Kart classes

Bars in the kart selection menu showing kart characteristics

In SuperTuxKart, all karts fall under one of three categories/classes which produce different strengths and weaknesses for each kart, depending on its class.

Factors

Mass

There are three classes of karts, depending on their weight: light, medium and heavy.

Acceleration

This is especially useful at the start, after an accident or in tracks with a lot of sharp turns.

Maximum speed

How fast the kart can go. High value here is especially useful in tracks with straight lines and gentle curves.

Nitro efficiency

How much speed you get from a nitro can.

Classes

Lightweights / Lights

These are Hexley, Kiki, Sara the Racer and Wilber. They have little max speed, but high acceleration and nitro efficiency.

Middleweights / Mediums

These are Adiumy, Emule, Gavroche, Gnu, Konqi, Nolok, Sara the Wizard, Suzanne, Tux and Xue. Middleweights have middle mean values in all factors.

Heavyweights / Heavies

These are Amanda, Beastie, Pidgin and Puffy. Heavyweights have bad acceleration and nitro efficiency, but high max speed.

Best choice

The kart choice should always depend on the gamemode and track/arena being played. In Soccer, mostly lightweights are used and in Time Trial (Speedruns) heavyweights are favoured. Anyway, choice depends on the personal taste and the track. However, most used karts are middleweights that give a good balance between all factors.