OT: SF Bay Area Karting, Which facility is best? Options

[Dave_Darling]

There are a few places around the southern end of the Bay where one can run karts wheel-to-wheel. Most of them are "arrive and drive" deals, where you show up with nothing but a fistful of money, and they provide the suit/helmet/kart/everything. I am considering going driving at one this weekend some time, and was wondering which one you guys prefer, and why?

The only two facilities that I can recall of the top of my head are Le Mans Karting in Fremont, and Speedring down in Santa Clara. I've actually been to Le Mans Karting, but did not drive. How does Speedring compare, and are there similar places around this area?

Thanks!

--DD

[lapuwali]

The Speedring surface is just a concrete warehouse floor with some traction goop on it. There are a handful of bumps caused by joints in the concrete. The traction goop has been applied more than once, so the surface isn't consistent everywhere, and seems to change even from day to day (regulars note it's fast one day, slow another, fast again a few days later; fast being maybe 0.5sec quicker than slow). It's the oldest facility, opening in Dec. 2000 (bad timing on their part), and it's certainly more tired than it was a few weeks after it opened.

I haven't been in months, so I have no idea if they've resurfaced it again recently. It's not really that big a deal. The karts have maybe 6hp, you hit maybe 40mph for 4-5 seconds. The tires are granite and you're meant to slide. You feel the expansion joints in the concrete a lot more than you feel the little ripples in the goop.