Off-road karting uses a four-wheeled powered

vehicle A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wa ...

designed for

off-road Off-roading is the activity of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, and other natural terrain. Types of off-roading range in intensity, from leisure drives with unmodified vehicl ...

use as opposed to the longer established activities of ''racing''

go-kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance Kart rac ...

s used for racing on a paved road circuit. Off-road go-karting is now well-established and popular activity with a burgeoning range of vehicles, options, and adherents. Just as the

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

is undergoing evolutionary changes, noticeably in the field of "off-road" use, the smaller recreational vehicles called "go-karts" have spawned a new generation of vehicles for off-road use. The origins of using a go-kart-sized vehicle for off-road use undoubtedly had many stages of development and claimants whose homemade vehicles were "the first" off-road go-karts. However, as concerns manufactured products it seems the first was from

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

, who released in 1977 a vehicle they called the Odyssey, essentially an "off-road" go-kart with a 250 cm³ two-stroke engine, single-seat, and a continuously variable

automatic transmission An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving c ...

(CVT). The main differences to the traditional racing go-kart were a bigger size of tires (giving greater ground clearance and off-road traction) and a

roll cage A roll cage is a specially engineered and constructed frame built in (or sometimes around, in which case it is known as an exo cage) the passenger compartment of a vehicle to protect its occupants from being injured or killed in an accident, pa ...

. This proved to be a very popular vehicle and in 1985 Honda made major upgrades to the Odyssey and released the FL350. Changes were an improved roll cage, 350 cm³ engine with an electric starter, and a full front and back suspension system. Then in late 1989 Honda released the FL 400. In addition to the increased engine size (a liquid-cooled 400 cm³ unit), it had its suspension improved to handle the extra load. However, this had evolved into an expensive vehicle and sales were disappointing so Honda ceased manufacture in 1990. Although today these aging Honda units are still to be found and have an enthusiastic following, their main achievement was to create a pool of enthusiasts alerted to the possibilities of off-road small vehicle fun and keen to develop these possibilities. The question of when an off-road "go-kart" becomes an off-road " buggy", or when a ''dune'' buggy becomes an ''off-road'' buggy, or even if there is any difference will no doubt elicit many opinions and responses. Even manufacturers seem confused and the terms "buggy" and "go-kart" are often used interchangeably for the same vehicle. However, in terms of the evolution of go-karts and buggies, it seems correct to point out that go-karts are mainly constructed without a differential and are not intended to be registered for road use. They are purpose-built from scratch, not using second-hand auto parts. All of these features are shared by many of the ''off-road'' go-karts on the market today. However, in the U.S.A. the term "buggy" is often applied to the same type of vehicle referred to as a "go-kart" in most other countries. "Buggies" were originally made by converting existing vehicles (usually VWs, like the

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...

) and were usually intended for both on-road and off-road use (mainly on sand or beaches) and the majority still are. However, just as racing go-karts have evolved off-road cousins, so the dune buggy now has many versions of off-road buggy and trail use is increasing rapidly. This type of buggy has undergone many transformations in body style and appearance and many are purpose built from scratch using all new parts instead of converted second-hand auto parts and have the same style of frame and body structure as off-road go-karts. A simple and workable distinction would seem to be that "go-karts" are not intended for certification or approval for "on road" use at any time, but a "buggy" can be.

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See also