Originally Posted by drew6869:
New to this, did not know there was a difference. Sidewinder to upright. The car Im looking at is a mid 2000's stallard. (the best we can tell, not 100% on the builder)
Trust me, it can get confusing in a hurry; in a Mini Sprint, or "upright", the motor sits in front of the driver, and can't be offset more than six inches from the centerline of the frame. Thus, the driver sits "upright" exactly as he would in a Midget or Sprint Car. They also generally run 13" diameter wheels.
A Micro Sprint (or Micro Midget, either term is used), or "sidewinder", has the motor set drastically to the left; so much so that the seat is set almost on the floorpan and the drivers legs and feet stretch out alongside the motor, in more of a Go Kart seating position. Sidwinders typically use 10" diameter rolling stock.
Sidewinders are often referred to as Mini Sprints but upright "purists" cringe when they hear them described as such.
If you're looking at a Micro/sidewinder the tracks mentioned earlier are the places to run. Uprights and Sidewinders rarely run in the same class, as it's felt the lower center of gravity gives the the sidewinder a distinct advantage. Also, because of the drastic differences in chassis dynamics mixing the two can potentially cause some hazardous situations due to the different racing lines (sidewinders are a lot more "twitchy", in my opinion).
Hope this helps. Good luck in your car shopping, and have fun wherever you run!