The World's Fastest Go Kart Racing

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If we were to list the scariest forms of motorsport, this would be very near the top of my list.

I’ve driven a fair few very scary cars. Formula 1 cars, Classic Sports Cars with very simple suspension and some very fun hill climb cars.

But this Drag Racing series takes the cake, they are called Drag Karts and can beat pretty much anything that would come off a production line. They’ve got 450 horsepower and only weigh 250 kg - yep that’s a power to weight ratio of 1800 horsepower per tonne.

But perhaps the scarier thing is that it’s all attached to a custom-made home-built chassis.

So let me take you through the insane engineering behind Drag Karts, and explain just how fast these things are.

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Now, I feel we need some context here. For me, a scary car is something that is hard to predict - or where things can go wrong faster than you can save them.

And for me, the scariest car I’ve driven is the 1992 Benetton Formula 1 car - this thing had 680 horsepower and only weighed 505 kg. This comes out at 1340 horsepower per tonne, which is pretty much identical to today’s F1 cars.

But what made it scary was how (relatively) simple the suspension was. It had fairly conventional pushrod suspension, which compared to today’s systems, was very unrefined.

📺 F1 Driver’s Technique Explained

This is Scott Cooper, and his CBR 1000 Drag Kart - and we spoke to him to see what on earth he was thinking when he built this from scratch - then races it at speed of up to 185 miles per hour.

It started life as a standard kart chassis, most likely intended for speeds of about 40 or 50 miles per hour. It’s been chopped in two, meaning only the front section remains - behind that, the kart is fully bespoke.

And it’s custom-made in order to fit a CBR 1000 engine to it - and this comes from the top-of-the-line sports bike from Honda.

It’s an inline four-cylinder that revs to well over 12’000 rpm, which is more than enough to make that bike a handful. But Scott has added a massive twin-screw supercharger.

But that’s not all, he also runs it on pure methanol. Which as a fuel, actually contains less energy per gallon - however, you can burn much more of it per stroke as it needs less air and ultimately produces as much as 60% more power than if it were run on petrol.

And all of that means the engine produces around 450 horsepower.

[Have you ever taken it to full throttle? No - you barely get past half]

These high-powered bike engines are perfect for these karts, they produce a lot of power for something so small and light. As well as coming with a pneumatic-sequential gearbox that can shift in 20 milliseconds - pretty similar to any high-end rally car.

📺 F1 Engineering

🏎️ Track & Racing Driver!

🏁 Sim Racers!

#DragRacing #Engineering #DragKarts

[geoffreyanderson]

This is definitely in the category of: "What the heck were they thinking?"

Truly amazing.

[marcodicaprio]

Scott: "The F1 car must carry a lot of weight due to impact protection"
Drag Kart: "We don't do that here"

[Tater]

With the absolute insane power to weight, acceleration, speed, and almost no driver protection...I think his helmet is wearing him for safety

[MakeSomething]

I race go karts on dirt ovals with a top speed in the 40s MPH. That's fast enough me. Yikes to this!

[yvan]

Please add metric conversions in at the very least subtitle form for any and all numbers if theyre in imperial. It really helps the people who dont use imperial numbers on a daily basis. Thanks :)

[thirdwheelau]

I love how he's got his electronics in an air tight food container. DIY done right.

[LtNduati]

This makes Group B in the 1980s look safer than a road car

[floribethenterprise.]

Investing is buying yourself a better future you don't have to work hard again.

[Dispariabooks]

The insane stats on this thing mean that if you have a big poo before you're run you might save .10 seconds. Fun fact: If you haven't had your morning out, a run in this thing will guarantee you do (probably during the run itself).

[tightbudz]

"Things can go bad at any time..."
"Sometimes before he even gets in the driver seat!😂😂😂"

[bigisland]

Really nice! Built my Cobra this way. 2` clearance, moved engine as low and as far back as possible. Screens and no windshield. Manual brakes, 900kg/500hp iron SBC on Tremec, straight axle, panhard, 2 swaybars, fully adjustable coilovers and biggest tires possible on rear axle. This superfast haleakala carver did 9 sec 1/4 m. Was probably the fastest Maui cruiser on our wet streets till somebody showed up with a 1300hp 911.

[hypnotourist]

This is seriously mad.
I'm glad your channels are growing ! Your team is doing a great job.

[GaryBickford]

This reminds me of the snowmobile drags they do in the snowy mountains. Last time I saw was in 2000 near crescent lake Oregon. These machines race in just 1/8 mile and hit over 100 mph. One that was there when I saw was basically just the track, with 1.5 inch steel vanes for traction on the belt, and a platform on top that the driver lay down on. Oh, and simple skis for steering. These machines throw a rooster tail of snow like a drag boat.

[XBullittX]

I love modern bike engines, they're so awesome for their size, they're basically mini race engines. They're fantastic for power to weight purposes, in light chassis.

[timothywachowicz]

Nice work Scott! Interesting & crazy lol! How about doing a spot on SUPERCART? Those guys are nuts flying around a track at 240+ Kph with no crash protection.
Thank You for sharing Your passion!

[bobw]

"...your legs are the crumple zone." Yup... sign me up. I've only got a few more years left to live anyway.

[JimmyMakingitwork]

Kind of like Jr Dragsters, but with no rules.
My friend growing up was almost killed in a go cart with 5 hp.
So I prefer the single cylinder ones, still plenty of fun.

[gavalanche]

I'm not really a huge petrol head, very casual F1 fan at best, but this is honestly the best channel on YouTube. Absolutely fascinating content 👏

[joshuarosen]

The scariest thing about this is the welding on that chassis. It looks like my dog did it.

[sandorflorea]

This makes group B rally look like child's play. These dudes got some serious balls.