Above is the final version of the go-kart, completed just in time for a few test-drives before COVID shut down campus.

When I started the Automotive Engineering Club with a few friends, we had intended it as a weekly space for us to come together to profess our love for cars and discuss hot topics like the latest advancements in regenerative breaking as well as Elon Musk and Tesla’s “100 hour work weeks.”

After a group visit to a local mechanic’s shop however, someone suggested building a car or motorcycle as a group, and after some debate, we settled on ideal compromise between complexity and practicality (we’re still highschoolers after all)—the go-kart.

A close-up of the engine after we first put it together and were testing its output:

Here’s an image of a gokart racer in action: