Fast Go Carts

Sometimes people wonder about how fast go carts can really go. The answer can vary widely depending on the type of machine, but this page will take a look at some fast go carts including fast off road go karts. Racing go carts can go faster than most people realize! How does 100-150 MPH sound?!?! Shifter karts are one type of extremely fast go carts. A shifter kart is a pure racing machine that is not very practical for any other purpose. They are designed to be run on very smooth pavement surfaces. If you look closely at one, you can see why! They are very LOW to the ground, they have no real suspension movements, and they are usually set up with racing slicks for tires. They are basically miniature race cars. For the purpose for which they are designed, shifter karts work very well and are very fast go carts! Not only can shifter karts be fast in terms of top speed, but they can also have impressive acceleration. The fact that most shifter karts do not weigh much means that they have a high power to weight ratio. This gives them acceleration potential unrivaled by most other vehicles.

Racing Shifter Karts are Fast Go Carts!

High Performance Shifter Kart

Shifter karts are typically powered by small, screaming 2 stroke engines with power output that can be 30, 40, or 50+ HP, and coupled with a 6 speed manual transmission on some karts - these go carts can rocket to speeds OVER 100 MPH! Of course, outside of a race track or smooth paved surface, a shifter kart would not be very useful. A small 5 HP kids go kart with some ground clearance and off road tires would probably put one of the fast go carts to shame in off road conditions. How useful do you think an Indy car would be driving in heavy city traffic trying to get groceries? Not very useful! Shifter karts that can go 100 MPH on smooth pavement, might not even be able to drive 1 MPH in the mud! So, it all depends on the type of conditions where the go cart will be driven.

There are also a wide range of choices for fast off road go karts. Some people build their own karts with high powered engines and big suspension travel that make them well suited to going fast in extreme off-road conditions. Some of these custom fast off road go karts are built with high powered motorcycle engines and might be able to go near 100 MPH. However, with custom made karts, there can almost be as many examples as there are unique people around, since people can build them according to their own tastes. So, this article will not focus on those types of unique custom fast go carts. Many people are not interested in building their own go carts anyway, and so this article will look at a couple examples of some fast off road go karts that can be purchased ready to drive.

Off Road Go Karts

Twister Hammerhead II

Now, some would argue with the term "fast" when used in the context of these examples of fast off road go karts. We are not talking about 100 MPH high powered sand rails or dune buggies. We are talking about GO CARTS, and these go carts have a top speeds of around 40MPH. Some would say that is slow, but really in comparison to a lot of other traditional go carts with Briggs and Stratton or Tecumseh engines, these examples really are relatively "fast". They are definitely faster than traditional kids' go carts. The old style traditional go karts might only go in the 20MPH range. So, relatively speaking, the Twister Hammerhead II and Dazon Raider Max can be categorized as fast go carts. The Twister Hammerhead II 150cc go cart has been revised over older versions with a higher performance engine, a better exhaust, a different gear ratio in the transmission, and improvements that allow it to go close to 40 MPH. The Dazon Raider Max is offered with a 175cc water cooled engine and is also supposed to be capable of speeds of around 40 MPH.

Offroad Go Carts

Dazon Raider Max Go Cart

In addition, many companies are working on 250cc models that offer a little more top speed (around 40-50 mph) and should offer a little better climbing power. And so, there is a growing number of fast off road go karts becoming available. True, 40 mph might not sound like much, but when your banging around off-road, even 30-40 mph can feel fast for go carts!