The word Superkart has traditionally been used to mean 250 cc engine karts, the fastest category in Kart racing, but also includes 125 cc karts that race on full size car circuits. 250 cc Superkarts often set faster lap times than much more expensive and technically advanced racing machines.^[1] A cubic centimetre (cm3) is an SI derived unit of volume, equal to the volume of a cube with side length of 1 centi metre. ... Karting, go-kart, go carting and similar terms redirect here. ...

The most obvious difference between a Superkart and any other form of kart is that they have full aerodynamic bodykits and race on car circuits over 1,500 metres in length. The power unit can be specially designed kart engines or production motorcycle engines with either 5 or 6-speed sequential gearboxes. Owing to their high top speed and massive cornering ability, Superkarts aerodynamic bodywork includes a front fairing, larger sidepods, and a rear wing. They use either 5 or 6 inch diameter tires and wheels. Aerodynamics is a branch of fluid dynamics concerned with the study of gas flows, first analysed by George Cayley in the 1800s. ... In automotive engineering, the bodywork of an automobile is the structure which protects: The occupants Any other payload The mechanical components. ... A spoiler is an aerodynamic device attached to an automobile to decrease lift, decrease drag, or increase the amount of force pushing the vehicles tires to the road surface (also called downforce). ... Firestone tire This article is about pneumatic tires. ... For other uses, see Wheel (disambiguation). ...

Superkarts race on "long circuits" (e.g. Silverstone, Laguna Seca, Magny-Cours), they also race on "short circuits"^[2] (e.g. Kimbolton) ("short circuits" are under 1,500 metres in length). Silverstone Circuit is a racing circuit at Silverstone, England. ... This articles section called Formula One does not cite its references or sources. ... Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours is a motor racing circuit located in France, near the towns of Magny-Cours and Nevers. ... Kimbolton Kart Club is a large circuit for both gearbox and non-gearbox Karts. ...

Superkarts are raced worldwide. There is a CIK-FIA European Superkart Championship. The Fédération Internationale de lAutomobile, commonly referred to as the FIA, is a non-profit association established in 1904 to represent the interest of motoring organisations and motor car users. ...

Performance

Though its 2-stroke 250 cc engine is small and produces only 95 hp (67 kW), it has 360 hp/l and 0.19 hp/lb (450 hp/tonne), which is higher than a Chevrolet Corvette. As such, Superkarts can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in less than 3 seconds with a top speed of 155 mph (250 km/h)^[3]. Their low weight and good downforce make for staggering cornering and braking abilities. A Superkart is capable of braking from 100 mph (160 km/h) to standstill in around 2 seconds, and taking corners at nearly 3 g (30 m/s²). The two-stroke cycle of an internal combustion engine differs from the more common four-stroke cycle by having only two strokes (linear movements of the piston) instead of four, although the same four operations (intake, compression, power, exhaust) still occur. ... This article is about a unit of measurement. ... The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car that has been manufactured by Chevrolet since 1953. ... Miles per hour is a unit of speed, expressing the number of international miles covered per hour. ... Three different styles of front wings from three different Formula 1 eras, all designed to produce downforce on the front wheels. ... The term g force or gee force refers to the symbol g, the force of acceleration due to gravity at the earths surface. ...

A Superkart is faster, cheaper and uses less fuel, tyres, oil etc than almost every category of four-wheel motor sport in the world and should rightly be called one of the most Green MotorSport category's in the world. At some circuits, Superkarts are the outright lap-record holders, at others they run at around Formula 3 lap times. Formula Three is a class of auto racing. ...

British Superkart Divisions :

• Division 1 is open to 250 cc karts with one or two cylinders and five or six speed gearboxes. Typically the karts produce 90 hp and are capable of 160 mph - the fastest form of kart. This formula was previously known as Formula E.

• Division 2 is for single cylinder karts with five and six speed boxes. Typically these karts produce 65 hp and are capable of 140 mph. However, being lighter than the twin cylinder (Division 1) karts they can be as quick on twisted circuits. This formula was previously known as 250 International. However the main British series is for single cylinder 250 cc karts with 5 speed only, also known as 250 National.

Australian Superkart Classes :

• 250 cc International - commonly referred to as 250 twins, these Superkarts are powered by twin cylinder Grand Prix motorcycle engines and usually have 6 speed sequential gearboxes.

• 250 cc National - The single cylinder cousin of 250 twins, the National Class Superkarts are powered by 250 cc MotoX (motocross) engines and also feature 6 speed sequential gearboxes.

• 125 cc Gearbox - Powered by 125 cc Grand Prix motorcycle engines and again featuring 6 speed sequential gearboxes, this class uses smaller and lighter chassis than the 250's.

United States Superkart Classes :

• 250 cc Formula E or FE - Twin cylinder, 6-speed, liquid cooled Grand Prix motorcycle engines such as the Yamaha TZ250 or made for karting engines such as the BRC250 [1].

• 250 cc Inter-Continental E or ICE - Single cylinder, 6-speed, liquid cooled Grand Prix motorcycle engines.

• Chassis - Most popular Chassis are imported from the UK such as Anderson [2], PVP or Zip. P1 is American made and used by Superkart Champion JR Osborne. P1 Prototypes: [3]

Spectacle

Being inexpensive, superkarts are very popular, and entries of 60 or more are common, (in Britain at the moment, anyway). Fortunately, most circuits allow for a large number of karts on the grids at once, and the sight of 60 karts arriving at the first corner at the same time is a real spectacle. The overtaking tends to be easy, as, like motorbikes, there is room to get past, so the races tend to be full of action. Race lengths tend to be around 20-25 miles (30-40 km), because the fuel tanks are quite small, so at most meetings which feature superkarts, the karts race is often a brief, spectacular highlight.

A global category, Superkarts are endorsed by the FIA, and featured as a support category to the French Formula 1 Grand Prix in 2007 [4].

The Leaner, Greener, racing alternative

Superkarts have a much better environmental footprint than gas guzzling so-called 'superior' categories. A Superkart is faster, cheaper and uses less fuel, tyres, oil etc than almost every category of four-wheel motor sport in the world. Using Australia’s most popular category, the V8 Supercars, as an example clearly demonstrates Superkarts superiority in this regard. V8 Supercars is a touring car racing category. ...

One V8Supercar uses approximately 500 litres (or more) of fuel for just one weekend race meeting. Now multiply that by a field of 32+ V8Supercars, and that is at least 16000litres (approx) of petrol being used every time the V8Supercars stage an event. Over 13 rounds in a V8Supercar season, including longer events like INDY, Bathurst, Clipsal 500, and Sandown, a very conservative estimate would see over 200000 litres of fuel being used by the V8Supercars every season. These figures also don't take into account testing and development (figures are unavailable for this ). This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Eastern Creek International Raceway is a motorsports circuit located in Sydney, Australia and is operated by the Australian Racing Drivers Club (ARDC). ...

Working on an approximate average fuel consumption of Superkart events of 25litres per kart per weekend, and with roughly 30 members/competitors at each event, this works out as approximately 750 litres of fuel used for an entire Superkart event/weekend. The fuel used by one V8Supercar event (16000litres approx) would provide an average Superkart Club enough fuel to run more than 3 years of racing featuring 6 rounds/events each year!

Notes

1. ^ Superkart faster than Porsche SuperCup at Magny-Cours
2. ^ Race results & reports for all gearbox classes - 8th July 2007 - Kimbolton
3. ^ Superkart at Magny-Cours - 2007

See also

• Australian Superkart Championship
• Environmentalism in motorsport
• Kart circuits