/!\ A better version is available in pdf here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kAJwZjyEThiA6zOUPlHpSnyi6VajQwnr/view?usp=sharing
Thanks to : -Andet, for his guide on the story mode which refers in particular to the performance of karts and for his advice. -Alayan, for the previous version of this guide (0.9.3 and older) on which this new guide for 1.0 is based.
KART CATEGORIES
There are 3 categories of karts (depending on their weight): Light: Wilber, Hexley, Kiki, Sara the racer
Mediums: Tux, Konqi, Suzanne, Adiumy, Xue, Gavroche, Nolok, Gnu, Emule, Sara the wizard
Heavy: Pidgin, Amanda, Beastie, Puffy
Light karts
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-They are generally the best in soccer, following the leader, battles and on some tracks such as minigolf.
-The world record for Minigolf is achieved with a light kart.
-These are the karts that detach most easily from parachutes.
-They are the easiest to drive because they take turns very easily and you can tighten the trajectory well.
-They are the fastest to restart after a basketball, bowling ball, or cake for example.
-The boost start is more important than on a medium or heavy.
-They have the most efficient nitro use.
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-All you need to know is that you can avoid a parachute by braking and restarting.
-They have the lowest maximum speed
→ To conclude, in general, light karts are better in alternative game modes, but can be used in normal racing or even online if you have a lot of difficulties to detach yourself from the other karts. They can be particularly useful for novices.
Heavy karts
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-They have the highest maximum speed
-They are generally the best in time trials
-Most of the world records are achieved with heavy karts
-These are the karts that are the most resistant to parachutes
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-In practice, parachutes are avoided by braking and it is the heavy karts that take the longest time to restart.
-They also take the longest time to restart after a basketball, bowling ball, or cake for example.
-They are more difficult to drive because they need more space to take a turn (novices, don't use them, you need at least an expert level)
-The boost start is less important than on a medium or a ligth one
-They have the least efficient nitro use.
→ To conclude, in general, heavy karts are better in time trials, but can be used in normal or even online races if you can get away from other karts.
Medium karts
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-They are generally the best online.
-They are intermediate on all the points mentioned above, they can replace a light kart in many situations.
-The world record for XR591 is achieved with a medium kart.
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-They are slower than heavy karts
→ To conclude, in general, medium karts are most of the time the best compromises except in records, time trials, or speedruns.
The video below demonstrates what is said previously
HITBOXES
/!\ These parameters have a minimal impact on your run.
We talk about a hitbox in relation to the width of the kart. These hitboxes must be as small as possible (for heavy karts -> Pidgin has the smallest, for medium karts -> sara the wizard and gavroche, and for light ones -> sara the racer) These hitboxes make it easier to take tight turns. They are useful at a high level.
As getting items and nitro doesn't depend on the hitbox, but is based on a fixed distance between the item position and the kart position, these karts have no disadvantage.