Image via Snail TV/YouTube
We’re all about crazy builds which cross the line and are actually such bad ideas they’re excellent. And nothing qualifies more for this proud designation that a go kart that’s packing a powertrain from a Suzuki Hayabusa.
The Hellcat Viper is absolutely wicked.
YouTuber Snail TV is responsible for this absolutely mental build. How he got the idea is a good question, but what’s even more important is why he went through with it. After all, the guy didn’t just slap the motorcycle engine in a kart and call it good.
He’s tuned this machine so it’s putting out a monstrous 800-horsepower! Even in a full-size car that’s a lot of power, but for a tiny little go kart that’s enough to kill yourself seven times over.
To get that kind of output, he put two turbos on the kart, one at the front and the other in the rear. He’s running plenty of boost as well, saying he can go up to 120 psi, hence why his channel is all about snails and such.
We’re pretty sure driving this kart is a death wish on wheels, so naturally we absolutely love it.
Of course, stock internals from a Hayabusa engine wouldn’t hold up under this kind of boost. Mr. Snail TV had to swap those out for far stronger components, so the build wasn’t as quick as some might assume. He has videos of this build stretching back years, so it’s definitely a passion project.
All that effort has paid off in spades. Even back two years ago when the Hayabusa go kart was only pushing 400-hp (which is insane) footage of him testing it out in the parking lot showed he couldn’t really wind it up because there wasn’t enough space for its explosive acceleration.
More recent footage at a kart track shows the build in action and it naturally can roast the rear tires like crazy. But with twice the power, we can’t wait to see what it’s like on the track now, other than an excellent bad idea.
Image via Snail TV/YouTube
