a Class chart would be helpful for newbies

[cgriffin]

I've been to K1 Speed and Pole Position, and I've been thinking about getting in to the real karts. A class chart would sure be helpful for newbies, showing the differences and similarities in classes. David Chong has covered a lot of information, but some of it is scattered on the forum or missing. For instance, I saw he moved from YC to Sportsman due to costs, but what is really the difference? Other than the muffler and clutch, I can't tell; seems like the costs would be similar. If I buy a kid kart will it be legal with a new seat? Which classes allow engine mods, etc...

Anyway, if someone could fill this in and make it a sticky, I'm sure others would find it helpful.
Cliff

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[Kellen Guthrie]

Formula Y/C and Super Box are pretty much the same the cost difference is minimal his friends and him just decided to run a different class together. I haven't seen any super box in a while and there's a couple Y/C people. If you want to be in a big class that's competative i'd go with TAG. There's also stock moto 125 which is pretty big but they're really fast and probably not the preferred class if you're just starting out. You can put new seats in whenever you want. As far as engine modification goes there's rules i would check the rules and tech section. Rotax (TAG) can't be touched they're sealed engines. Leopard (TAG) can be played with to a certain extent, and PRD (TAG) can be played with quite a bit i believe. Stock Honda 125 can't really be played around with i'm not sure if there's an open 125 class here. Not 100% on all of those. Here's a link that gives some specifications of what you can do to the motors.
www.ikfkarting.com/Rules/RuleUpdates.html

[David Chong]

We opted for Superbox over Y/C for the following reasons. None of these make one class better than the other, it's just where we fell on a whole series of factors:

• We all weigh less than 190 lbs, and much under that means you have to put on a lot of chassis weight to make the minimum for Y/C Heavy.
  
  
• The Y pipe and header costs about $400 new, and they are harder to find used now. The can muffler is easlily found for $20 or so used, $50 new.
  
  
• The Superbox package can be run with a dry clutch, which is extremely low maintenance and very simple to tune. In contrast, Y/C runs a wet clutch, which must be carefully maintained, adds fluid as an expendable cost, and is slightly more complicated to tune. We found that several of the newbies had trouble remembering to top off the fluid, or to check that the fluid seal/screws were secure. The result was 4-5 smoked wet clutches in the space of a half dozen races, even despite specific training and instructions. There is so much to keep track of, it's just one more thing for someone who is growing into the sport. Going to dry clutches eliminated that particular problem.
  
  
• I found roughly ten additional racers in the area who all had used/old superbox setups, but didn't have Y/C pipes and clutches. They were waiting in the woodwork for a can class, and when we offered it, they showed up to race. These people just wanted to run what they had; they did not want to redo their motors for Y/C (which is required; the tolerances are different) or buy more gear.
  
  
• The superbox package is overall slightly slower than Y/C, which allowed the newbies to have an easier time getting accustomed to high performance karting
  
  
• There are no tuning options on the superbox exhaust, taking away one additional layer of complexity for new racers and allowing them to concentrate on chassis tuning and driver tuning.
  

... So, that's why we went with Superbox. On one race day last year, the newbies running in the Super Sportsman class made up over 1/4 of all the drivers racing that day! Unfortunately, for whatever reason (lack of a ringleader, I suspect), there are no cans running this year. It is still available as a class, and if 3 or more show up for most of the races, it will be a championship class. Otherwise, you can run exhibition with the pipes (Y/C and HPV).

[Bill Walsh]

I agree with alot of what David is saying, and David you right, the can class is missing the ring leader. It was really cool to see what you did with that class last season. I miss racing with you guys.

But, I'm still a big fan of formula y/c, I miss racing with those guys to. For me, that was the best place to start. I would love to see more formula y/c racers so that class would live on. Anyway, if someone really wants to try kart racing, I have a formula y/c kart I will rent. You will need a way to get it to the track, because I only have a way to transport my tag kart. E-mail me at [e-mail] if you want to go fast and have more fun than you can imagine.

I would also like to comment on racing in the Tag class. I had tons of fun racing in the rain. Cleaning karts suck. And I really can't explain where those tires came from. Do they always jump out at you like that?

SDKA rocks!!!! and I see you guys at the track.