Team-BHP - New Go-Karting Track in Pune: Down Town Racing

^^
To add to that, I would recommend taking a spin in the regular karts first & get a feel of the lap. Mind you, the circuit is a bit bouncy and not evenly laid at a couple of spots.

A group of 3-4 can race comfortably and enjoy the competition :)

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Originally Posted by Monaro CV8 (Post 2696135)

^^
A group of 3-4 can race comfortably and enjoy the competition :)

Theres no fun dragging the car alone , take a few friends amd compete , would be fun

Quote:

Originally Posted by ninjatalli (Post 2695676)

Wow! This side of town is sure getting a lot more fun to live in!

It always has been fun to live in this part of the town , unlike kothrud :D

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Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar (Post 2696119)

Tip: The professional kart is not for everyone. Apparently, you need to be a professional driver to get to ride that. Being a BHPian, shall give you that professional edge to get a ride in that :p. Dont forget to mention that to Mr. Pawar!

Now thats insider trading ;-) As monaro said , the track is bumpy @ few places and the as the K&K's are powered decently , try your hand on that first and if you still feel something missing go for the 26.5 bhp one .

Have fun and report the details here with lot of good resolution pics !!

I believe that till the time you have not driven atleast 50 laps on this track, its of no use to take the 26.5 bhp vehicle as you will not end up using the full potential of that cart. Once you get to know how the track is, where to brake, where to pick up speed, where not to brake and just accelerate, then it will be fun to take the faster cart and show off the driving skills. Till then the 6.5 bhp cart is also more than suffucient

What were your lap times like?

Paresh really needs to get more KnK karts and also needs to maintain them. The last two times I was there, the drive chain kept slipping off and the tyres were finished. Unfortunately he doesn't have competent staff to maintain the karts :(

Hopefully this should change once he starts full fledged!

Shrivz, in all the enthusiasm, we forgot to time the laps :Frustrati.

I agree, he doesnt have competant staff to handle situations well. Even during our go, one of the carts malfunctioned, and we had to wait till one of us was done.

We did speak to him on that, and he said, thats precisely the reason why he isnt advertising. Only once the "dry runs" are done, would he go advertising.

Great initiative; I remember the immense fun we usually had at the Mundhwa one. Not sure why this sport (?) is going out of fashion though.
Glad you guys had fun :)

I am practising around home (Monaro; watch out!) in my own cart, hope for a call to join next time you plan please:

Quote:

Originally Posted by selfdrive (Post 2696734)

practising around home (Monaro; watch out!) in my own cart,

Bala , watch out Monaro has a hefty nudge gaurd :D , a gentle push can do wonders .

Yes , somehow the good old sport is loosing its charm , its good fun to have with friends . Hope this place doesn't get shutdown like other places . lol:

Quote:

Originally Posted by quickdraw

A video that a friend uploaded shows the full lap.

Hi QD,
Thanks for the update.
How recent was yr visit there ?
Have they upgraded the karts yet ? They had makeshift arrangements when we had a run there, last time.
Not more than 2 contenders can complete in a heat - due to inadequate number of equivalent karts.

Went there just a few days back. The karts are in horrible condition at the moment. They really lack any sort of acceleration. So once you get up to some sort of speed, its best not use the brakes at all :D and go all out sliding through the hairpin.

The kart owner has increased prices to Rs 250 for 5 laps. 5 laps is okay for someone who is karting for the first time, since it might take them sometime to get the hang of it. But I was done with my joy ride in like 5 minutes. Its just too expensive IMO.

Its an el cheapo facility, fair enough, but then the prices are not cheap by any standard. A year back I went go-karting in Dubai near the Jebel Ali free zone, their system is completely different : You get 15 minutes of karting for 50 dhs, and for 80 dh (if you negotiate) you get 30 minutes uniterrupted in the kart, which is pure bliss.

This is much fairer in my view, as some people take 10 minutes for 5 laps, but any serious enthusiast can easily finish his 5 laps in something like 5 minutes.

I hope something like this (a time based system) is implemented soon, else I'm not visiting this center anytime soon.

Edit : The layout that QuickDraw uploaded has been reversed, atleast it was on the day I was there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PuntoMania (Post 3000758)

The kart owner has increased prices to Rs 250 for 5 laps. 5 laps is okay for someone who is karting for the first time, since it might take them sometime to get the hang of it. But I was done with my joy ride in like 5 minutes. Its just too expensive IMO.

I had tried go-karting for the first time in the track near HYD airport - there it was 280 Rs for 7 laps and 300 for 9 laps. I opted for 7 laps and was done in around 5-6 minutes. Then realized that it was kind of expensive.

Had seen some guys taking forever to do 7 laps, just like driving a street car.

PuntoMania: Sad to know the current state of the track and the karts. Thats one thing we were wishing, does NOT happen to the track. After all, its the only one available in Pune, IIRC.
I agree on the laps vs time argument. For people like us, the fun lasts only for a few minutes.
Even I'd rather pay for a time slot, than pay lapwise.