Grand Prix Kartways

I really liked this place because it was very modern, clean and the technology was up to date. the course was not that big however pretty fun to drive on because of the posters and banners all around. The great thing was that near it are also so many places to go and have fun. The only problem I had is that it was a bit to pricy. Also a kid in front of me at the line was younger than 18 so he needed parents consent. Sucked cause this is the only karting place I have seen that does this with permission from parents. So if your going to make the long drive to Downsview be ready.

Indoor car racing with a bar and kitchen. Parking is right next to the place to the right of unit 9. The best way to get there is through Sheppard W and a turn into Carl Hall Rd. The other roads are all closed. The Staff were amazing. The cars go quite fast, and it’s definitely a risky race. Make sure your helmet and seatbelts are secured before zooming off. The staff were amazing. I hit the curb really hard during my final race and they all stopped the cars immediately. They rushed into my rescue without hesitation. Luckily, I was fined with a tiny laceration on the side of my tongue. I was told that this happens all the time and there was nothing to worry about. The atmosphere is quite casual and there are arcades and games to play while you wait for your next round. I bought the Groupon online and paid $ 30+ tax. It was definitely worth the try.

There aren’t many race tracks around town so this is one of the only options in the city. The racing as ok, but I do wish that their race track is bigger so we get to enjoy longer sessions. There is a slight learning curve with getting used to the cart and the race track, but you will learn to manuver by the 3^rd or 4^th lap. The steering wheel is quite hard, and my arms hurt the day after.

I had a lot of fun!
It was my first time go karting, but my boyfriend (who accompanied me) was a seasoned expert.
The building was very clean, since they are electric karts. Great acceleration, again because they’re electric.
The restaurant was pretty great. They were very accomodating for the fact that we had a race every 10 or 20 minutes, and made sure that our food came out just as we finished one race, and then heated up our food after we finished the next race (we could have waited to finish our meal to do another race, but we were too excited).
And they always had a kart ready with a booster seat for me (I am very short). We were there from 6pm to nearly 11pm, and did unlimited races.
Two of the karts did have malfunctions (i.e. running too slow), which took a bit of time to remedy during one of the races.

Cars are dangerous, food is awful, service is slow, arcade is broken, pool table is ripped to shreds, track is hard to navigate and crashes happen 2 – 3 times per race. «All day unlimited pass» makes you wait 5 races between races. Overall bad experiences never going back.

I went for the doors open. I’ve ridden so many go karts all over usa and canada that I can say this one is quite decent. It appears to be electric so the cars themselves run fairly good speeds. Had fun. If its your first time going here, the whole Downsview park area is kinda confusing and not easy to find your way around.

A lot of fun but the place is a bit run down and the helmets stink etc. Went with a bachelor party and really enjoyed the racing itself but wish the facility was a bit cleaner and equipment didn’t smell. That being said I haven’t been to any other go kart tracks so can’t really compare.

Worst place ever. I was racing with someone random and they slowed my kart to 1km/​h and i saw him controlling me then I asked them why they were slowing me down but they just said there was an issue and didn’t even give me a free race. Waste of time.
The unlimited race is a waste since it takes so long just to start a race so you usually get 2 or 1 races.

bought a groupon ($ 30 for unlimited 6pm-​midnight) thinking it was a great deal 50% off. We were fairly disappointed when we went:
1. The place is pretty empty. When we got there at 6pm, we were the only people there. Eventually two other groups of people arrived, but I thought it would be more packed if they say it’s one of the best go karting places. The ad definitely did a lot of fluffing; it’s not as great as the description or pictures seem.
2. Location is hard to find. The first time we went, we got lost and we were an hour late. not only roads have 2 names, but entrance wasn’t clear, and you don’t see the kartway sign until you drive all the way to the end of the parking lot and around the corner.
3. Because location was hard to find, we were an hour late (7pm). When we got there, people booked their time slots and we had to wait almost 2 hours for the next heat. Since bookings are first come first serve, we couldn’t book it in advance. Sucks because we had to plan another day to come again.
4. Staff is friendly, but they seemed bored of doing the same thing. It sucked for me because as we were getting ready for our first lap, they told me i wasn’t tall enough to ride in the senior karts (even with two booster seats), meaning i couldn’t ride with my friends and i had to race alone. or i could get a refund. sucked either way, so i watched my friends do a lap. It was after a while where they were able to find that i could fit in one of the smaller the senior karts. Karts weren’t smooth, but i guess it’s better than not racing at all.
5. Karts are not all the same speed. I went in kart #15 and #6, and they’re both jerky, and bumpy. you would press the gas, nothing happens unless you press it really hard. maybe it’s just me, but the break pedals aren’t very sensitive either.
6. Helmet wise, we had to wear a red hairnet underneath. That wasn’t an issue, but I have a small head, and the smallest helmet they had (junior, medium) was too big for me! when i was racing, the bottom of the helmet would be where my nose is at. Had to constantly pull it down.
After an hour, we were pretty much done. It’s a small race track, maybe 6 turns? I think i’d rather race a real car or go somewhere with more energy in the atmosphere. I gave it a 2 star and not a 1 because service was decent and we came here for karting and that’s what we got. But overall experience is not very impressive, even with the discount. All in all, i’m not coming back here.

This place really ticked me off.
I’m an out of town visitor planning my best friend’s bachelor party. He gives me strict instructions none of the usual stuff. So I plan for us to get a group out there for their unlimited karting Friday night.
I call in advance. GM calls me back and tells me we can just show up for their unlimited (group of 6 – 7). Suggests this is no problem at all. $ 63/​each and we race all night no problem.
So what do we do? Exactly as stated! We show up around 10PM, after dinner and the like. Some of us got lost because the location is just horrible, signage is crap and you take a wrong turn and you’re going down a dirt road. We all finally get there and they tell us there is a 1 hour and 40 minute wait. Oh btw, unlimited racing is only until mid-​night. So basically we can race for 20 ish minutes. No one there gives two flying leaps about customer service, it was obvious. Gal behind the counter ‘Oh, you talked to Alex, yeah sorry still have to wait’.
Now if I was management I would have stated that all in advance.
How many people were in front of us? Well there appeared to be all of 13 – 14 other customers in the place. From what I’m used to at Karting places this would have been considered a slow night, felt like the place was dead. What a classic screw up. You think any of those guys are coming back? No.

I always go here before but since we leave farther now, we hardly visit this place. Now that we moved back, we revisit and wants to have an awesome ride this summer season. Unfortunately, the Manager of this company do not know what customer service means! He does not know how to talk professionally to customers. I brought my shihtzu knowing that we can watch my cousins and I to ride the go kart. However, instead of giving me assistance where to go for a pet-​friendly place he keep telling me to go out. Then, I put my puppy along the hallway ‘coz the garage side is closed and also to still glance and check on my pup but then the manager called a security instead. I like the team of people before who knows how to greet, help and assist customers. This place is not ideal at all to spend quality time with family and friends because of the management’s customer service. I hope the management will retrain their group of people to know the importance of high quality/​standard customer service especially the Manager whom should be the one to act in accordance to his position to not give an inappropriate behaviour towards the customers.

Customer service was pretty good the last time I went, the karts are fun to drive & fast, the track is nice and curvy and challenging, and the price isn’t bad.
Last week was the 2^nd time I went for unlimited racing there, and the groups I raced against were quite a bit more challenging than the first time. The first time, I was in 1^st place nearly every race :-D
We came on the previous day (Tuesday) hoping to use a voucher that expired on Wednesday, and were told that we wouldn’t be able to race until more than half way through the time period allotted to the unlimited races due to an overlapping corporate event. We were however compensated nicely for this by being given a complimentary race on Tues, and returned on Wed to use our vouchers.
We found the staff to be pretty friendly including the owner who made conversation and would refer to us by name.
The race cars vary in performance as some are faster than others, however for some reason I kept getting the faster one as compared to my friends. One of the guys I met there was really good at skillfully not allowing anyone to pass him, which was fun too. They are however electric, so there’s no exhaust smell, and they are faster than gas ones I’ve driven as well.
The track requires skill to be handled accordingly, so that was definitely a lot of fun too.
I forgot my water bottle there, and I called them today asking if they’ve found it, so after not finding it in their lost & found, the guy on the phone took my number down saying they’ll look for it and call em back. It’s more than I would’ve expected.
Based on all the factors I’ve mentioned, I’d definitely recommend Grand Prix Kartways and I’ll very likely be returning to race there in a month or two.

I came in with full expectations of having a great time. Unfortunately, it did not end up that way.
We came in with a group of 5, with me being the only person who has done Kart racing before. After our first race, we were greeted by the facility manager, Jamilton. I thought he was going to greet us with words of inspiration, congratulations, and/​or advice. What ended up happening was one of the more demeaning and rude conversations I have ever had.
He said we were the worst group he has ever witnessed racing and proceeded to berate each one of us. As for me, he said I was «slightly better» than the rest of my group. For real? I was driving perfectly, but I was only slightly better than the worst he has ever seen?
The issues that we had? Let’s all remember that my friends were driving for the first time in race karts, and the facility manager acknowledged them as beginners as well. One person initially was not used to the acceleration at the start and slightly bumped the person in front at the very beginning. The girls in the group were not used to the stiff steering wheels so they slightly glazed the sides during the first few laps. The last person did not have his foot over the brakes, which they stopped everyone and notified him. Great, that was during the first few laps for beginners. They were perfectly driving the rest of the way, even moderately slowly and safely.
So for that, the facility manager, instead of greeting us with words of inspiration and maybe a little caution for things to come, blasted us like we were less than human and threatened to kick us out. We were not rude or rowdy, just a friendly group trying to have some fun. Needless to say, it ruined our mood for the rest of the night. It seemed a lot like discrimination.
Subsequent groups were far, far worse offenders than we were. One group had people continually hitting the wall hard and crashing head on into the wall. The people in that group kept crashing into each other throughout the race. Even one person was turned sideways from the crashing one time. What happened to them? Nothing! The facility manager did not say one word, maybe because they were an all white group. Other groups had crashes continuously as well, with 360 degree turns due to crashes. What happened? Manager kept sitting at the register.
I have gone to race karts before, and this facility and the employees just do not compare. The employees seemed depressed and bored. They seem like they did not want to work there. They did not have a smile on their faces and spoke very unemotionally. As for the facility, they only have one track. Other facilities I have gone to had at least 2 tracks. Furthermore, the pavement is uneven, with many cement patch-​ups. It makes for a really bumpy drive. Also, they do not have a good system of lining up the drivers. I always had the best time in the group, but they always placed me back. I had to continually try to pass people before I had the open road to drive freely.
I really wanted to feel good about this activity; however, I am really disappointed to have to feel this bad after an evening that was supposed to be fun.

I’m STILL a fan because what I’m about to say will even the stars out a bit. The BAD was that when assigned starting positions, it is not an option which cart you get to sit because I keep wanting to be in front or behind my buddy within a group of 4 – 5 of us and was pretty much dependant on us to WAVE others past so we can be racing against each other instead of having someone else inbetween our action.
The GOOD is that on Monday[2 for 1($ 29.00)] it was relatively quiet so around 9pm we were pretty much the only group as the place close at midnight and other patrons were families that only did a SINGLE race or the 2 for 1 deal while my group went for UNLIMITED.
The downside is that the tracks and carts are relatively unused, therefore not all carts will have that same performance and TRACTION. Especially if you race within the first few races of the place opening 5:30pm, then it’s guaranteed that you will SKID all over as both the tires and track are fresh. Hope that helps!