing.

Karting is a great way of getting cheap racing, in a rental series, as an owner driver thinking back ... tbh I think my money would have been better spent doing a cheap formula series like Swift 650 or Formula First. In any case, non-regulated racing isn't going to be any better than T1 at Blackwood.
Quote from anttt69 :Slightly off topic I know but:

I think we should ditch the karting & race real cars on real race tracks. I had this idea last year but due to circumstances beyond my control it did not happen

http://viewmorepics.myspace.co ... 471&imageID=567897100

The idea is cheap affordable racing:

Buy a budget racer lets say 400 price range
Budget mods only upto 150

Then thrash it around some of the best tracks in the country

cars we could use include 205gti's, axgt's, swifts, xr2's, civics etc

What do ya think??

Nice idea. But if you've ever competed in any form of motorsport you would know that the cost of the car is a tiny part of the total budget required. I bought a Golf Gti 16v Mk 2 last 2 years ago. It cost me £600. I competed in it for a year (last year I had no money) and it cost a fortune. Sure, I didn't NEED a competition engine, suspension or a rollcage but I bought them and they cost big money!!

The bare minimum you could get away with is sprinting in a production class. You would not need cage, harnesses, race seats etc. You would still need however a FIA approved race suit (at least £150) helmet (at least another £150, MSA non race licence, club membership, entry fees, tyres.

As soon as you want to run slicks you are gonna need a cage, race seat and harnesses. If you want to race and not just sprint you will then need a plummed in fire extinguishing system which is also costly.

Ofcourse you could go and race with the oval boys (non MSA) if you think your hard enough and you don't mind being beaten about the head by a disgruntled competitor's trophy lol
Quote from Gentlefoot :Why would they bump start Karts with centrifugal clutches though? Maybe it was some kinda special day or something but he was there and that is what he said.

Sure, maybe they were 100cc and not 200cc.

Ah, sorry, I think I misunderstood, I thought you meant that when you released the brakes the engine started up again because you were still moving.
Quote from Leifde :Ah, sorry, I think I misunderstood, I thought you meant that when you released the brakes the engine started up again because you were still moving.

Yes, I did mean that but they also started them off with a bump start at the beginning of the run.
That's a clutchless 2 stroke engine, being rental probably TKM, and long geared. It may have been club 100 (which is a rental league that goes up and own the country) or Buckmore may have experimented with a fleet of 2 stroke karts. In any case, I for one am not driving to kent to race the track.

It may well be owned by Jonny Herbert, but that doesn't make it a great track... What that makes it is a popular one where, as an owner driver, the circuit completely disregarded it's customers.

I turned up to practice for an endurance race, paid my daily fees (slightly more expensive than some other tracks for a days open practice) and then got told I could only go out only at certain times of the day, and for a grand total of 4 x 10 lap runs ... barely enough to get heat into an endurance setup, and a complete rip off for 40 laps driving.

I have never returned to Buckmore since, and I wont...
Quote from Becky Rose :That's a clutchless 2 stroke engine, being rental probably TKM, and long geared. It may have been club 100 (which is a rental league that goes up and own the country) or Buckmore may have experimented with a fleet of 2 stroke karts. In any case, I for one am not driving to kent to race the track.

It may well be owned by Jonny Herbert, but that doesn't make it a great track... What that makes it is a popular one where, as an owner driver, the circuit completely disregarded it's customers.

I turned up to practice for an endurance race, paid my daily fees (slightly more expensive than some other tracks for a days open practice) and then got told I could only go out only at certain times of the day, and for a grand total of 4 x 10 lap runs ... barely enough to get heat into an endurance setup, and a complete rip off for 40 laps driving.

I have never returned to Buckmore since, and I wont...

Dissapointing to hear that since I am on the Surrey/Kent border and not far from this place. It's not like I've got my heart set on Buckmore, it's just my mate raved about it and I like the idea of driving a kart where I wouldn't be able to get away with simply stamping on the gas. Everytime I've been karting I've been frustrated by the lack of speed. The fastest ones I've had a go with were twin engined things at a Daytona place in Sandown Park. They got to about 60 but still felt too slow for me.

I'm not scared of a bit of travel. If I get the Gixer out I could be in MK in about an hour Depends if I come on my own or not.
Quote from Becky Rose :It's 'track day racing' anttt, which means it's unstewarded and has no official start and non-exclusive use of the circuit - which is a damned expensive way of not actually getting any quality racing.

Karting is a great way of getting cheap racing, in a rental series, as an owner

Actually its a race at a track day, true the start could be tricky, but a rolling start would not be out of the question, we dont need to pay officials to watch us from the sidelines while they umm & arrrr & shuffle bits of paper around.

The randomness of other cars on track, well that just makes it more interesting & at the end of the day its for the fun of it not some money sapping Stock Hatch championship where you need a 1000pound blueprinted engine to be anywhere in contention.

Karting is still the best racing for the money but they are only go-karts & its nice to take your real car out for a spin sometimes. If you've ever driven around cadwell park you will understand.
Most tracks down there seem to work in a total different manner to what I'm used to up here. The tracks up here are just clubs run by the members where the time constraints are set up by the council because of stupid people who build houses near a track and complain... They don't hire karts out every day etc, they aren't a business just a non-profit club.

Basically you pay your membership fee, get a key and go practice for free whenever you want within the time constraints. Obviously there is restrictions on what classes can run together so there is a system run to make sure everyone gets on for the same amount of time.

Clutched karts will sound very quiet when you lock the rears even if the engine is still running. Even prokarts it can sound as if the engine/s have cut out when locking the rears, I guess it's just your brain tricking you. As it's a technique used often to set the kart up for the corner you can often hear the note of the engine change quite dramatically even as a spectator.

Rotax Max which will have a centrifugal clutch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWpdNIU9ZVk

Although you can hear it a lot clearer in the TKM which has no clutch
http://www.karting1.co.uk/braking-karting.htm

I'd still be surprised to hear that Buckmore hire out 2 stroke karts to Joe public. Maybe there was some form of racing series going on when your friend was there and that series were renting out Club100s as a taster?

Keiran
whichever the kart, I don't care! I would like to go karting though, does everyone agree with racing at MK?
Quote from anttt69 :Actually its a race at a track day, true the start could be tricky, but a rolling start would not be out of the question, we dont need to pay officials to watch us from the sidelines while they umm & arrrr & shuffle bits of paper around.

The randomness of other cars on track, well that just makes it more interesting & at the end of the day its for the fun of it not some money sapping Stock Hatch championship where you need a 1000pound blueprinted engine to be anywhere in contention.

Karting is still the best racing for the money but they are only go-karts & its nice to take your real car out for a spin sometimes. If you've ever driven around cadwell park you will understand.

Problem is you can't race at a trackday. You are not allowed to pass unless it's by consent i.e. the person in front indicates, moves over and lets you pass - always on the left. People can even get sent home for 'block passing' into left handers.

If you have your heart set on racing (as I) there are some low cost series you could look at. Me and my mate have been going to watch these events and have chatted to competitors (my mate runs a motorsport prep business and is always selling). I'll post some links at the end.

But really Ant, it still aint cheap. As I said if you want to race cars you're gonna need all you FIA approved stuff and it's expensive.

What I suggest is this. Buy yourself an MSA National B (Non Race) licence from here http://www.msauk.org/site/custom/home/default.asp?chapter=22

It will cost you £32 and you don't need to pass a test. Then you will get your 'blue book' through the post. This details all the regs you will need to be aware of for all forms of racing from sprinting to rallying to circuit racing. You will then be in a better position to know what your budget might need to be.

Next step is find a race series. Find one that allows older cheaper cars and does not allow much modification. There is an Alfa series (can't remember the name) where you could run an Alfa 156 2.0TS (pick one up for under £2k now). Then you enter the class that only allows small modifications, maybe dampers are free. That keeps the cost down.

Have a look at:
http://classic-club.co.uk/Tin%20Tops.html.

If I find some more links I'll add them

UK Karting
(58 posts, started )
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