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The Best Mario Kart 8 Cars, Ranked

With 48 new courses beginning to be added to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Nintendo Switch in 2022, there has never been a better time to re-up your Mario Kart skills. With a vast number of character, cart, tire, and glider combos, it is incredibly easy to customize your Mario Kart racer to your best ability. Of course, that also means that there are a lot of different options to choose from and the many combinations can be a bit overwhelming.

As a general rule, lightweight characters like Baby Mario tend to be great for handling and acceleration whereas heavier characters such as Bowser are more unwieldy to drive, but are much faster and are great for off-road adventures. Meanwhile, the carts themselves have such a vast variety of stats that it can be difficult to pinpoint which cart is the best option. Here, we've selected the carts with the best overall stats; how you balance these carts with your character, however, is up to you.

Updated August 7, 2022 by Peter Voight: With the imminent release of Wave 2 of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass, there is no better time than now to jump into everyone’s favorite kart racer. The wave will bring eight courses to the game, including classic courses like Kalimari Desert from Mario Kart 64. In addition, a brand-new course, Sky-High Sundae, will cool you off on a hot summer's day with its gigantic sweet treats.

And the best news? This is just the beginning! Nintendo will be releasing four more waves of courses, which will double Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s course total to 96. With all these course options, you’ll need the best kart possible to take down your opponents on the track. Whether you prefer a bike or car, heavy or light, or maybe just an all-around reliable vehicle, these options are sure to satisfy.

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13 Yoshi Bike

As one of the few vehicles in the game named after a character, the Yoshi Bike lives up to its namesake. The green two-wheeler is perfectly modeled after the green Dino, down to the arms that flip out of the side of the bike when gliding. Dating back to Mario Kart Wii, the series has had inside drift and outside drift vehicles, with the Yoshi Bike being the former.

This means you will still be driving with the turn, rather than drifting to the outside. The bike’s acceleration and handling stats will help you reach top speed and stay in control once you get there. However, you’ll be sacrificing speed and traction, meaning your turns and inside drifts won’t be as tight as you prefer.

12 Landship

With a design that calls to mind the airships of old Super Mario Bros. games, the Landship is much less intimidating than its inspiration. Its cannons on the side do move as you are racing, to remind you of the many times you died on Super Mario Bros. 3 airships as a child.

Acceleration is this kart’s best attribute, but it comes at the expense of speed. In addition, the kart is lightweight, meaning you may get bullied on the track if you aren’t driving aggressively. Luckily, the kart’s solid handling stats will allow you to evade competitors.

11 Teddy Buggy

If you’re looking for the cutest kart in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the Teddy Buggy may be the ATV for you. While the Teddy Buggy won’t blow anyone away with its stats, seeing as how it only slightly increases your acceleration and handling, the trade-offs are minimal.

With only a slight decrease in your speed stat, this is a perfectly average kart. It shares the same stats as the beloved Cat Cruiser, which is fitting considering the cuteness factor of both. Sometimes the flashy bells and whistles are overrated, anyway!

10 Comet

The Comet is one of Mario Kart 8's many Bike options and is statistically similar to the light-weight characters in the game. The Comet has high acceleration, handles extremely well, and has a longer mini-turbo, making it one of the better vehicles for catching up to other characters on windy tracks like Toad Harbor or perhaps the upcoming Choco Mountain.

With a perfectly average weight and traction, the Comet's one downfall is that its top speed doesn't reach the heights of its contemporaries. For players who prefer an easy, breezy lightweight combination, this bike is a great option.

9 Cat Cruiser

The Cat Cruiser has similar stats to the Comet, albeit in the form of a car instead of a bike: the acceleration, handling, and mini-turbo are its best features, balanced out with average weight and traction. Once again, the speed is its lowest stat.

This is an easy car to drive for beginner players, but again can be balanced out with a heavy-weight character like Bowser or Morton or with slick tires. As an added bonus, the car looks like an adorable cat! What's not to love?

8 Biddybuggy

The stats of the Biddybuggy are more spread out than the Comet and Cat Cruiser; its best asset is its acceleration, which is significantly better than the previous entries. The Biddybuggy also improves on its handling and traction and has a decent mini-turbo as well.

Its lowest stats are its weight and speed, both of which are below average. Though the speed of the Biddybuggy is its worst stat, the other bonuses more than make up for it. This cart is ideal for windy courses that don't have many off-road options, such as Mario Kart Stadium.

7 Tanooki Kart and Koopa Clown Car

The Tanooki Kart and the Koopa Clown Car have the exact same stats, tying them at number seven. These vehicles have the highest possible mini-turbo of all the cars in Mario Kart 8, which is great for windy courses that have a slick surface, like Rainbow Road. They have above-average weight and handling, making them easy to drive on difficult courses.

Their traction is perfectly average, so they're not ideal for off-roading, and their stats are rounded out with below-average speed and less-than-perfect acceleration. A character with a lower weight-class will help increase their acceleration, even if their speed isn't up to snuff.

6 Flame Rider and Standard Bike

The Flame Rider and Standard Bike also have the exact same stats. While their speed and weight are below average, their great traction makes it easy to take tight turns on levels like Bowser's Castle. They both handle well and have above-average acceleration and mini-turbos as well.

These bikes can be balanced out with middleweight or heavy characters; in general, the Flame Rider and Standard Bike are more well-balanced than some other options in the vehicular creation process, so they work well as an all-around decent bike.

5 Wild Wiggler

The Wild Wiggler is the best ATV in the game and has similar stats to the Standard Bike and Flame Rider. Its great traction makes tight turns easy while its high acceleration, handling, and mini-turbos increase its ability to catch up on characters on windy courses.

This is a great vehicle for the aforementioned Bowser's castle or Cloudtop Cruise. Again, while its speed and weight leave much to be desired, its other stats more than make up for it. This ATV is a great option for middleweight characters like Mario or Luigi.

4 Mercedes Silver Arrow

Of the three sponsored Mercedes vehicles present in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the Mercedes Silver Arrow is the best. The Mercedes 300 SL Roadster has the exact same stats as a Standard Kart while the Mercedes GLA has great speed, but struggles with a terrible acceleration and mini-turbo.

The Silver Arrow generally has good stats; like the Wild Wiggler, Standard Bike, and Flame Rider, it has great traction but poor speed and weight. Its acceleration, handling, and mini-turbo are all above-average and once again, this car does best on windy courses with fewer off-roading options.

3 Mr. Scooty

The stats for Mr. Scooty, one of the better bikes in the game, vary wildly: its acceleration and mini-turbo are some of the best in the game, but it also has some of the lowest stats for speed. Mr. Scooty also handles very well and has decent traction, but its weight is unsatisfactory.

The Mr. Scooty bike is best suited for tracks that have limited off-roading opportunities and has lots of places to use a mini-turbo without taking too tight of a turn; Thwomp Ruins, for example, is a great course to practice with this bike.

2 City Tripper and Varmint

The City Tripper and Varmint are two more bikes that share the same stats: their best features are their acceleration, handling, and mini-turbos, which have decent traction but struggle with their weight and speed.

This makes them ideal for courses that don't have much in the way of off-roading and are windy without being overbearing – for instance, Toad Harbor and Sunshine Airports are ideal courses to use this vehicle. Meanwhile, their poor speed can be bettered by driving with heavyweight characters like Dry Bones or Morton.

1 Pipe Frame

Statistically, the Pipe Frame is the best car in the game: it has great acceleration, handling, and a great mini-turbo. It also has decent traction but, like many of the other cars on this list, suffers from its weight and speed.

The Pipe Frame seems to be a favorite for heavyweight characters to help balance its low speed and excels on courses like Royal Raceway or Music Park. Its positives greatly outweigh its negatives, leading the Pipe Frame to come out on top as, statistically, one of the best cars in the game.