Analyzing the Top 100(ish) Mario Kart Speedrun Records to Find the Best Combinations

We here at SNSG are big Mario Kart fans, and for months we’ve been researching the game to find the best combination to use. Some of the information we found was completely useless, like the statistically worst combination in the game, but we think we’ve finally cracked it. By looking at almost 100 different speedrun records, we’ve found, what we believe to be, the two best kart combinations in the game. If these are the most used pieces used by the world record holding professionals shouldn’t we be using them also?

To find all of our data we compared the combinations used by the speedrunners on this site. We looked at 46 speedruns for 150cc and 45 speedruns for 200cc. All of the records taken were for the full 48 course run, and with CPUs on hard and items on. We chose to look at these instead of the Time Trials because it's a more practical set of data. If you were racing with your friends or online, there would be other racers trying to hit you with items, so we thought this was the most fair representation of high level Mario Kart.

“But why are there 2 combos?” you ask. As it turns out, there’s a big discrepancy in combinations needed for 150cc and 200cc. 200cc is so much faster than 150cc, so most pros have to tweek their builds to make it more optimal.

*Disclaimer – Only one name will be used for each piece in this article. But many karts and drivers and the same stats, so any combo with the same numbers can be used. We just tried to keep the numbers/names uniform*

150cc – Drivers

There were three drivers who kept coming up over and over again through all the speed runs. While Morton and Waluigi collectively held 40% of drivers used, Dry Bowser was the real winner here. With over a 3^rd of top drivers using him, Dry Bowser is the clear top choice.

150cc – Tires

There’s no real discussion here, Roller wheels are the best. With 80% of top speedrunners using them they are the obvious favorite. GLA is a distant 2^nd with it being used less than 9% of the time.

150cc – Bodies

This was the piece we were more curious to see. Yes, the tires and the gliders play an important part in your combination, but the body is where it’s at. This is the piece with the most varied statistics from one to another. The Biddy Buggy and the Wild Wiggler were the most used bodies, but the Wild Wiggler came out on top. While 20% used the Biddy Buggy, a whopping 37.8% used the Wild Wiggler.

150cc – Gliders

While not as cut and dry as the tires, the gliders also have a very obvious must use. The Paper glider was used by 64.4% of top speedrunners. The Super glider was the runner up, but at roughly 20%, it was nowhere close to the Paper glider.

So with all of that information, this ends up being our 150cc combination.

200cc is a different beast entirely. You could use the same combination as 150cc, but with the speed being so much greater, you’d most likely want to switch it up a bit. So here are the most used parts for 200cc.

200cc – Drivers

The drivers for 200cc aren’t as clear cut as the drivers for 150cc, but it looks like one driver comes out on top. The most used 150cc driver, Dry Bowser, dropped from over 30% to less than 5%. His weight and speed were just too much for 200cc. Waluigi was the most used driver for 200cc, with Rosalina right behind him.

200cc – Tires

The Roller tires are still champ even in 200cc, though they dropped from 80% usage to 77.3%. The Leaf tires are the next most used tires because of how well they handle the higher speeds.

200cc – Bodies

For 200cc the Biddy Buggy is numero uno. With even more people using the Biddy Buggy in 200cc than Wild Wiggler in 150cc, This body is used by almost half of all speedrun records, so the Biddy Buggy body is clearly the one to use.

200cc – Gliders

Again the Paper glider reigns supreme. Jumping from just about 64% to 70%, it looks like the Paper glider is awesome to use no matter what speed you’re racing on.

And using the data above, this is our 200cc winner.

So there you have it, the most used part combinations used by top players. For 150cc the most used pieces were Dry Bowser/Wild Wiggler/Roller/Paper. And for 200cc it was Waluigi/Biddy Buggy/Roller/Paper. So it looks like the biggest difference between 150cc and 200cc is what driver/body you use, the tire/glider doesn’t make much of a difference between the two speeds.

One last fun fact, the 2^nd place record holder for both 150cc and 200cc uses the exact combinations we recommended here, so clearly these builds must be pretty good.