Our Maranello-Rotax 125cc Kart (13.4 minivideo added)

[danidmas]

Here it is, our new toy. My brother, a friend of us and me just bought this kart last week. I'm so busy that I haven't even driven the car, these pics were taken by my brother last friday while I was at Geneva Needs some cleaning, new pads and tyres, but it's in pretty good condition overall. It's one of those user-friendly, low-maintenance Rotax Max karts, where you just need to do the regular pre and post driving maintainance and that's it Engine is supposed to last 30-40 hours. I've never had one of these myself, but I've had quite a few drives when my team mate bought one about half a year ago. Very useful to keep "active" between races...




I'll try to do some proper pics in daylight once I get back from Czech in a few days, may be next weekend... hopefully. And write a proper "review" of how it drives once I get used to it... comparing it with the Clio, although they have very little in common actually

[TT]

So damn cool to own a go-kart 

[sameerrao]

Awesome! I heard that the  Rotax max karts are pretty much unbreakable. Very strong engines. A friend of mine had a shifter kart which is so fast in the corners that it can crack your ribs thanks to the g forces. Need to wear a chest protector. The  Rotax will be slower but being a spec kart, you can have some fun racing.

[danidmas]

Needless to say that this puts me as the favourite for the TAU Rebel Race of Champions Nürburgring Kart Series 2008 (aka TAURRoCNKS'08)

[sameerrao]

Needless to say that this puts me as the favourite for the TAU Rebel Race of Champions Nürburgring Kart Series 2008 (aka TAURRoCNKS'08)

You will be leading by a country mile for the first 8 miles and then sadly retire due to running out of fuel 

I guess your best hope is for a race of attrition like in Australia and then other guys retire their cars.

[ARMAN]

Thats one great toy you got there! Me envy you

[DMF]

I was wondering how long it would be before you and your bro picked up a Kart.. always remembered you talking about getting one.  Never had a chance to drive a Rotax, but I am always jealous every time I see drivers push a button to start the engine and then roll away with ease... but that jealousy quickly goes away when I blast past them on the track

A friend of mine had a shifter kart which is so fast in the corners that it can crack your ribs thanks to the g forces. Need to wear a chest protector.

chest protectors are for pussies

[danidmas]

I was wondering how long it would be before you and your bro picked up a Kart.. always remembered you talking about getting one.  Never had a chance to drive a Rotax, but I am always jealous every time I see drivers push a button to start the engine and then roll away with ease... but that jealousy quickly goes away when I blast past them on the track

LOL!

I've seen those karts... and the difference in performance between a normal 125cc Rotax kart and a shifter kart it's like let's say a Rotax kart and a rental one... I'd really like to try one some day, but sometimes I also feel that they're just too much for a kart track... you know, it gets a little busy upshifting 4 gears and downshifting another 3 in a 30 metres straight

[DMF]

I wouldn't say it's that much of a difference.. at least with my old and tired kart powered by Honda and not those crazy ICC motors.
I know what you mean about the shifting though.. that was one of the hardest things to get used to when learning how to drive the thing. Just trying to remember what gear I needed to be in around the track... it's very easy to loose concentration, but it does get easier with experience.

[novass]

Ah!!    I want a kart so bad!  Congrats on the purchase!

[pterps]

Now that is a cool toy Dani! First time I drove a Kart like that it scared the shit out of me because of the enormous speeds! Have fun.

[pzgren]

cheater!!! guess you'll spend your weekends until the rebel run in the cart preparing yourself for the race.... 

but damn cool anyway, nice addition 

[Phobo]

nice little toy you bought there Unfortunately karting over here is not really cheap even with your own kart (10min = 15euros - with a rental one).

Rotax is situated just some km away from me.

[mrmojo77]

Nice looking toy. I know that 125cc already delivers loads of fun.  Congrats for the purchase!

[danidmas]

Nice looking toy. I know that 125cc already delivers loads of fun.  Congrats for the purchase!

From Wikipedia:
"Karts vary in speed and some (known as Superkarts) can reach speeds exceeding 160 mph (250 km/h). A Formula A kart, with a 100 cc 2 stroke engine and an overall weight including the driver of 150 kilograms, can accelerate from 0-60 mph in under 4.5 seconds, and has a top speed of 85 mph (140 km/h). It takes a little more than 3 seconds to go from 0 to 60 mph with a 125 cc shifter kart (6 gears), with a top speed of 115 mph (185 km/h) on long circuits."

*

Do the numbers: 30hp + 12,000rpm + 180kg (inc. driver) = FUN

[mrmojo77]

From Wikipedia:
"Karts vary in speed and some (known as Superkarts) can reach speeds exceeding 160 mph (250 km/h). A Formula A kart, with a 100 cc 2 stroke engine and an overall weight including the driver of 150 kilograms, can accelerate from 0-60 mph in under 4.5 seconds, and has a top speed of 85 mph (140 km/h). It takes a little more than 3 seconds to go from 0 to 60 mph with a 125 cc shifter kart (6 gears), with a top speed of 115 mph (185 km/h) on long circuits."

*

Do the numbers: 30hp + 12,000rpm + 180kg (inc. driver) = FUN

Numbers convince me easily
Where do you drive the kart? You have a kart track nearby?

[danidmas]

Numbers convince me easily
Where do you drive the kart? You have a kart track nearby?

Yup, there's a kart track next to the Barcelona circuit, so close (2km at most from paddock to paddock) that when the Spanish GP takes place, the karting is always booked for commercial events - Vodafone with Alonso and Hamilton last year for example

It's 20km from Barcelona, and 15km from the small town where I go on weekends. And there we pay 72€ a month, which includes storage, discount on parts and supplies, and usage of the track whenever I want considering a 10-minutes ride with shit-slow rental karts is already 17€... I think it's a good deal

[Svensson]

That's very cool Dani! And very nice to have such a kart track nearby.
€72 a month sounds like a pretty good deal to me! Have fun

[DMF]

Damn.. that's an AMAZING deal. Quite surprised you only got a Kart now.

The track I go to is about an hour drive. For once practice session, I pay about $50 which is the entry fee for 1 kart + 1 driver. No storage (have a small trailer to transport , no discount on parts, and worst of all - practice session is only from 10am to 3pm, with up to 6 or 7 different classes which each are supposed to get about 8 minutes or so, but some groups get favored due to the owner getting more money from certain people and giving his kid more practice time.

That's not to mention the $10 per gallon 110 octane fuel!

[danidmas]

Damn.. that's an AMAZING deal. Quite surprised you only got a Kart now.

The track I go to is about an hour drive. For once practice session, I pay about $50 which is the entry fee for 1 kart + 1 driver. No storage (have a small trailer to transport , no discount on parts, and worst of all - practice session is only from 10am to 3pm, with up to 6 or 7 different classes which each are supposed to get about 8 minutes or so, but some groups get favored due to the owner getting more money from certain people and giving his kid more practice time.

That's not to mention the $10 per gallon 110 octane fuel!

Wow. That IS expensive then As I've said... considering the price of a ride on a rental car alone, 72€ each month to be able to drive there whenever I want is just about perfect. And that would be 42€ I think if I took my kart back home instead of storing it there inside a cage.

We use 95 octane petrol I think, with an oil additive that we add to the fuel, 125cc each 5 litres of fuel or something like that... my brother is the expert on these things not me LOL!

This is the track BTW:



It has 6 different variants but they are only used on race days. On open days it's always the same track...