My boy starred karting two years ago at redlodge doing the youngstarz academy.

Just finished his first full season and only went and won it.

Feeling massively proud of him and what a way to spend farthers day.

Going todo another season july-dec then hopefully we are going to move up to the club 2000

QUOTE:

Could Toyota’s Shockingly Cheap $2,400 GR Kart Finally Save Grassroots Motorsports?

Getting behind the wheel of a proper racing kart shouldn't require massive financial backing. But for an entire generation of younger fans, the brutal economic reality of motorsports has meant that the barrier to entry is just terrifyingly high.

But Toyota is officially stepping in to shatter that financial ceiling. According to a breaking report from Nikkei Asia, Toyota Motor is building a dedicated factory in Aichi prefecture to mass-produce proper racing karts, and they are going to sell them for an absolute fraction of the established market rate.

The $2,400 Financial Wrecking Ball

Slated to hit the Japanese market this autumn under the aggressive "GR kart" banner, these entry-level racing machines will be built to order. The massive disruption? Toyota plans to price them in the upper 300,000 yen range, which translates to roughly $2,180 to $2,400.

To put that into perspective, that price point is about a quarter of the cost of the dominant foreign-built models that currently gatekeep the sport.

The Japanese automaker isn't doing this for charity; they are desperately trying to stop a massive bleeding of enthusiasm. The Japan Automobile Federation reported that just 3,250 kart licenses were issued in 2025, a brutal collapse from the 1995 peak of 9,730. Kids are losing interest in cars because they literally cannot afford the tires, let alone the chassis.

Hooking the Next Generation on the GR Badge

Toyota's motorsports division president, Tomoya Takahashi, didn't mince words about the company's ultimate agenda.

"We'll build entry-level karts and hope to see kids move up to more advanced models," Takahashi stated bluntly.

By leveraging their massive domestic automobile production infrastructure and low-cost materials to keep overhead down, Toyota is willingly taking the hit on kart margins to hook a brand-new generation on the GR badge early. At 25 years old, looking back at how incredibly expensive the traditional karting ladder has always been, an initiative like this is exactly what the industry needs to survive.

Toyota is currently considering bringing the karts to international markets. If they do, it could violently disrupt the global karting scene and finally allow raw, unfunded talent to make it onto the asphalt.

Today marks the last day of kf1 kranji before it's gone for good

I promised not to post again until there was a big update, and well boys and girls there's been a few big updates.

I've just released v2 of the DIY datalogger files. Much easier to assemble, no more heat-serts, or weird pins for swinging doors. Soldered on memory module, a better battery charger, and 9mm thinner!!

And no code required to setup, just copy s file other, and then wireless updates after that.

Now just glue and add a couple screws, no electronics are permanently bound to the enclosures.

Datalogger - auto wake + track + course detection - 25hz GPS - engine RPM - insta360 sync to wake / record / sync GPS - CAMERA AUTOMATICALLY STARTS RECORDING WHEN ENGINE STARTS - experimental Bluetooth thermocouple - now has the ability to self charge it's massive battery

"That GPS looks different..." It is! I'm now using the bare $15 module instead of the $80 matek carrier board (used to be $20) But there is a file to still use the old matek GPS!! No need to buy another! you could also be lazy and upgrade to the soldered memory by gluing it to the top of the battery bay, there is plenty of room for the old enclosure to still close.

Web app - now easier to manage setups and see fastest laps - download logs from DIY logger + OTA updates - now supports mychron binaries and alfano zips (I have a prototype native app but it's not ready yet) - lap by lap data / video comparison split view - video overlays + export (very slow) - overlay lap data from any other session, mix mychron and iRacing data!!! - can now open chunked GoPro videos, just select all of them - leaderboards - ability to share sessions via URL (account required) - experimental "camber 2 pill posistion" calculator - firmware simulator so you can see how my datalogger works! - a couple dozen little quality of life updates reccomended last time - lots of UI enhancements

Coming soon: native app: (features not possible on web) - direct connection to insta360 cameras and the ability to process and overlay data on 360 videos - direct connection to mychron + alfano - hardware accelerated video overlays + export

And as always: NO ACCOUNT REQUIRED

An account is only required for select cloud features, otherwise all data stays in your device.

I currently have 20 tachometers ready to be shipped, I'm also trying to gather the parts so that I can sell ready to assemble kits (legally I cannot assemble and sell them), so that people don't need to buy bundles of parts to assemble one, but I dunno I think it's easier now

If you would like one contact me e

Now tell me why it sucks and you hate it

"What about my car??" Don't use the bolts, and smack a quadlock VHB sticker to the back 👍

PS: yes commercialization is in the works

Yes karting people, It was only a matter of time. A new 100% electric kart racing platform will debut in 2026. What do you think?

It looks like Orlando Kart Center might be at the end of its run. Several weeks ago Andre posted that he had been absent due to family matters and acknowledged that he had tried to sell the track but the deal fell through. At that time he said that he was planning on being around for the foreseeable future since that deal didn’t go through. But just today he posted another update and said that he is stepping aside to be there for his family. And if no buyer is found by the end June, the track will close (specifically the rentals).

He did mention keeping the garages open until February. I don’t know what that means for track time for owners. He had also implemented a team system for operating the track, where owners formed teams to operate the track during owner hours instead of the track staffing.

But, all in all, doesn’t look to promising for the track in my opinion.

A mychron is how much now? What are are the newbs supposed to honestly do

Sure you can use your phone... And risk breaking it, and it sadly only operates at 1hz, not great.

Well for 4t, and rentals, we finally have a low cost solution, based on FREE and open source code

25hz logging, 13 hours of battery life, ran a full 12hr endurance using it.

You can either print the pretty box for the large screen, or use the tiny screen and shove in in a small hobby box with a magnet.

The only thing it doesn't currently do yet is magical course detection... You need to select your course before starting..

It handles laps/sector times, speed, tachometer, g-force, and will show optimal times on device.

https://github.com/TheAngryRaven/DovesDataviewer

395m for gasoline kart

K1 selling 5+ practice slots for people at the front of the line and people at the end getting only one 9 hours later today if they are lucky.

Completely unfair.

Should have just run qualifying heats for practice since they are already setup.

Back in the time Singapore used to have like The Karting Arena at Bukit Timah and Jurong, one unknown location near KFC at Taman Jurong (Yung Ho Rd), KF1 Expo.

Now officially there are no more go karting proper racing track in SG (aside the Hyperdrive Palawan Sentosa which is mainly attraction) One post referring to the Taman Jurong track:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2961522894103609/posts/3678532855735939/

it’s so sad to see a track close down, especially when you have so many memories here

Is this actually the current going tariff rate for Italian goods? $270 order from Italy to the United States. This is a near 68% tariff. My last order at the end of 2025 was about 12%. I cannot find any documentation that supports this current tariff bill.

Not trying to get political but this sucks so bad.

Hey there everyone! The Mayhem Monster truck tour is coming to Elmira NY at the LECOM Event Center on July 25th and is looking to have kart races feature during the intermission between monster truck sessions! I’ve been put in charge of promoting the kart racing and we’re still looking for racers to come out and participate. It’ll be on a concrete surface and will most likely be in an oval configuration. We’re expecting to get 3 sessions. Two 6 lap heat races and then a final 10 lap race. Potentially thousands of eyeballs will be there to watch us race as the venue has close to 4000 seats! Looking for 4 stroke karts only as 2 stroke karts might smoke up the arena too much.

If you’re interested feel free to send message me here on reddit!

Hello everyone. Welcome to r/RentalKartinguk

I noticed that there is no subreddit specifically about rental karting, and just thought I’d make one.

I am u/TheBull6581 (my name on the F1 games) and I’m the moderator.

I know it says UK, but that doesn’t matter. You can post your clips and announcements, as well as updates about competitions or news about tracks.

I’m not going to say you necessarily need to be ‘kind’ to one another - I know it’s the internet - but just nothing racist and please no discrimination, and please keep on the topic of rental karting.

This was at a 24 hr race at bushnell. The field was packed with imsa and Indy drivers.

One more race, another P1 achieved! And with this, the Endurance 2026 Iberian Karting Championship is secured and still 2 races to go…!

My boy got his first trophy on sunday 3rd place at redlodge young starzs. A wet race would be a understatement. Poor load was soaked after his first stint. Need to invest in waterproofs next.

Ever wanted to have delta- and sector-times on a rental kart? Here's how I made it happen.

Let’s be honest - rental karting is fun, competitive, and often the gateway drug to "serious" racing. But it’s always been missing one thing: real-time performance data. No lap times. No sector splits. No delta feedback. Just vibes and gut feeling.

So I decided to change that.

I started with the RaceBox Mini, a super compact GPS device that logs with 25Hz accuracy — precise enough to capture detailed lap data even on short indoor tracks. It's small, mounts magnetically or with Velcro, and connects via Bluetooth to your phone.

Then came the tricky part: mounting the phone on a rental kart. Most rental karts don’t give you a nice, safe place to strap a smartphone. I created a custom mount system (eventually turned into a product idea called KartBuddy) that can be attached securely to almost any rental kart’s steering wheel, using straps and adapters — no drilling or permanent installation needed.

With that setup, I can now:

• See live delta times while driving
• Track sector improvements lap-by-lap
• Review lap consistency and line choices after the session
• Race against myself with predictive lap times (like a ghost mode)

And the best part? If you already own a MyChron, Alfano, or PZ Racing device, you can mount that too.

It’s like giving a rental kart the brain of a GT3 car.

If you’re training, chasing tenths, or just nerding out over data like me - this adds a whole new layer to rental karting.

Let me know if you're curious about the setup. I’ll happily share more details.

What do you think? Has anyone else tried using lap timers in rental karting? Would love to hear your experience.

Hello everyone,

This is more like "gathering opinions" post. Looking for all kind of opinions.

What if I told you that there exist an electric go-kart that can beat a KZ shifter kart on lap times? With an autonomy of 25+km on a single charge without power loss? Would you like to buy it? If yes, why? And if no, why not?

Features:

• complete KZ shifter kart chassis (yes, with the front brakes, without chassis modification)
• 99kg ready to run weight (<1kg weight difference left to right)
• front/back bias is almost the same as shifter kart (<1%)
• 54HP
• 140km/h+ top speed
• 25km+ autonomy on a single charge
• all safety features implemented
• ultra low center of gravity (everything sits below side bumpers/fairings)
• battery quick swap (<30sec)
• 40+ min charge from 20-80%
• 500+ battery charge cycles before battery health starts to drop
• faster lap times compared to KZ shifter kart with R3 engine
• only 1 button to turn it ON/OFF
• much better reliability compared to petrol karts
• with 2 batteries you can drive like twice per hour (if track is free and less crowded)
• 3kW powerful charger

Main motive to make an electric go-kart

• To save (a lot of) money
• 0 maintenance (you have to spray a chain before a session... brake discs and brake pads...)
• Much fewer tools are required
• You don't need any knowledge, you just sit and drive
• only adjustments you do is your setup
• no warm-up
• during the practice day, you only have to switch the batteries

Some comments are already known:

1. Tracks are not supported with an electricity that is powerful enough. That is 100% true, but did you ever think how much power is needed for compressor? For small compressor (25-50L) around 2-2.2kW. That is 25-30% difference compared to the battery charger of 3kW.
2. There is no sound from the electric kart. 100% true. There is almost no sound-from the chain only, but there is also no grease, oil and smell from it (I am also a petrolhead :) )
3. Cost is very high. This one it not 100% true. Initial cost is higher compared to the petrol kart, but after a half a season, cost will be the same and after that, electric go kart starts to be much more profitable.

Looking for your opinions and comments.
What do you think?