Need info thx micro vs open kart

74dream

New member
Hello. Looking for someone who has driven both a 600 micro and an open class wing kart. Curious about the comparison in ride. Also an idea of possible cost comparison. I'm in an open kart now and just want some input of comparison. Would like to get my boy into poss. micro soon. Start creating a pathway moving over the next several years. Next year I need to decide if he moves to a 125 wing or possibly micro. Thanks for any advice.
 
There is no comparison with regard to ride; a 600 micro rides like a Buick compared to any kart, since the micro has a full suspension. After the initial cost of the car, we spent about $6000 a year, from our engine program and tires down to the shop rag level. It is easy to spend as much as twice that, but we were lucky on wrecks, bent or broken parts, and only ever destroyed one engine. Our most expensive single night cost us $120 for frame repairs, $350 for a new wing, and $1250 for an engine out of a wrecked 636 Kawasaki to replace the one destroyed and about $80 in miscellaneous small parts. Since we already had the complete methanol converted fuel injection system, including a Power Commander, on the dead engine, it was just a matter of transferring it to the "new" engine. Again, we were lucky with our engine program and didn't get involved in a lot of really expensive wrecks, so we were able to keep costs down; bad luck can get you well over that $6000 figure quickly.

My drivers came out of the KT100 Yamaha class (and one out of the box stock Animal class) and that experience was sufficient to enable them to transition smoothly to a 120-130hp 600 micro with a 750lb minimum weight, but then none of them tried to win on there first night on the track - they all had a lot of common sense, which helps save money.

Learning how to use all those newly available adjustments is quite a learning curve; if you have access to someone who has been through it, use that friendship for all the knowledge it will save you from learning in the school of hard knocks.
 
Thanks for that information! It is great to hear from you and hope to hear from more. Everyone have a great race season!
 
are there any recommendations to stay away from//chassis brands or years? thanks much! I found we will have to run black or silver yamaha motors in our area. Just want to make a good decision when looking for a chassis.
 
There was a sea change in micro chassis design in most companies in the 2002-2003 time frame; the newer chassis are "wide" chassis. We would recommend looking for a roller or a complete car that is 2005 or newer, as other features started to pop up in the 2005-2007 and beyond range, like adjustable pedal positioning anchor points. If you can, take a look at what makes are commonly running at the track(s) where you are going to race and pick out the make with the closest geographic location to you if one is reasonably close, like 2 hours or less drive. Otherwise, pick one with good phone and email parts service and hope for the best. We run an old narrow chassis (2001) Hyper and it is still competitive once the new driver learns the basics. The advantage to Hyper for us is that the shop is 22 minutes up the road if I have traffic problems, although there is such a thing as maybe being a bit too close to the candy store. :) I also have two friends who ran Hypers in Arizona, so we do know that their support is excellent when shipping is required, and they are also excellent with setup advice. RTS is another make that I have a lot of familiarity with; their cars are also excellent, as is their mail order service and setup advice. Those are the only two makes with which I have direct familiarity; there are others out there that are just as good, I expect, but I don't have any working familiarity with them. When looking for a car, do look for makes whose constructors are still in business; trying to figure out interchangeabilities on an orphan substituting parts from makes of current manufacture is a hassle you don't need at this point in your voyage. The actual make you run isn't particularly important, but their service and advice is; we are fortunate to be geographically close to both Hyper and RTS, which makes service even less of a problem.
 
Thanks for the advise! Now looking for a lower cost entry level unit/ hopefully set up for a younger kid/ he will be 12 when we start this. I see micro sprint and mini sprint classified on Face Book. Is there a spot for Iowa sellers? It would be nice to find more closer to Minnesota lol. Thanks!
 
You might want to check out http://www.maximumdirt.com/ for micro info, especially the forums, which include a classified ad section. There is a wealth of info on that site; it's like the Bob's 4 Cycle of micro sprint racing.

As far as setup for a 12 year old, the most important thing will be the seat; whatever comes with the car may or may not fit him properly. As a for instance, the seat in my 600 fit a young lady who drove it fine, but we have long bolts and a 2"x4" piece of aluminum tubing with the seat mounting holes drilled on the sides that make the 4" dimension, plus a second set of mounting holes in the back of the seat to accommodate the 4" lift. Without the spacer between the seat bottom and the mounting points on the frame cross member, her eyes were exactly even with the back edge of the hood. Getting a car set up is mostly a function of driver size (there are 12 year old boys out there both taller and shorter than this young lady, for instance), so getting a car already set up for your son is a bit of a long shot, but the changes that need to be made are actually quite simple, involving spacers for seat mounting and proper pedal location.
 
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