go-karting?
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Originally Posted by BillJC
I always go monday nights when they open up the whole track. The fasted I've gone if i remember correctly is a 54.10. Then again, I'm 5'10" and weigh 225.
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Joined: Nov 2002
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From: Milpitas, CA
Car Info: Aspen White GDA
Originally Posted by hatchy
speedring is ***. the marshalls are all ***********. They dont even want you to drive the karts hard and they'll black flag you for even thinking about pushing the kart. I much rather spend my money at Lemans.
IMO, the folks at Speedring are the ones who really know go-karts. The things he asked you NOT to do, I'm damn sure that's the things you shouldn't do.
"Push the kart hard"? I'm sure to many others your statement may well be translated into "Let's see how these karts get wrecked".
Trust me, if you go there often so that they know your ability well enough, they'll let you "push" it.
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 206
From: Milpitas, CA
Car Info: Aspen White GDA
Originally Posted by BillJC
Speedring sucks. The karts are old and are slow as hell. Lemans is a little bit better but, the karts aren't maintained well. The last time I was there about a year ago, the kart I was driving lost it's brakes which sent me into the wall which in turn broke a rib. 4 months of pain later I started going to gokartracer. that place is way better than both lemans and speedring. I just wish that the track works would use the blue and yellow on the slow people instead of the black when you end up bumping them to get them out of your way.
The brakes wouldn't work on the current lap and then fade totally on the next lap. If you failed to sense that you might as well be exposed to dangers on any other tracks.
Yeah Speedring's karts are old but if you learned the danger by means of breaking a rib, that's no good.
Real story, I know two guys from Speedring, Mr. A and Mr. B. Both can consistently do mid-29 seconds/lap. Mr. A is the kind who would "push" the kart hard, crashing and spinning, then back adjust to reach his limit. Mr. B is the kind who touches the limit, draw back and try reaching further, bit by bit until he reaches his limit(or so he thinks).
Now, which one do you think will live longer (or have the funds to race longer) if they were to go into amateur racing? I bet Mr. A will wreck his car on the first event. Sure, they both have talents but sometimes you just don't do things in certain ways.
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 206
From: Milpitas, CA
Car Info: Aspen White GDA
When you guys post your best times, why not post your weight and time of the day you did that. Big differences!
Track layout has its effects too. For example, at GoKartRAcer, where there are more hairpin/straight combos, weights count a lot. Reason is you have to slow down to walking speed and then accelerate up for the next straight.
My friend and I did an experiment in Le Mans. He is about 25lb lighter than me. We both run at about 22.5s. Then we put 20 lbs of weight on him (it was NOT even distributed on his upper body, whereas natural bodily weights should be). End result is .7s slower.
That difference will certainly be larger at GoKartRacer, because of the track layout.
So tips for the slightly heavier folks is to keep in shape, OR, bring your buddies to karts with serious power so your weights have little effect.
Track layout has its effects too. For example, at GoKartRAcer, where there are more hairpin/straight combos, weights count a lot. Reason is you have to slow down to walking speed and then accelerate up for the next straight.
My friend and I did an experiment in Le Mans. He is about 25lb lighter than me. We both run at about 22.5s. Then we put 20 lbs of weight on him (it was NOT even distributed on his upper body, whereas natural bodily weights should be). End result is .7s slower.
That difference will certainly be larger at GoKartRacer, because of the track layout.
So tips for the slightly heavier folks is to keep in shape, OR, bring your buddies to karts with serious power so your weights have little effect.
Last edited by kalasend; Nov 4, 2004 at 03:43 PM.
Originally Posted by razorlab
Since that is a second faster than even the fastest time currently on gokartracer.com for that track and that I don't see your name on the list, I am going to have to call BS on that one.
Bill
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Originally Posted by kalasend
When you guys post your best times, why not post your weight and time of the day you did that. Big differences!
Track layout has its effects too. For example, at GoKartRAcer, where there are more hairpin/straight combos, weights count a lot. Reason is you have to slow down to walking speed and then accelerate up for the next straight.
My friend and I did an experiment in Le Mans. He is about 25lb lighter than me. We both run at about 22.5s. Then we put 20 lbs of weight on him (it was NOT even distributed on his upper body, whereas natural bodily weights should be). End result is .7s slower.
That difference will certainly be larger at GoKartRacer, because of the track layout.
So tips for the slightly heavier folks is to keep in shape, OR, bring your buddies to karts with serious power so your weights have little effect.
Track layout has its effects too. For example, at GoKartRAcer, where there are more hairpin/straight combos, weights count a lot. Reason is you have to slow down to walking speed and then accelerate up for the next straight.
My friend and I did an experiment in Le Mans. He is about 25lb lighter than me. We both run at about 22.5s. Then we put 20 lbs of weight on him (it was NOT even distributed on his upper body, whereas natural bodily weights should be). End result is .7s slower.
That difference will certainly be larger at GoKartRacer, because of the track layout.
So tips for the slightly heavier folks is to keep in shape, OR, bring your buddies to karts with serious power so your weights have little effect.
However, the vision and pioneering effort of SpeedRing should not be forgotten. Kalasend is right, few know their business better. When SpeedRing was being built the NASDAQ was hitting 5,000. By the time it opened the Bay Area was in financial crisis. This has been SpeedRing's millstone, and the fact that Sept 11th crippled the comeback it was making at the time. The safety and marshaling standards were and should still be of the highest standard. The layout is the finest compromise I could make for the racing experience. It a techical but fast track that didn't aimed not to penalise the heavy drivers with slow turns and too much grip and to create more passing and setting up opportunites particularly by the width. Never mind the shape of building, pillar layout and centralised cafe and bridge. A lot more track could have been crammed in there with narrow straights and hairpins but at the expense of a premier racing experience.
It's a work of art, or was, or was supposed to be. With better economic timing SpeedRing would still be setting the pace.
Oh, by and large, you can figure on 1/10th of a second per 10lbs at Speedring, perhaps a little less at Lemans. Bear in mind that your friend is not 'used' to driving at 20lbs more (the kart will feel subtly different), if you guys were equal in skill, you should be 2-2.5 tenths apart when driving the same kart. I can assure you this is pretty accurate.
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