Awesome Go-karts

A while back, Ivan Miranda made a go-kart using 3D printed parts, but it wasn’t exactly packable, and Ivan wanted to travel with it. So he engineered a much smaller and lighter kart. The new, three-wheeled design is about 1/3rd of the heft of the original, and still quite zippy. The first version was too easy to roll, so he redesigned it with a wider drive wheel.

Over the years, Paul Jackman has created some amazing and unusual objects from wood. His latest build is unlike anything we’ve seen before – a go-kart that looks like a boot. He built the oversize footwear from pieces of lightweight pallet wood that he sliced into thin sheets, then bent and glued them into the shape of one of the boots in his Carolina Shoe collection.

We’ll start by saying that storm drains can be dangerous places, and you shouldn’t try this at home. That said, this video is still entertaining. Intrigued by signs saying that drain pipes end at the ocean, prestongoes set out to make an electric-powered go-kart that could take him on a ride through a lengthy drain pipe to see where it led to.

We stopped counting tires at 19, but it’s possible that this crazy looking homebrew go-kart has more than that. We’re not sure why this guy built such a ridiculous vehicle but it’s entertaining to see him driving around on it. It’s probably has mad oversteer with all of those rear tires so it could be a fun drift machine.

We’ve seen a standing desk on wheels, but its driver needed to keep pace with it. This desk can drive much faster because its passengers are seated and wear safety harnesses. Noel Miller’s high-speed desk lets him interview guests while hooning about. In this episode of Hot Laps, he sat down with Donut’s James Pumphrey to talk about his life and career.

We can’t think of a good reason that you’d want to drive your car while upside-down. Still, we’re impressed that someone figured out how to do it. YouTuber Chris Rollins built a custom vehicle that requires its driver to lay face down to drive it. You definitely wouldn’t want to test its ground clearance with your head.

There are tens of thousands of miles of abandoned railroad tracks in the U.S. Ryan Randomness explores these defunct rails using a gas-powered, two-seat go-kart that rolls on custom-made polyurethane wheels, and he shares videos of his journeys on his Instagram and YouTube channels, like this trip to the Goat Canyon Trestle.

When we were kids, we loved making little LEGO cars. Thanks to Travis Pastrana and the gang from Nitro Circus, we now have life-size LEGO race cars. As part of their Life Size Toys series, they assembled giant LEGO bricks atop go-karts and raced them around an indoor track until bricks started to fall off. At least they’re easy to snap back together.

Most go-karts have a frame made from metal. But Doctor D.S. shows us how it’s possible to make a homebrew kart using a wooden shipping pallet and a 200cc gas engine. He still had to use metal for the axles and mechanicals, but it’s still an impressive build. We’d love to see how fast it goes on something besides grass, though.

The guys from Grind Hard Plumbing Co. have made some crazy custom vehicles, including a tricked out Barbie Power Wheels Jeep. Now they’ve equipped a shopping cart with a 125 hp motorcycle engine and dual powered rear axles. After an initial failure, they went back to the drawing board to improve its reliability. Driving footage starts around 32:30.

The cars in The Flintstones rolled on wheels carved from boulders. Chris Rollins took a different approach to making stone tires for his go-kart by casting them from concrete. How fast and far can he drive on these punishing solid tires before something breaks? Watch part two here.

While the guys from Overdrive didn’t go as fast as these drivers did on the ice, it still looks like they had a blast learning how to control go-karts on a frozen lake in Finland. Despite having studded tires, and a modest amount of power, making karts do what you want them to on the ice takes a good bit of practice.

The guys from Grind Hard Plumbing Co. are known for their work turning Barbie Power Wheels and other kid’s vehicles into high-powered playthings for adults. A while back, they outfitted a Dream Camper with a 750cc Kawasaki UTV engine and 4-wheel drivetrain. Now they’ve upgraded it for wintertime with snow tracks.

DBZ fans might be familiar with the Hovercar, first driven by Ox-King, then by many others. DanCreator thought he should have his own hovercar, so he built one from wood, cardboard, pool floats, and leaf blowers. It glides over smooth surfaces with ease, though we wouldn’t suggest taking it in a swimming pool.

After building a bicycle that balanced on an omni-wheel, engineer James Bruton wanted to see if he could apply the same mechanism to a drift cart. By mounting the omni-wheel at the back and motorized wheels at the front, the vehicle is able to powerslide with ease while still remaining controlled. Watch part two here.

Robert “Rocketman” Maddox is back with another crazy jet-powered vehicle which he hopes will be his fastest yet. The Dragon Kart 270-pound thrust engine lets out a bellow that’s sure to wake the neighbors. He’s yet to equip it with brakes or a seatbelt, but he still took the thing for a brief ride.