Autobahn Indoor Speedway Manassas

[JPolen01]

Autobahn is coming to Manassas. We have one of these locally in Jessup, MD that I have been to. Electric karts capable of 40-50mph. Thought you VA people may want to know about another indoor karting facility in your area.

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[BLINGMW]

Those look like the same karts they have at Thunderbolt in Richmond. They are awesome. Well, they are awesome once you convince them to let you run them at or close to 100%. They can remotely control the power levels and start new people out at a level that doesn't even require braking. The karts and tires probably last forever at this level.

HOWEVER, just like Thunderbolt, these tracks are really small, with tight, non-interesting corners and not much room for passing.


In the case of this place, it looks like they had enough room to make one large, faster track, but didn't. I guess it works ok for the general public but it's hard for me to get excited about it. I'd really like to see what karts like this would do at g-force, or an outdoor track. :dunno:

[HAULN-SS]

is it really laid out in the building like your picture? wonder if they can connect the two tracks for one longer circuit. Would give you a long straight at the top and an S curve right in the middle

[BLINGMW]

is it really laid out in the building like your picture?

Dunno, that's the track map for the new Autobahn place.

[Evan]

thanks for the heads up.

In the case of this place, it looks like they had enough room to make one large, faster track, but didn't. I guess it works ok for the general public but it's hard for me to get excited about it. I'd really like to see what karts like this would do at g-force, or an outdoor track. :dunno:

that was my initial reaction, maybe they are just expecting SO MANY PEOPLE that they need 2 tracks to serve the mob of customers...... :roll:

but Ill reserve judgement until I drive it. looking forward to giving it a spin

[PDenbigh]

looking forward to giving it a spin

With this crew? That's a guarantee.

[Senor_Taylor]

So, Tyler and I went to check these out. MUCH better than GForce. Unfortunately I don't think the carts could do a 2 hour enduro. The cars are much quicker and a lot more fun to drive. The thing is though, road course experience probably doesn't translate as well. We happen to go at the same time as some people that race in the local league and the fastest laps involve doing a kind of scandenavian flick to get the kart rotated, which is hard to justify in your mind right away

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[JPolen01]

Unfortunately I don't think the carts could do a 2 hour enduro. 
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They do have 3 hour enduros in their league. I assume it involves swapping batteries during driver changes. One of my friends runs one of their locations in VA - either this one or Sterling. Let me know if you want me to connect you with him to learn more. I find the electric carts are way more fun than G Force and the fact that you can hear yourself think while in the facility as well as not smell exhaust fumes is a bonus.

[Senor_Taylor]

Unfortunately I don't think the carts could do a 2 hour enduro. 
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They do have 3 hour enduros in their league. I assume it involves swapping batteries during driver changes. One of my friends runs one of their locations in VA - either this one or Sterling. Let me know if you want me to connect you with him to learn more. I find the electric carts are way more fun than G Force and the fact that you can hear yourself think while in the facility as well as not smell exhaust fumes is a bonus.

I was at the one in Sterling. Turns out it was .3 miles from my old apartment or something like that. It's 2 blocks from Mach V.

Yeah, it was nice because the warehouse isn't ventilated, so it was nice and warm, as well as quiet.

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[*insertusernamehere*]

Funny, after doing electric karts for a while and then going back to gas karts i felt like the instant torque of the e-karts was fun, but i still preferred my experience in gas karts. I think the fact SPK has better, longer, more complex courses affects my feelings too. It's a blast either way though.

[D_Eclipse9916]

The sterling one is super super super tight. Can be fun but 10 karts with MM is just going to be a crashfest.

[Senor_Taylor]

The sterling one is super super super tight. Can be fun but 10 karts with MM is just going to be a crashfest.

Yeah, we went out with a Max of 7 people and it was kind of tight. Not much room for passing.

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[Evan]

Has anyone tried the new SPK in DC? Its pretty close to my work but I havent been yet.
Videos look pretty good, other than curbs/islands being used as part of the track border.

[Jake]

Has anyone tried the new SPK in DC?   Its pretty close to my work but I havent been yet.
Videos look pretty good,  other than curbs/islands being used as part of the track border.

Yeah, I went with Matt and a few others. It was fun, although you have to pass a certain number of laps at X lap time or less before being allowed on the "faster" tracks. And the slowest track is lined entirely with stacked tires, and they black flag you for even brushing them. They also black flag you for barely touching another kart. I had fun and bought a year-long membership, but getting past the first track requires you deal with some bullshit. Past that, the faster tracks are fun.

[Sully]

I like the ekarts better when I went with Lincoln at whichever place is in the mall up there but I don't like thunderbolt in Richmond that much. I just don't like the track. They also have tons of empty space where they could really make the track better and don't.

Idk how long they take to charge but seems like both places have at least 20 karts so I don't see why a driver change couldn't just consist of a new kart going out and then hooking the first up to charge but idk if their system could keep track of both kart numbers and combining them somehow. Didn't thunderbolt also want like twice what gforce did? I really wish they'd let us run super karts for our Enduro at gforce. (I think they said they don't have enough one time though or something)

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[ScottyB]

love the E-cart idea for indoor tracks. i'm sure the owners love it too, for tons of reasons. i hope it makes the industry grow more, because only having access to kart facilities in the bigger cities is a shame, i'd love to have one in our town.