Thought some might enjoy this...DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!!!

Ledean

Enlightened
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Dec 21, 2003
Messages
847
Location
Georgia
Wow that was one scary ride !.
I always wonder how these chaps handle so much power and accleration.
Now if my wife sees this i will never be able to get a bike.
 

Trashman

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Mar 15, 2005
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Covina, California
Ledean, never be able to get a bike? Just checking, but, did you notice that that guy was riding a go-cart? (!) That truely is psycho. I wonder why he didn't leave that killer HID headlight on the whole time? That thing had a lot of gears! I think the guy wanted us to be able to see the speedometer, but I couldn't. I've actually heard of those things going 80 before, but I wasn't 100% believing at the time. I guess I'm a believer, now!

Thanks Jumpmaster, that was a cool link!
 

KC2IXE

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Apr 21, 2001
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New York City
Guess you guys haven't seen racing go carts before - wild that he had it out on the street, ut true competion go cart racing is where most Indy/CART type drivers get their start - then up through the Formula Fords (or whatever has taken it's place - at one time there was Formula V - VW Bug based cars) and up the food chain

edit to add links

http://www.hyt.com/gocarts/racing/nascar/index.shtml

http://www.bondurantsuperkarts.com/racing-go-cart.html

http://www.endurancekarting.com/2004/go_cart.html
 
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chmsam

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Apr 26, 2004
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3rd Stone
Was that a shifter kart? Sounded like it but I couldn't tell from the video.

Many years ago I saw kart racing at Watkins Glen as a support race. Drivers were stretched out almost flat in the karts. They ran about seven karts wide down the start/finish straight into turn 1 and those who didn't know what was going on were laughing.

Until they saw the lap times. Woof!

Going that fast with your rear end maybe 2" above the ground was sick, scary, and perverse.

And my friends and I wanted to do that sooooooo much. A real good fix for the need for speed.
 

turbodog

Flashaholic
Joined
Jun 23, 2003
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central time
Did a little more looking...

Here's what I found:


Shifter cart

Weight 200lbs
Horsepower 35hp
Cornering Force 2.5g
Engine Purpose built 125cc Vortex 6 speed
Top Speed 120mph
0-100mph 6 secs
0-100-0mph 10 secs
Brakes F/R Disk


Ouch.
 

twentysixtwo

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 23, 2004
Messages
723
Location
Michigan
If you do the math, a 200 lb kart with a 150 lb rider is 350 lbs, so 35 horsepower is like 350 horsepower in a 3500 lb car. Not bad.for Power / weight ratio
 

turbodog

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Jun 23, 2003
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central time
twentysixtwo said:
If you do the math, a 200 lb kart with a 150 lb rider is 350 lbs, so 35 horsepower is like 350 horsepower in a 3500 lb car. Not bad.for Power / weight ratio

Yeah, sort of.

It's not that linear though. I drive a vehicle with close to 350hp and 3500# weight. And it's got nowhere near the performance of a shifter kart.

Wind resistance play a major role with the full-size vehicle. Rotational mass of tires and drivetrain components are also important.

But to look at this in a simpler way, it's got 0-100 time of 6 seconds. The closest thing I know of with this capability is a Ford Cobra (mid 1960's vintage). And that car had about 450 HP and a weight of only 2000 #.

If you extrapolate that out, a 3500# car would have to be pushing close to 800 HP.

Is it starting to "click" yet? :p
 

Wolfen

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Aug 11, 2002
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Midwest
Sounds just like the Suzuki 125 cc Dirt bikes we would ride as kids.
 

Jumpmaster

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Jun 14, 2001
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Friggin' MORE COWBELL!!!
Hey, glad y'all enjoyed the vid...

This and the other links here make skydiving look safe, so I think I'll stick with that...:shrug:

Funny thing is I was a lot more brave about things like this in my teenage years...anyone remember the Honda Odyssy?
1-38.JPG


We used to ride that, 3-wheelers, four-wheelers (had a Suzuki..first one with built-in reverse gear, IIRC), dirtbikes, etc all through the woods. Been thrown off horses a few times, etc...I think pain just hurts more these days. :D

Not saying anything like that is anything near the shifter kart danger...just that I'm pretty chicken lately...:D

JM-99
 

Nitroz

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 29, 2004
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Monroe
Jumpmaster said:
Hey, glad y'all enjoyed the vid...

This and the other links here make skydiving look safe, so I think I'll stick with that...:shrug:

Funny thing is I was a lot more brave about things like this in my teenage years...anyone remember the Honda Odyssy?
1-38.JPG


JM-99
The Odyssey is such a blast to drive. I was on a sand track in Florida that had those and it was so much fun.
 
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