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

Dave,

There is a new one up north off of 101, GoKarting

I've been to Speedring many times, and it's decent, and they generally try to treat it like actual racing, not just Malibu Grand Prix wheel to wheel.

There's yet another place in Millbrae or thereabouts. Can't remember the name off the top of my head, but it's very near 101.

Le Mans is cheaper than Speedring, last time I checked. The Millbrae place seems to split the difference. One nice aspect of Speedring is they do reservations, so you don't have to wait around a long time to get your turn. This is esp. nice if you're going with friends.

Take your own helmet. Speedring's helmets aren't bad, but...

For real fun, however, nothing beats the outdoor stuff, up at Infineon Kart Track (up the hill from Sears Pt). It's a VERY nice track, great elevation changes and a nice layout. While kart rental is expensive ($120/hr, and you supply your own gear) compared to the indoor places, the karts are VERY fast.

Oh, one other thing, Speedring is open late during the week, and grabbing some time in the late afternoon or early evening is probably a lot less hectic than the weekend. You need to make reservations.

If you're both interested, perhaps we could make a group of it and hash out the WBO2 buy at the same time.

If a six foot 4 inch 230 pound fatboy like me can fit, and you guys don't mind, count me in on any group kart thing!
Patrick

Speedring does have some karts with, erm, "wide" seats. I have a buddy who's built like a fireplug (not as tall as you, but probably wider) who fits. The bigger issue are the 4'11" 90lb Chinese women that frequent the place (and kill everyone else).

I went to speedring before. seemed like a good operation to me. we had a reservation with a bunch of people so it was all us racing against each other, no outsiders. the kart I had was not in the greatest shape, nobody else seemed to have a problem though.

Some other week for the group thing...

I'll have to check on available times and such. Thanks!

I heard that the Speedring track surface was getting pretty chunked--is that still true?

Anyone have contact info for the Millbrae place?

The Infineon track looks very cool, but a lack of gear means no running there. My open-face helmet won't cut it, either, so it'll be the full monty for renting/borrowing equipment.

--DD

Been to all of them a number of times. Go-Kart Racer in Milbrae is by far the best. (and the best deal, in my opinion). Its really well run, and their karts are noticably more powerful than the other places. The track there is also a lot wider which makes for a lot more open passing without blue flags. LeMans has become a joke. It's poorly run, and they don't maintain their karts properly. The last time we went, we made a reservation for 10 people ahead of time and they failed to mention that they only had 5 working karts that day. One of which broke during our session. Speed ring is pretty well run, but they've always been a little too quick with the blue flags for my taste.

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.

Last I heard the Millbrae place had a setup on the karts that didnt allow you to hit the brake and gas at the same time... anything change ?

If I had to chose between Lemans and Speed... Speed all the way. The place is pretty nice. Both of them utilize the same timing and scoring system.

Lemans wont be around much longer. They are scraping by.

Funny thing: I watched this exact same thing take place in Dallas 10 years ago (too many indoor kart places) and ALL of them failed. SpeedR was built on the premise of corporate groups attending "sales force" events.


B

Dave.

GoKart Racer in Burlingame is far the best for getting your need-for-speed fix. On Mondays thay open up both sides on the course linking up the two. Lap times are around 1min. I've taken a half-day off and did two 20min races and was dripping in sweat.

Lemans Karting is also good. They often let you get away with pushing and shoving more than say, Speedring. Where the "no bumping" sign and the Black Flag is constantly waving. The Lemans karts are tough too.. My brother plowed me into the barrier last year. Up past the steering wheel into the tires. Busting the plastic barrier in the process. The Boss was not happy. I haven't been there in a while but, they did change the track. It's still a lot of fun

Pat

Thanks!

--DD