Electric Hire Kart Racing

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Kieran
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Electric Hire Kart Racing

Post by Kieran »

G'day

I thought I'd start a thread on all things related to hire kart racing at venues that use electric karts.

The venues I'm aware of include:

Power Kart Racing, Griffiths, ACT
Extreme Indoor Go Karting, Warners Bay, NSW
C1 Speed, Albion Park, NSW
Game Over GC, Helensvale, QLD

Please add any others you know of.
roddilkes
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Electric Hire Kart Racing

Post by roddilkes »

Good to see some new blood getting enthused.
I didn't know there are already E-Kart venues.
Vectrix150V
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Electric Hire Kart Racing

Post by Vectrix150V »

I'll have to check out the one at warners bay - didn't know they were electric!
Kieran
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Electric Hire Kart Racing

Post by Kieran »

The Zone, Bendigo, VIC (Kiddie karts only)

I'd been looking for an opportunity to take my five year old son to a go kart track to see if I can get him interested in one of my passions: cars and motorsport. The opportunity arose last Saturday when we visited The Zone in Bendigo, bought him a ride on their Kiddie karts and discovered that they are electric! I was quite pleased with this discovery because the noise and fumes of petrol karts was a negative for him when he'd watched me on go karts in the past. So if you're in the area take your kids. It was $9 for a five minute ride on a gravel track.
Kieran
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Electric Hire Kart Racing

Post by Kieran »

Le Mans Go Karts, Dandenong South, VIC (kiddie karts only)

Le Mans have a small tarmac track (Daytona) for 4 to 8 year olds, where they use their Pacer Leisure Panther electric karts.

I haven't tried these yet, but it's closer than Bendigo so I'm keen to drag my 6 year old son along there soon.
Kieran
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Electric Hire Kart Racing

Post by Kieran »

Electric hire karts arrive in Melbourne!
http://www.hivoltagekarts.com.au/
I haven't been there yet, but I'm looking forward to having a try soon.
I'm wondering if the Victorian branch should hold their meetings there?
Kieran
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Electric Hire Kart Racing

Post by Kieran »

I just discovered Fun City at Shepparton, which has electric hire karts on its indoor track. I think they've been open for a few months so I believe that they beat Hi Voltage Karts to be the first electric karts (for adults) in Victoria.
I haven't actually been there, yet I've only seen it online. Fun City have a centre in Sunshine as well but the karts there are still petrol as far as I know.
Kieran
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Electric Hire Kart Racing

Post by Kieran »

Had my first go of electric karts at Hi Voltage in Melbourne last night. They're not that quiet in an indoor venue, but no petrol fumes is a bonus after a night of kart racing! I was happy with the karts. Good acceleration without being extreme. And they had reverse for those times when you find yourself stuck in the barriers! I actually had a fault in one of my races and had to swap karts - it had only 60-80% power for some reason. While this was not a great experience, overall I'd say the fleet was much more even and reliable than petrol karts.
The track doesn't have the yellow and red safety lights to signal drivers of an incident. The track staff just press a button on their control panel and slow or stop everyone's kart. This is a fantastic feature as I've been in many races where drivers don't properly slow down under yellow lights. The track itself was tight and twisty, being an indoor track. It's not as wide as their website photos made it look.
Overall, they get the tick of approval and will be added to the Intertrack Karting Championship which I am involved with.
Kieran
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Re: Electric Hire Kart Racing

Post by Kieran »

The Zone, Bendigo:
I visited there in August, 2017 to give my four year old a go on the electric karts only to discover that they've gotten rid of them.
Kieran
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Re: Electric Hire Kart Racing

Post by Kieran »

Fun City, Shepparton:
I had a go in September, 2017 on their electric karts. The facility is clean and newish, but too much floor space is allocated to their other amusements, being a family entertainment centre. As a result, the track is a bit on the short side, but is adequate. The track surface is painted concrete and a bit slippery so a smooth approach is the best in my opinion. My quickest lap was 26.793 early in my session. I found this surprising because I thought I was going quicker by doing a bit of drifting later in the session, but as usual sideways isn't the quickest way in karts. The karts were in good condition with decent acceleration. Overall, it is a good venue only let down by a shortish track length and low grip surface. Check it out.
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