Gold Standard

The Gold Standard (known as the Gold Kart in the British English version) is a kart in the Mario Kart series. As its name implies, the kart is a gold-painted version of the Standard Kart. In the console games, CPUs never use the Gold Standard, along with the Gold Tires and the Gold Glider, making this kart player-exclusive. When the Gold Standard body is combined with the Gold Tires and Gold Glider, they complete the whole Gold Standard kart.

Mario Kart 7
The Gold Standard debuts in Mario Kart 7 as an unlockable kart part. It can be unlocked by earning 10000 VR in Wi-Fi races or, alternatively, by collecting 20,000 coins.

The Gold Standard gives a slight boost in speed and weight, but slightly hinders the acceleration and off-road stats. It also slightly hinders air speed and drift.

In this game, when all gold parts are combined, the Gold Standard gives great speed (the second strongest boost in the game) and has good weight, but hinders air speed, and acceleration, noticeably hinders sea speed, land, and air handling. The combined Gold Standard has very poor drifting and handling along with the worst off-road in the game.

From a third-person view, the Gold Standard's steering wheel is gold; however, in a first-person view, it remains black, unless the player has earned the Golden Steering Wheel by doing 100 races with at least 80 using gyro.

Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
The Gold Standard returns in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, where it has received a small detail change: instead of the character's emblem, the Gold Standard's logo is a number 8 from the game's logo with a wreath of olive leaves around it. This kart and the GLA are the only kart bodies that do not display the characters' emblems. It is unlocked in Mario Kart 8 by getting a star rank or higher in every GP cup for every engine class, and in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe by getting a star rank or higher in every cup in Mirror Mode.

In Mario Kart 8, the Gold Standard offers a strong boost in ground speed and a slight boost in weight, but slightly hinders acceleration and highly hinders traction. In terms of its hidden stats, it also boosts speed on every terrain, but hinders anti-gravity handling and mini-turbo. It shares its stats with the Mach 8, Circuit Special, Sports Coupe, B Dasher, and P-Wing vehicle bodies. When all gold parts are combined, it boosts speed on all terrains (except water), along with weight, but hinders anti-gravity handling, acceleration, mini-turbo, and traction.

In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the Gold Standard's stats have been altered; it now only slightly boosts ground speed, while no longer boosting speed in any other terrain, but rather worsening water speed, as well as no longer boosting weight. Additionally, acceleration is hindered further, while air handling is now hindered instead of anti-gravity handling. Also, the traction and mini-turbo stats are not hindered as much as previously. The Gold Standard shares its stats with the Sneeker and Master Cycle. When all gold parts are combined, the Gold Standard is considerably worse than in Mario Kart 8, as while it still increases ground speed and weight, it now hinders every other stat with the exception of anti-gravity speed and water handling; it especially hinders acceleration, air handling, anti-gravity handling, traction, and mini-turbo, all in a heavy way.

Mario Kart Tour
The Gold Standard returns in Mario Kart Tour, retaining much of its design from Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but with the "8" emblem being replaced by the respective character's own emblem. It serves as a variant of the Red Standard 8. In the game's public release, the Gold Standard used to only be available in the Coin Rush mode as the sole drivable kart, being released for use outside of Coin Rush three years later in the 2022 Mario vs. Luigi Tour. In the Beta Test, the kart was also available outside of Coin Rush. Unlike the Red Standard 8, it uses the Gold Tires from Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Also unlike the Red Standard 8, this kart increases the duration of Slipstream boosts and the number of points earned for performing a Slipstream.

The Gold Standard is not regularly obtainable from pipes, and it is not part of the Daily Selects lineup. However, it has been included in the Daily Spotlight lineup for every tour starting with the 2022 Autumn Tour. The following table shows this kart's special availability by tour.

Names in other languages
Goldkart Kart d'oro