YouTuber creates real life Mario Kart turtle shells

A YouTuber is living everyone’s dream after he found a way to make his car shoot out turtle shells just like Mario Kart.

Alex Corea, who goes by No Bitrate on YouTube, felt that content creators hadn’t done enough to bring video game items into the real world.

So he went about setting things right.

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A total shell shock

The shell itself was relatively easy to make, thanks to 3D printers.

Yes, no real turtles were harmed in this project.

As you might imagine, it was a trickier matter altogether to get the shells launched out of cars like in the Nintendo games.

The shells came in different colors during the game – primarily green and red – and were fired at opponents during races, in an attempt to deter them.

Figuring out what speed the shells were shot at was already a tricky issue.

An initial calculation estimated they traveled at around (111km/h) 69mph, but a recalculation put the figure between 236 and 275mph (380 and 443km/h).

This is a lot of maths for a game involving an Italian plumber and talking mushroom.

Admittedly, the logistics of this are somewhat convoluted, but blending video games and real life is often a force for good.

If not just for creating a real-life turtle shell, there was also the time gamers banded together to raise $260,000 to repair an island that had been hit by a typhoon.

Bringing Mario Kart to life

Corea installed a rocket motor into a shell for a test run.

The first attempt is a total failure, as it bounced off the ground and turned upside down, rather than traveling in a straight line.

Anyone who knows their science will understand why this happened.

Turtle shells are shaped for underground burrowing, not for above-ground speed.

Rockets require aerodynamics and stability.

To compensate, the No Bitrate team added a missile-like tube with fins to the shell.

However, even when fired from a stationary vehicle, they’re missing their target – a mannequin dressed like Mario.

Not ideal when you want the shells to be launched from a moving vehicle.

It was decided that a bigger target was needed.

Enter the 1996 Suzuki X-90, covered with metal plates.

The first attempt at launching shells resulted in a miss, as did the second and third.

With only three rockets left, it was now or never.

The team decided to fire all the rockets at the same time, giving us an interesting conclusion.

While rocket one and rocket two went off consecutively, the third one failed to launch at all.

But alas, the Nissan had been hit by the ones that had launched.

Admittedly, the target had been a sitting duck but a win is a win.

This isn’t the first time a content creator has tried to bring the Mario Kart universe into the real world, as a TikToker previously put a Nintendo Wii steering wheel into his car.

Saudi Arabia also hopes to have finished a new Mario Kart-inspired F1 track by 2027.

To watch the video in full, head over to No Bitrate’s YouTube channel.