Outdoor Go-Karting at Ace Karts in Melbourne, Australia
Over the weekend I had the opportunity to experience go karts at Ace Karts in Sunshine so I thought I’d do a quick write up on my experience covering what to expect, how they operate, the cost involved and the go kart driving itself.
I hadn’t been go-karting since I was in my early teens. Sometime back in the mid to late nineties I went with my dad and brothers to ‘Sidetracked’ in Oakleigh and all I can remember is a dinghy indoor track with no so fast karts. Granted I wasn’t 18+ but the experience from memory didn’t equal the money layout to race.
With that memory in my mind I went to Ace Karts as part of a group of 13 not quite sure what to expect.
Getting to Ace Karts is easy, you just get onto the Western Ring Road and then jump off at the Western Highway turnoff. From there head towards the CBD and it’s about a 3 minutes drive.
Upon arrival we had to register on their touch screens and were then given a “license” with photo ID. With a minimum group of 12 we were racing the ‘Silverstone’ package which is 15 mins of qualifying time and then 15 mins of race time on the track for $65 each.
One of our group was running late so we hung out and watched the group before us go at it on the track. Coming from my memories of the indoor track at Sidetracked, the spacious wide outdoor track at Ace Karts was impressive.
The karts seemed to fly around and the memory of Sidetracked faded pretty quickly. It was extremely easy to get excited about racing on the track.
Finally the last member of our group arrived and we were taken into a briefing room. One of the staff gave us a quick run down of what to expect and some basic common sense rules. Following that we watched a quick movie on basic safety and how to use the gokarts as well as track rules.
The staff have a good system going time wise as once the video finished and we were fitting helmets the previous team finished up their race so there was minimum downtime. I’ve hardly ever worn motorbike helmets in my life and the first thing you notice when you put one on is that you lose your immediate peripheral vision infront of you. I had to stop myself walking around with my head tilted down to see where I was going!
After you’re helmets are all fitted you’re assigned kart numbers and let out into the go karts. The staff then do a quick check your strapped in ok and they hand out sizing cushions if you look a bit too short or might have trouble reaching the pedals. Once everyone is sorted it’s off to qualify.
The karts are simply awesome. I don’t know much about go-karts but they look like 2 strokes and go like clappers. I was a little aprehensive about having a fuel tank right between my legs at first but I soon forgot it was there.
I felt like I was in real life Mario Kart and the only thing missing was a few red shells to throw at people. I saw a few people spin out but managed to keep my kart under control the entire time I was on the track despite flying around some corners sideways ala mario kart drifting.
After all the safety talk and video presentation I was expecting to get pulled over to be told to drive safer but the staff to their credit didn’t seem to mind. I appreciated this as I felt like I had control over the kart and wasn’t just going flat out all the time.
I managed to come in first in the qualifier and after a quick stop at the end of our time we were assigned our positions on the starting grid for the race.
The race was awesome, you had a real sense of wanting to win and no rear mirrors and fantastic speeds meant you really had to pay attention. I saw some people spin out and it was really easy to lose 6-7 places in a the blink of an eye so it was important to maintain control.
I felt like hours of mario kart finally paid off and I maintained the lead the entire race and flew home overlapping some of the other drivers 3 times during the course of the race.
I would have loved to have strapped my phone to the kart and video my drive but it was something I thought of after I got home, that and I’m not sure if they’d have let me (infact the photos for this article are from their website, for some stupid reason the thought to take my own didn’t even cross my mind I was that excited about racing once I got there).
For me personally I absolutely loved the interaction with other drivers via the mind game struggles to try overtake and get ahead. I found I got bored if I got caught in a stretch with nobody to try and overtake but luckily with 12 people this isn’t much of an issue. It might be something to take into consideration with a smaller group though but I guess it depends on what you’re looking for.
I might be a little too competitive for my own good.
At the conclusion of the race you are given a bit of paper detailing your times (I came within 4 secs of the best ever time of the track, which I thought was decent considering it was my first time driving karts in over a decade) and the winner is awarded a trophy. I’m still kinda not sure what to do with my trophy but it was a professional touch by Ace Karts and added to the experience.
For $65 it was excellent value for money, 30 minutes might not seem like much but believe me by the end of it your brain hurts from concentrating and your arms hurt from being jolted around, no power steering here!
I walked away with some minor bruising on my right elbow and knee where I think I must have leaned too heavily into the kart on the right turns. Mind you I didn’t really feel anything until the next day so it might not be a good idea to race on a Sunday if you have work on the Monday.
I’d like to thank the staff at Ace Karts for the positive experience that was racing at their track, the entire setup is very professional and you really feel like your driving some quality machinery. Definitely recommended for anyone looking at some outdoor kart action; having experienced outdoor I’ll probably never bother with indoor again.
For more information check out their website here.
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