Your favourite Go-Kart places

[predator]

Decided to start a new thread that reflects changes in currently open places vs bumping the old thread.

So me and a couple of buddies want to go Go-karting in the next week or so and wanted to get opinions on what places are the best in 2 different categories:
a) the fun/speed factor and
b) the best bang for the buck.

I personally went last year to formula kartways and didn't like the place too much. We had to wait a bit for some karts to charge (electric karts), found the track to be too short and limiting in hitting any real speed especially if there is someone else on the track with you plus I got a relatively deep cut from the kart and they didn't have any disinfectant or any first aid kits around.

Anyone can compare formula kartways to Centennial Park Mini Indy? they seem to have a very good deal on Fridays (All You Can Ride from 6-9pm for 32 bucks).Any other places with good specials and a decent experience?

[Rekognize]

Formula Kartways for their fast karts and technical track
FK uses gas power karts don't they? Are you sure you're not talking about Grand Prix kartways?

I've been to the following tracks:
3s Go Karts - Really fast karts and long track but expensive and pretty far
401 Mini Indy - really short track
Nascar Speedpark - slow karts
Wonderland track - slow karts
Playdium - expensive

[traktion]

time to upgrade past the kiddy karts and come to cameron motorsports, biggest place in canada. F1-k chassis and 80km/hr speeds.

[mlc2000]

theres a good place outside Niagara Falls.

[Rekognize]

theres a good place outside Niagara Falls.

Niagara Go-Karts & Mini-Putt?

[mlc2000]

Niagara Go-Karts & Mini-Putt?

sounds about right.

[SLOGAN]

Wasaga 500

Good running cars.
Long Track.

[eightyeight]

time to upgrade past the kiddy karts and come to cameron motorsports, biggest place in canada. F1-k chassis and 80km/hr speeds.

CRKC, I see?

Did it for one year, had a blast. Then upgraded to the HRKC 2-stroke F1-K Sr..

80kph became 80mph, and I've been hooked on it ever since. Currently in my second year of the Ontario Champsionships, and loving every minute of it :D

Back on topic though:

a) Fun/Speed: Cameron Motorsports arrive and drive. Every Sunday at 2:30PM. $70 (non-members) + $30 neck guard. Practice, qualifying, race and all damages included. Pricey but definitely a step above public pay-per-lap tracks.

b) Bang for buck: Centennial Park. Long, outdoor track. Respectable kart speeds with room to pass. Make sure you go during the unlimited driving hours, though.

[shadow_cruiser]

Personally I don't think any other kartway is more fun then Centennial. For the person who goes like once or twice a year, this is perfect. I found Formula Kartways too short of a track and became boring after awhile.

http://centennialmini-indy.com/site/index.php

P.S. - I've never been on the Toonie Tuesday or All You can Ride Friday special, anybody know how busy it is?. Also, my girlfriend has her G2 while I have my G, would we have different class of karts?

[BladeX]

i usually just go to formula because no where else around the area is any better i think their one of the best IMO


eightyeight

for $100 how long does it last ? i dont mind trying it, i want something faster!
what about the 80mph carts are those arent the shifter carts right?

where can I go for those

[Rekognize]

what about the 80mph carts are those arent the shifter carts right?

where can I go for those

Usually up north...

I recommend 3s go-karts in Sutton (http://www.3sgokartsinternational.com/09_contact_us.html) Call them up and ask to speak with Linda or Enzo

[traktion]

CRKC, I see?

Did it for one year, had a blast. Then upgraded to the HRKC 2-stroke F1-K Sr..

80kph became 80mph, and I've been hooked on it ever since. Currently in my second year of the Ontario Champsionships, and loving every minute of it :D


Ohh I'm jealous, one day maybe... I live like 2 mins away from that place.

[traktion]

Usually up north...

I recommend 3s go-karts in Sutton (http://www.3sgokartsinternational.com/09_contact_us.html) Call them up and ask to speak with Linda or Enzo

Up north there is no 80km/hr Karts, here they are automatic 2 speed I believe and Cameron is located in Hamilton, near the airport.

[eightyeight]

i usually just go to formula because no where else around the area is any better i think their one of the best IMO


eightyeight

for $100 how long does it last ? i dont mind trying it, i want something faster!
what about the 80mph carts are those arent the shifter carts right?

where can I go for those

Shifters are in the 90-100mph range. 2-stroke non-shifters are in the 80mph range.

Unfortunately, I don't know of a place where you can reasonably rent a 2-stroke or shifter kart for a single day. All the karts I know of are owned and raced privately. 2-stroke packages run for $4-5k, Shifters can be anywhere from $7-12k.

The $100 for the 4-stroke karts (~50mph) will last from 2:30pm till 5 or 6pm. But, keep in mind you will not be driving the whole time! There are a bunch of other classes racing at the same time. You will get a practise session, qualifying and a race. I would guess anywhere between 20-30 laps in real wheel-to-wheel competitive racing.

More information can be found at http://cameronmotorsports.com/crkc.html
The complete rules, regs and details can be found here: http://cameronmotorsports.com/2008%20CRKC%20JAN08%20RULES%20REG%20FINAL2.pdf

[aimfox]

the only one i have been to is the one from Wonderland and the track is crap.. but i somehow managed to play more than 20 rides in total so far

[matdwyer]

The one outside niagara falls is good actually, pretty fun (although I've only been to maybe 5 in my lifetime)

Gasoline alley gokarts (highway 11 north of barrie) is slowish and short...BUT they let us go out in the rain one day and we had an absolute blast...

401 was kind of a disappointment... again the RFDer in me, I don't want to spend 3 bucks for a 30 second lap :-( Wasaga is about the same way

[aznshinigami]

i also have a question. i'm going go karting with some friends but despite the fact that a driver's licence most of us only have a g1 licence. i was wondering if that's okay if we want to go to the faster tracks and if not where is the best track for non g2 drivers

[OceanDrop]

Does anyone know the name/address of the one near Lindsay, ON? I remember one being there when I was younger but can't recall where.

[ainsane]

Mosport is the best I've been to. The outdoor track is awesome.
http://www.mosportinternationalkarting.com/

[predator]

Ok, so I went to Centennial Park Mini Indy today with a couple of friends and this was my 3rd time ever go karting and let me tell you, I was extremely disappointed unfortunately. So I can't recommend it even for beginners.

The track was good and long so I had no issue with it but the karts themselves were horrible. Not even close to the 45km/hr they advertised but here is the worst part: The karts themselves have a weird limiter that I can't understand, it doesn't only limit your top speed but it cuts off power completely.

For example every time you came to the stretch underneath the bridge which is a nice straight line you get power cut off so you coast half the way. Many situations going into corners or out of them there was no power in the damn thing. This wasn't an issue with one car I changed to three of them and my 8 other buddies had the same problem.

It's cheap for a reason.

[Rekognize]

Ok, so I went to Centennial Park Mini Indy today with a couple of friends and this was my 3rd time ever go karting and let me tell you, I was extremely disappointed unfortunately. So I can't recommend it even for beginners.

The track was good and long so I had no issue with it but the karts themselves were horrible. Not even close to the 45km/hr they advertised but here is the worst part: The karts themselves have a weird limiter that I can't understand, it doesn't only limit your top speed but it cuts off power completely.

For example every time you came to the stretch underneath the bridge which is a nice straight line you get power cut off so you coast half the way. Many situations going into corners or out of them there was no power in the damn thing. This wasn't an issue with one car I changed to three of them and my 8 other buddies had the same problem.

It's cheap for a reason.

thanks for the tip, was thinking of going there this friday for their unlimited laps special; i think driving around at 30kph for 3 hours is more torture than fun :lol:

[al3x89]

Ok, so I went to Centennial Park Mini Indy today with a couple of friends and this was my 3rd time ever go karting and let me tell you, I was extremely disappointed unfortunately. So I can't recommend it even for beginners.

The track was good and long so I had no issue with it but the karts themselves were horrible. Not even close to the 45km/hr they advertised but here is the worst part: The karts themselves have a weird limiter that I can't understand, it doesn't only limit your top speed but it cuts off power completely.

For example every time you came to the stretch underneath the bridge which is a nice straight line you get power cut off so you coast half the way. Many situations going into corners or out of them there was no power in the damn thing. This wasn't an issue with one car I changed to three of them and my 8 other buddies had the same problem.

It's cheap for a reason.

Alright, I work at Playdium go-karts and it seems that a lot of people complain about the speed.

The TSSA limits all go-karts to 27MPH for outdoor tracks, not sure what the limit is on indoor tracks though, but it's not 27MPH.

So people really need to stop comparing outdoor tracks with indoor tracks because the regulations are different.

Also, depending on the outdoor track, the gokarts may not even reach the maximum "allowed" speed because of the way the track has been built.

That being said, I think our track is pretty good compared to other tracks. It's 1.2KM and the indy karts we have go 26MPH, which are good enough. We do require a G2 licence, but that is only because unexperienced drivers could not handle the indy karts. These karts are bigger and heavier, and people can say all they want that they don't need a licence, but they really do. We want people with ANY TYPE OF DRIVING EXPERIENCE to operate these karts, and how the hell on earth are we supposed to know if people have driven gokarts before, at least that 'G2' is proof that they have driven something.

The handling on these go-karts is also WAY different than the regular karts that we have.

That's all I gotta say.

[Rekognize]

Alright, I work at Playdium go-karts and it seems that a lot of people complain about the speed.

The TSSA limits all go-karts to 27MPH for outdoor tracks, not sure what the limit is on indoor tracks though, but it's not 27MPH.

So people really need to stop comparing outdoor tracks with indoor tracks because the regulations are different.

Also, depending on the outdoor track, the gokarts may not even reach the maximum "allowed" speed because of the way the track has been built.

That being said, I think our track is pretty good compared to other tracks. It's 1.2KM and the indy karts we have go 26MPH, which are good enough. We do require a G2 licence, but that is only because unexperienced drivers could not handle the indy karts. These karts are bigger and heavier, and people can say all they want that they don't need a licence, but they really do. We want people with ANY TYPE OF DRIVING EXPERIENCE to operate these karts, and how the hell on earth are we supposed to know if people have driven gokarts before, at least that 'G2' is proof that they have driven something.

The handling on these go-karts is also WAY different than the regular karts that we have.

That's all I gotta say.

mmmmk I say give us an rfd discount and we'll try your karts and we'll see for ourselves :D

[matdwyer]

Just went to the niagara go kart place again this past week, 6 laps for 20 bucks. Talk about a cash grab!!!!! There is a coupon in some of the brochure racks for 2 free laps with the 6, making it 8 for 20.

[Rekognize]

Just saw this on formula kartway's website..

http://www.formulakartways.com/14years.gif

[al3x89]

mmmmk I say give us an rfd discount and we'll try your karts and we'll see for ourselves :D

Just come on a Tuesday and you get laps for $2...

There :) Solved.

[predator]

So people really need to stop comparing outdoor tracks with indoor tracks because the regulations are different.

That's all I gotta say.


I wasn't comparing tracks but the overall experience. How you arrive at that speed limit is also an important factor. The acceleration of these gokarts was pitiful in all honesty and I have no problem when the kart reaches the maximum speed. It's the cutting off of the power at way below the limit that is annoying (eg first corner out of the pit) and in many other places when your not even close to 45 Km/hr.

What about Cameron Motorsports? They seems to have faster karts available for rental on an outdoor track.

@Rekognize: I remember the formula kartway experience being much better even though its a smaller track where its not easy to pass due to space issues. It was hard to find that promo on their site but if I saw it earlier I would have definitely went there.

[Takami]

So, which outdoor track is the bang for the buck?

Cameron, 3-S or Mosport?

[Rekognize]

Going to Formula Kartways tonight with a few friends.. it's 25 laps for $27 (Sun-Thurs only)

[Eyies]

Sudden craving for go-karting now.. haven't been in awhile. Thanks for the recommendations.

[Rekognize]

Join us tonight, we'll be there around 8 :cheesygri

[Eyies]

Hmm.. brampton kinda far, and track seems small! Pass for now till I get a couple friends and decide on a place :cheesygri

[mgronqui]

Sportsworld had a great racetrack when it was around, although I have a small sampling.