__  __          _       _  __         _   
|  \/  |__ _ _ _(_)___  | |/ /__ _ _ _| |_     |Karts Guide...|
| |\/| / _` | '_| / _ \ | ' </ _` | '_|  _|    |By LoZKing....|
|_|  |_\__,_|_| |_\___/ |_|\_\__,_|_|  \__|    |v1.00.........|
 ___           _    _       ___          _    _ _  |(c) 2006..|
|   \ ___ _  _| |__| |___  |   \ __ _ __| |_ | | |
| |) / _ \ || | '_ \ / -_) | |) / _` (_-< ' \|_|_|
|___/\___/\_,_|_.__/_\___| |___/\__,_/__/_||_(_|_)


----------------------------------------------------\
TABLE OF CONTENTS...........................[CTRL+F]|
                                                    |
A - Legal Crud.................................[LGL]|
B - Mario Kart Double Dash!!...................[MKD]|
C - Karts......................................[KTS]|
D - Top Speed..................................[TPS]|
E - Acceleration...............................[ACL]|
F - Weight.....................................[WGT]|
G - "Invisible" stats..........................[IVS]|
  | - Offroad Top Speed........................[OFR]|
  | - Handling.................................[HND]|
  | - Width....................................[WDT]|
  | - Shocks...................................[SHK]|
H - So what IS the best Kart?..................[OMG]|
I - Frequently Asked Questions.................[FAQ]|
J - Thanks.....................................[THX]|
----------------------------------------------------/



Legal Crud [LGL]

- This FAQ may not be reproduced for any purpose whatsoever except for
personal use.
- This FAQ may not be placed on any site other than http://www.gamefaqs.com/
without written permission from the author. If you want my permission, email
me at high_mage_yoshi@yahoo.com.
- Use of this FAQ in any public display is prohibited, and a copyright
violation.




Mario Kart Double Dash!! [MKD]

So lemme guess: You want to know what Karts are the best, do you? Is that
Bullet Blaster something hot, or should you go with the Turbo Yoshi? Is the
Parade Kart really worth the effort? Which one goes from zero to forty the
the fastest? Who loses the least speed offroad? Who takes items without much
slowdown? Or maybe you're just reading this because you can't for grass seeds
find out how to unlock the Bloom Coach (Actually, now that I think about it,
that's kinda pathetic, no offense).

Mario Kart has been around for a while, and there's always been a good
selection of characters with varied stats to satisfy the technical racer or
the speed demon in us all. But never before have you been able to select
between different Karts. Before, everyone was driving cheap-looking FARTS that
look like they once were shopping carts. Now, you get a selection of pretty,
shiny, ACTUAL KARTS to use. And it's the ACTUAL KARTS that have the stats, not
the characters. This means that you can use Yoshi and still get an uber high
top speed and the ability to knock all who dare oppose you to the side.

The Karts use a five-star rating system to show their stats. You can generally
rely on these to pick a Kart you think you'll like, right? Wrong. The Red Fire
and Waluigi Racer look the same statwise, don't they? Well, drive the Red Fire
up to the Waluigi Racer, and Mario goes flying. Waluigi's Kart is a bit
heavier.

Not only that, some stats are a whole star off. The Green Fire, with four
stars in Top Speed, goes exactly as fast as the Koopa King, at 58mph. So do
the Piranha Pipes, DK Jumbo, Parade Kart, and Bullet Blaster - All of which
have only four stars in speed. Starting to doubt the power of the stars, eh?

Well, there you go. The stars lie.

Not to mention that you really can't tell exactly what they're trying to say.
How fast is five stars? Does the Mushroom Kingdom measure speed in stars
instead of miles-per-hour? And just five? Seems awfully loose.

This guide, however, tells the truth. I'm giving you the most exact stats
possible. Exactly how fast Karts go, exactly how long they take to get to
their rop speeds, who will shove who, and on from there. Let's find out which
Kart really is the best.



Karts [KTS]

What would I be thinking if I didn't include a list of the Karts in this? Here
you'll find the mostly false ratings the game gives you, who you can expect to
see driving it, the weight class, the works. If you can find the information
on the Kart select screen, you can find it here.


Red Fire - Mario
Top Speed - ***
Acceleration - ***
Weight - ***
Class - Medium
Unlock - Have at start of game

Green Fire - Luigi
Top Speed - ****
Acceleration - **
Weight - **
Class - Medium
Unlock - Mushroom Cup 50cc

Heart Coach - Peach
Top Speed - **
Acceleration - ****
Weight - ***
Class - Medium
Unlock - Have at start of game

Bloom Coach - Daisy
Top Speed - ***
Acceleration - ***
Weight - **
Class - Medium
Unlock - Flower Cup 50cc

Turbo Yoshi - Yoshi? No, couldn't be...
Top Speed - **
Acceleration - ****
Weight - ***
Class - Medium
Unlock - Have at start of game

Turbo Birdo - Birdo
Top Speed - ***
Acceleration - ***
Weight - ****
Class - Medium
Unlock - Flower Cup 150cc

Waluigi Racer - Waluigi
Top Speed - ***
Acceleration - ***
Weight - ***
Class - Medium
Unlock - Flower Cup 100cc

Goo-Goo Buggy - Baby Mario
Top Speed - *
Acceleration - *****
Weight - **
Class - Light
Unlock - Have at start of game

Rattle Buggy - Baby Luigi
Top Speed - **
Acceleration - ****
Weight - **
Class - Light
Unlock - Mushroom Cup 100cc


Koopa Dasher - Koopa Troopa
Top Speed - **
Acceleration - ****
Weight - **
Class - Light
Unlock - Have at start of game

Para Wing - Paratroopa
Top Speed - *
Acceleration - *****
Weight - **
Class - Light
Unlock - Star Cup 50cc

Barrel Train - Diddy Kong
Top Speed - ****
Acceleration - **
Weight - ***
Class - Light
Unlock - Star Cup 150cc

Bullet Blaster - Bowser Jr.
Top Speed - ****
Acceleration - ***
Weight - *
Class - Light
Unlock - Special Cup 50cc

Toad Kart - Toad
Top Speed - **
Acceleration - ****
Weight - **
Class - Light
Unlock - Special Cup 100cc

Toadette Kart - Toadette
Top Speed - *
Acceleration - *****
Weight - **
Class - Light
Unlock - Mushroom Cup 150cc Mirror

Wario Car - WARIO! DA-NA-NA-NAAAAAA!
Top Speed - ****
Acceleration - **
Weight - ****
Class - Heavy
Unlock - Have at start of game

DK Jumbo - Donkey Kong
Top Speed - ****
Acceleration - **
Weight - ****
Class - Heavy
Unlock - Have at start of game

Koopa King - Bowser
Top Speed - *****
Acceleration - **
Weight - *****
Class - Heavy
Unlock - Have at start of game

Piranha Pipes - Petey Piranha
Top Speed - ****
Acceleration - **
Weight - *****
Class - Heavy
Unlock - Star Cup 150cc Mirror

Boo Pipes - King Boo
Top Speed - **
Acceleration - ****
Weight - *****
Class - Heavy
Unlock - Special Cup 150cc Mirror

Parade Kart - Somebody you can't play as...
Top Speed - ****
Acceleration - ***
Weight - ****
Class - 00b4r!!!1 (You can use it with any combination)
Unlock - All-Cup Tour 150cc Mirror


Okay... I said earlier that the stars lie, didn't I? Yeah, I did. So why did I
waste space with all that? Just for completeness. You want the REAL scoop?
Read on, and I'll give it to you...



Top Speeds [TPS]

With all due speed... I give you the exact peak of the Karts' mileage. Why
the stars say mostly incorrect things, I don't know... And while the
difference may seem trivial and slim, believe me: You'll notice. A single mile
per hour is a lot more than you think.


-58mph:
Green Fire
Bullet Blaster
DK Jumbo
Koopa King
Piranha Pipes
Parade Kart

-57mph:
Red Fire
Bloom Coach
Turbo Birdo
Waluigi Racer
Barrel Train
Wario Car

-56mph:
Heart Coach
Turbo Yoshi
Rattle Buggy
Koopa Dasher
Toad Kart
Boo Pipes

-55mph:
Goo Goo Buggy
Para Wing
Toadette Kart


So... If there's only four top speeds, why are there five stars? This just
goes to show how flawed the game's rating system is.

If you like high top speeds above all else, now you know what your best (and
worst) picks are.



Acceleration [ACL]

So how do you measure acceleration? Normally, it's the time it takes for the
vehicle in question to reach 60mph from a standstill. So... What if the
vehicle in question NEVER REACHES 60mph? I guess we'll have to settle for a
bit lower: 40mph.

Rocket Starts and Double Dashes were not factored in this, because if they
were, all Karts would have a 0-40 (0-60, in fact) of about 0.5 seconds. Blah.
So all I did was wait five seconds, accelerate, pause when I hit 40, subtract
those five seconds from the time, and voila. Some of the results startled
me...

In order from slowest to fastest:

DK Jumbo ------- 00:03:363
Green Fire ----- 00:03:236
Koopa King ----- 00:03:214
Wario Car ------ 00:03:108
Piranha Pipes -- 00:03:108
Barrel Train --- 00:03:002
Red Fire ------- 00:02:821
Turbo Birdo ---- 00:02:777
Waluigi Racer -- 00:02:700
Bullet Blaster - 00:02:672
Parade Kart ---- 00:02:661
Turbo Yoshi ---- 00:02:661
Heart Coach ---- 00:02:610
Bloom Coach ---- 00:02:563
Goo-Goo Buggy -- 00:01:791
Boo Pipes ------ 00:01:704
Rattle Buggy --- 00:01:704
Toad Kart ------ 00:01:619
Para Wing ------ 00:01:576
Toadette Kart -- 00:01:551
Koopa Dasher --- 00:01:551


Whoa! Upset! Well, not really, but these are some pretty odd results. The
biggest surprise: The Green Fire. Who knew it'd be that bad? Boo Pipes earns
honorable mention for shoving the Goo-Goo Buggy aside. The Parade Kart is a
lot higher up than I expected, as well. And I must admit that I thought the
Koopa King would wind up in last. I guess it must be tough for a Kart like
Kong's to get a good grip on the road, what without any tires...



Weight [WGT]

Well... I WAS going to have a whole section on Weight variations, but a bit of
investigation on my part revealed that there is only one variation: The
Waluigi Racer, which would have a true Weight rating of three point five. So
much for that idea.




"Invisible" stats [IVS]

Invisible? What? You mean there's some stats we can't see? Bingo. All five of
which will have a very large effect on your racing. You absolutely, positively
NEED to memorize all this in order to know which Karts will be best for you,
because the game is not going to remind you with any pretty but worthless
stars.



Offroad Top Speeds [OFR]

So we know how fast they get going on the roadway. That's all well and good,
until you slip off the track. Will you cruise back into action, or drag behind
the competition trying to get your wheels out of the mud?

Now, of course, your speed loss is determined by the terrain in question.
There's too many different types of terrain, and too many different offroad
speeds to measure. So, I'm only measuring one: Grass, which is pretty much the
"median" of all terrains, so others can't be too far off. Maybe one day I'll
compile a list of speeds on all terrains.

It is interesting to note than on the deep sand in Dry Dry Desert, all karts
are slowed to 16mph regardless of the speeds listed below, which were tested
on Mario Circuit, on the long stretches of grass beside the starting line.


Waluigi Racer -- 37mph
Goo-Goo Buggy -- 37mph
Rattle Buggy --- 37mph
Toad Kart ------ 37mph
Toadette Kart -- 37mph
Boo Pipes ------ 37mph
Koopa Dasher --- 35mph
Para Wing ------ 35mph
Barrel Train --- 34mph
Piranha Pipes -- 34mph
Heart Coach ---- 33mph
Red Fire ------- 32mph
Green Fire ----- 32mph
Turbo Yoshi ---- 32mph
Bloom Coach ---- 31mph
Turbo Birdo ---- 31mph
Wario Car ------ 29mph
Parade Kart ---- 29mph
DK Jumbo ------- 28mph
Bullet Blaster - 27mph
Koopa King ----- 27mph


So, the fastest Karts offroad are the Waluigi Racer, Goo-Goo Buggy, Rattle
Buggy, Toad Kart, Toadette Kart, and unexpectedly, the Boo Pipes, at a nice
37mph. The slowest belong to the Royal Koopa Family, at a pathetic 27mph. And
so, out the window goes the old "Weight determines offroad speed" trend. Good
riddance.



Handling [HND]

Hmm. How does one measure handling? The first option is how tight a Kart can
turn, right? Right. So let's try that... Oops, I forgot: What will be the
control? How can we make sure the tests are reliable? We can't just pick a
random turn in the track, because there'd be no way to get us lined up right
every single time. Human error would produce innacurate results. We need
something more constant. Unfortunately, something more constant does not
exist, at least to the extent of my knowledge. Do YOU know a way? If so,
email me!

There are, however, two other variables of handling: Speed loss and turn type.
Speed loss refers to the amount of speed lost during a normal, drift-less
turn. Turn type refers to how the kart turns; I'll explain later.

So, here's the speed loss list:


-1mph:
Heart Coach
Wario Car

-2mph:
Bloom Coach
Turbo Yoshi
Turbo Birdo
Waluigi Racer
Goo-Goo Buggy
Para Wing
Barrel Train
Toad Kart
Toadette Kart
Koopa King
Piranha Pipes
Boo Pipes
Parade Kart

-3mph:
Red Fire
Green Fire
Rattle Buggy
Koopa Dasher
Bullet Blaster
DK Jumbo


Well. I must admit, I expected more Karts to be on the "-1" list, and let me
tell you, the Wario Car was NOT one of them.

Now, about that turning thing... watch when you turn your Kart. Some Karts
turn the back ends first and then slide the front wheels in to turn, while
some turn their front ends inwards first and then swing their back ends out
when they turn, and some are in between.

Generally, Karts whose front ends swing first turn tighter and smoother than
Karts whose rear ends slide first (and are therefore easier to control in a
turn), but ususally lose more speed. However, those whose rear ends swing out
first tend to drift easier, though it takes them a bit longer to start the
drift than front-enders.


-Front end first:
Heart Coach
Bloom Coach
Turbo Yoshi
Rattle Buggy
Koopa Dasher
Toad Kart
Toadette Kart
Koopa King
Boo Pipes
Parade Kart

-Median:
Red Fire
Turbo Birdo
Goo-Goo Buggy
Bullet Blaster
Wario Car
DK Jumbo
Piranha Pipes

-Rear end first:
Green Fire
Waluigi Racer
Para Wing
Barrel Train



Width [WDT]

The Koopa King is fat. The Goo-Goo Buggy is slim. The Turbo Yoshi is somewhere
in between. What does this have to do with racing? Lots. Say you're driving a
wide Kart, and someone tosses a Green Shell at you. Obviously, a larger Kart
would be a bit easier to hit. Thinner Karts would be able to avoid them a
little easier. Of course, anyone competent would screencheat and drift around
anything thrown at them, but if a CPU throws something or you're playing over
LAN, you'll need to rely on your opponent's hopefully mediocre aim and your
Kart's ability to dodge items. If you're a master at dodging, you can likely
afford to select a wider Kart in favor of better stats, but if you're still
getting it down pat, you'll want to give one of the slimmer ones a go.

Another noteworty detail: The wider your Kart is, the farther the camera is
from your Kart. This lets you see more of the road ahead, and more to your
sides.

In order from widest to thinnest:

Koopa King
Parade Kart
Waluigi Racer/DK Jumbo
Wario Car/Piranha Pipes/Boo Pipes
Turbo Yoshi/Turbo Birdo
Red Fire/Green Fire/Toad Kart/Toadette Kart
Heart Coach/Bloom Coach
Koopa Dasher/Para Wing/Bullet Blaster
Goo-Goo Buggy/Rattle Buggy
Barrel Train

The Barrel Train is without a doubt the thinnest Kart in the game, and
therefore is the best choice for those who like to dodge items easily. The
Koopa King takes up the most roadspace out of all of them, so you should have
little trouble nailing this SUV.



Shocks [SHK]

You take a jump. You drive over some odd terrain. Do you lose much speed? Your
shocks will keep you from dropping to a standstill, but not all springs are
the same. Some Karts bounce a bit more than others, while some know not how
to leave the ground. The higher a Kart bounces, the more speed it loses from
adverse terrain. So you'll definitely want a Kart that doesn't bounce much,
unless of course you think you're fine without it, in which case, be my guest.

In order from bounciest to least bouncy:

Waluigi Racer
Bullet Blaster/Turbo Yoshi/Turbo Birdo
Red Fire/Green Fire/Parade Kart
Koopa Dasher/Para Wing/DK Jumbo
Goo-Goo Buggy/Rattle Buggy/Wario Car
Heart Coach/Bloom Coach/Toad Kart/Toadette Kart/Koopa King
Barrel Train/Piranha Pipes/Boo Pipes

Wow, Waluigi really needs some help. Able to leap tall buildings in a single
bound! The Train and the Pipes have the best shocks here, and the Coaches are
the best Medium Karts in this category.



So what IS the best Kart? [OMG]

So. We've gone over what Karts do well in different areas, and which need
improvement in those areas. Put this data together, and which Kart comes out
on top?


The Green Fire, Bullet Blaster, DK Jumbo, Koopa King, Piranha Pipes, and
Parade Kart are the fastest.

The Koopa Dasher has the best acceleration.

The Waluigi Racer, Goo-Goo Buggy, Rattle Buggy, Toad Kart, Toadette Kart, and
Boo Pipes lose the least speed offroad.

The Heart Coach and Wario Car lose the least speed when turning.

The Barrel Train is the thinnest.

The Barrel Train, Piranha Pipes, and Boo Pipes lose the least speed from
falls.

And all the rest take a little from everywhere.


So which one is the REAL Best Kart? It's...






Drumroll, please...





ALL OF THEM.


Really. I can't pick your Kart for you. Neither can the guy next to you. Only
one person can decide which Kart you will use: YOU. Only YOU can decide
whether you prefer speed over acceleration, or handling over offroad, or width
over shocks, or whatever. YOU. Not me. Not another person.

Now you fire up Mario Kart and pick your own Best Kart.

*Chased by hordes of rabid Barrel Train fanboys*



Frequently Asked Questions [FAQ]


Q: How do I unlock [Kart]?
A: Check the Karts section. CTRL+F "[KTS]" to find it.

Q: Do the characters affect the Kart's stats?
A: Absolutely not! You can pick whichever characters catch your fancy, and the
Kart's attributes remain the same. Even using an Action Replay to plop Bowser
and Petey Piranha into the Goo-Goo Buggy will not raise its weight from 2.

Q: If I unlock the Toadette Kart before I unlock the Toad Kart, will I get
Toad and Toadette with it?
A: Nope. Toad and Toadette come with the Toad Kart, not the Toadette Kart.
Same goes with Petey Piranha and King Boo; They come with the Piranha Pipes,
not the Boo Pipes.

Q: I heard that if you select a certain character/Kart combination, I get
double Special Items! Is this true?
A: BUZZ! FALSE! Even though this is flouted on mariokart.com, the official
Mario Kart website, there are no such combinations. That screenshot of Daisy
and Wario with the Wario Car has nothing to do with this cheat, because this
cheat doesn't exist. Don't be fooled into thinking you can become an uber 1337
racer because you use Daisy and Wario in the Wario Car.

Daisy's and Wario's Special Items are subpar anyways.

Q: You missed something/You got something wrong/You made a spelling error!
A: That's not a question, buddy. Nevertheless, it may need addressing. Contact
me at high_mage_yoshi@yahoo.com and I'll see about an update... maybe.

Q: Your guide is awesome!
A: Isn't it?



Thanks [THX]

Myself. Where would I be without him?
The gang at the MKDD!! board for their feedback and support.
Nintendo, for making this awesome game in the first place.



v1.00, completed 06/24/2006 1:14pm
(c) 2005-2006 Adrian Vaughn