7 Best Karts In Mario Kart 8 

While the characters you play in Mario Kart 8 most definitely determine your starting statistics, it’s the builds that you apply to those characters that really cement certain advantages or make up for some disadvantages the character might have.

Let’s take heavyweight characters for example. While they have excellent top speeds, what they most often lack is handling. However, with the correct builds, they’re able to make up for that shortcoming, if even a little.

 Videogamer.com is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API / Last updated on 2024-04-20 

As for the build itself, the backbone of a build is the kart itself. After all, the game’s called Mario Kart and not Mario Tires, right? Therefore, we’re here to list down our picks of the seven best karts you can use in Mario Kart 8 to ensure you leave everyone behind on the race track.

Best Karts In Mario Kart 8: 7. Biddy Buggy

When playing a heavyweight character such as Donkey Kong, Bowser, or even Wario, the number one priority when coming up with a build is offsetting that weight somehow, and the BuddyBuggy is perfect for that.

Not only does it give better acceleration to your character which means that your heavyweight character that already has exceptional top speed will reach it quicker, but it also boosts the total handling statistic.

NOW READ: Check Out All The Hot Deals At Green Man Gaming – 15% OFF Selected PC Games

Unfortunately, it has bad traction and speed, making it a very poor pairing for characters that have bad starting speeds. When paired with something like the monster tires, players are able to balance out the numbers.

Best Karts In Mario Kart 8: 6. Tanooki Kart

The Tanooki Kart is a fan favorite due to its insane boost in the mini turbo stat. Baby characters are able to benefit from this kart, but medium weight characters such as Tanooki Mario have also proven themselves to be more than capable. The characters that are able to take advantage of this the most, however, are heavy characters.

The reason for this is that in the deluxe version, the Tanooki Kart offers players increased traction and handling, two stats that heavy characters can really benefit from because of them usually not having much.

As for the weak stats of this, the speed and acceleration stats take a huge hit, but when paired with the correct character and tires, the Tanooki Kart is able to make the player shine.

Best Karts In Mario Kart 8: 5. Jet Bike

For characters or players that want some good old fashion speed boosts, the Jet Bike has you covered. Giving an average boost to speed, many characters that are already fast can benefit from this, as well as characters that can use some more speed to their name.

However, one thing to be careful of is that the Jet Bike has some drawbacks that make them unfit for characters that have poor base acceleration. The reason for this is that the jet Bike lowers the acceleration and tractions stats.

Therefore, it’s best to use this kart on a character that has average acceleration and speeds so that you can balance out the drawbacks when selecting tires for the build.

Best Karts In Mario Kart 8: 4. Gold Standard

It’s a given that the hardest to unlock kart would be one of the best ones. The gold standard gives players a more than welcome boost in speed as well as an increase in weight that light characters can use to stop themselves from flying every time an opponent so much as touches them.

Unfortunately, as we mentioned above, unlocking the gold standard is no easy task. You would have to get at least one star on every regular Grand Prix and Mirror Mode race to unlock the Gold Standard kart. 

NOW READ: 7 Best Characters in Mario Kart 8 

For better context, players need to get 1st place in at least 2 out of the 4 races for a score of 54 or higher if they want a single star, and that has to be repeated in every race.

Best Karts In Mario Kart 8: 3. Wild Wiggler

The Wild Wiggler is one of the most underrated karts in the game, giving characters an excellent boost in acceleration, traction, and handling. This makes this kart an excellent pick both on and off the track.

When paired with a character like Waluigi that already has excellent top speeds, the Wild Wiggler’s acceleration boost makes it so that you’ll be able to reach the first place before anyone from the opposition could even notice.

Best Karts In Mario Kart 8: 2. Blue Falcon

The Blue Falcon is another kart that goes scaringly well with a heavy character like Bowser or Donkey Kong. Although it decreases the acceleration even more than the weight does, the increase in speed and traction more than makes up for it.

NOW READ: Best Mario Kart 8 Combos

Put on some speed increasing wheels as well, and you’ll be able to reach top speeds that you might not have thought to be possible in the game before. Just be careful of sharp turns and water, otherwise, it might take a while for you to hit that speed again.

In addition, the Blue Falcon also decreases the total handling a little, but with a character like Bowser who already has exceptional base handling, it won’t be too noticeable.

Best Karts In Mario Kart 8: 1. Pipe Frame

Those who have used the Pipe Frame with a heavy character like Wario most likely already knew this was coming. The Pipe Frame gives a MAJOR boost in handling, acceleration, and mini turbo, all the while giving a minor boost to traction.

While it also decreases the speed and weight, using a character like Bowser, Wario, or Donkey Kong, will make it so the weight will be offset, and the drop in speed won’t be felt too much due to these characters already having more than enough.

The Pipe Frame is one of the only karts in the game where the positives outweigh the negatives with such a huge amount, which gives you an idea of how far ahead it is from the other karts. 

Final Thoughts

The thing with Mario Kart 8 (and all other Mario Kart games) is that there’s no one kart that suits all. In the end, the most important thing to do is experiment with various different characters, karts, and tires, to see which one suits you the best.

With that said, the aforementioned karts are the best karts in Mario Kart 8 from a statistical standpoint, and you should definitely give them a shot the next time you’re on the racetrack.