Highlights
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe remains fresh and fun for years due to continuous DLC updates, and the Switch Online Expansion Pass makes it easier for newcomers to join.
- The article provides recommended setups for different characters in Mario Kart 8, such as Isabelle, Toadette, Wario, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and more.
- Each character has unique combinations of vehicles, tires, and gliders that optimize their speed, acceleration, handling, and other stats for different types of tracks and playstyles.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Nintendo Switch, with its continuous waves of DLC, still feels fresh and fun years after its release. And with the game on Switch Online Expansion Pass, it’s easier now than ever for newcomers to the series to join in the fun of Mario Kart.
But Mario Kart can be kind of intimidating if you don’t quite know where to start, especially if you’re playing online against seasoned pros. In our list, we’ve detailed some of the best Mario Kart setups, to help you try to find the best Mario Kart 8 combination for you.
Updated July 29, 2023, by Gabrielle Castania: With yet another wave of DLC bringing players old and new back to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, we wanted to come back to our list of the best Mario Kart 8 setups to polish up our old recommendations with new info, and add an extra Mario Kart 8 combo to the mix as well.
15 City Tripping Isabelle
The Animal Crossing-themed scooter is a perfect match for a character like Isabelle. The light weight, high acceleration, and handling combination make up for what the City Tripper lacks in speed. Keep your traction and speed in check with the Retro Off-road tires and a sturdy glider like the Plane Glider.
This Isabelle combination comes in handy for those trickier tracks like the ones in the Turnip Cup or Star Cup. You'll keep Isabelle smiling all the way to first with this combo!
14 Pipe Frame Perfect Toadette
Featherweight drivers can be tough to handle for players unfamiliar with just how little weight you add to your build with these tiny tots, but with the right build, Toadette and others in the weight class can shine! If you put Toadette onto a speed-boosting vehicle, how light she is can prove a definite advantage with her acceleration!
Pair her with the Roller or Azure Roller wheels to cash in on that acceleration power, and finish the set with an Accel Glider to make Toadette really soar.
13 Wario's Pink Cat Car
The antithesis of the franchise star, Wario, has been on Nintendo’s roster for a long time. And though he looks sort of hilarious in the Cat Cruiser, there is merit to the combo.
The low traction of the Cruiser makes underwater tracks like the ones in the Mushroom Cup a lot trickier, but the Cyber-Slick tires bring the speed and weight up to compensate for the loss when you’re taking on hardy desert courses like Cheese Land and Dry Dry Desert. The Wario Wing is just for style, but that’s what matters most, right?
12 Isabelle In The Shoe
You may find, depending on your playstyle, that the City Tripper bike leaves something to be desired, even if Isabelle looks adorable in it. The solution? The Sneeker, a giant shoe with wheels. Great handling and acceleration make up for the car's lack of speed, while the Flower Glider gives you just a little more traction.
Leaf Tires and the New Horizons-themed Paper Glider add that perfect Animal Crossing touch. Just watch out for rough wrecks while speed-boosting.
11 Morton With The Pipe Frame
Mario Kart 8’s roster features eight of Bowser’s offspring, and they sure know how to race. Morton is a heavyweight racer, which means you have to balance him out well with the right Kart to maintain his speed advantage. The best way to do this is with the Pipe Frame Kart.
The tires make less of a difference with Morton, but you can’t go wrong with the stylish GLA Tires. This balanced combo is a good way to storm through the single-player 150cc category and get that gold.
10 Baby Mario Biddybuggy
The five baby versions of the main recurring Mario series characters are cute as buttons. Baby Mario is more adept of a racer than he looks, considering he’s an infant with a driver’s license. Fitting the ridiculously adorable Biddybuggy with the Cyber Slick tires turns Baby Mario’s playground car into a racing machine.
Many different gliders can work with this combination, depending on which stat you want to boost, so check your Kart’s menu while you’re picking it out. This combination screams through most of the 200cc tracks with ease, if you’re looking to finally take on the hardest challenge in the game.
9 Yoshi With The Standard Bike
If something isn’t broken, why fix it? Yoshi on the Standard Bike remains a strong combo through and through. The speed is a little low, but adding on the Waddle Wing glider brings your speed up to a much more tolerable level while keeping the bike's weight down where it needs to be.
With the Retro Off-Road tires added, the Standard Bike can cut turns harder, making drifting and recovering after a hard Red Shell hit a breeze.
8 DK: A Big Ape On A Little Scooter
You have to offset Donkey Kong’s immense weight somehow, and the simplest way to do it is with a small vehicle like Mr. Scooty. Adding the Monster tires helps even out your numbers and makes it a lot easier to see where you’re going.
Donkey Kong takes up a considerable amount of the screen, so it’s important to know your tracks and utilize items as often as possible. A nice air-boosting glider like the Parachute is a great addition to this combo.
7 Waluigi’s Wild Wigglin’
The Wild Wiggler is an underrated Kart. With high-speed drivers like Waluigi behind the wheel, this little bug vehicle hits some high speeds with quick acceleration. The Roller wheels give you a wide drift that takes some time to get used to, but you can choose to tighten this up with any variety of the Off-Road tires.
The MKTV parafoil is a great glider that helps keep the Kart’s weight down and lets you speed through any track you choose.
6 Blue Falcon Bowser
Are you confident enough to handle wide drifts and screamingly high top speeds? If so, then Bowser is going to be the driver for you. You’ll need a lightweight Kart like the Blue Falcon to compensate for the weight of Bowser’s might, but throw on the Cyber Slick tires and the Bowser Kite, and he’s ready to go.
The acceleration is a little slow, making this combo better for circuit races than slippery, twisting tracks like Ice Ice Outpost.
5 Tiny Scooting Daisy
Baby Daisy is a tough driver to beat. She is a formidable opponent on the Mr. Scooty, even though it almost looks too silly to be a viable combination. Giving this Kart the Slick tires beefs up the speed advantage without sacrificing too much of the control you have over the little toy scooter.
If you’re having trouble with hard tracks like the Mario Kart Tour tracks, you may want to break out this combo and head for the shortcuts - Baby Daisy can handle them with ease.
4 All Gold Everything
Gold Mario in the Gold Kart is an obvious choice. After all, why wouldn’t the hardest combo to unlock be one of the best? Gold Mario and the matching Kart, wheels, and glider will take a lot of playtime to obtain, but with high speed and tight handling, the combo is definitely worth the time and effort.
Go for gold with this combination - both with your driver and kart combo, and your future first-place prizes.
3 Supersonic Pink Gold Peach
Paris Promenade, Coconut Mall, and the rest of the Golden Dash Cup courses were practically made for Pink Gold Peach, especially piloting the high-octane Jet Bike. The Crimson Slim tires bring the handling up to help with the high speeds of the bike, and the Peach Parasol takes some heavy lifting off of the sheer weight of all that metal.
Traction may be low, but on the raceway-type tracks where speed is king, you’re absolutely (pink) golden.
2 Inkling Girl And Matching Buggy
Don’t you love it when the aesthetically pleasing, perfectly matched choices are the ones that work well? Coming straight from the Splatoon arena and into Mario Kart 8, Inkling Girl and the Splat Buggy are a well-rounded combo that’s hard to beat.
The Super Glider and Off-Road tires add the perfect amount of resistance and air to make fast, jump-heavy tracks like Excitebike Arena and Dragon Driftway in the Egg Cup tons of fun.
1 Link And The Triforce Trifecta
Link is surprisingly a new addition to Mario Kart, considering how long he’s been a Nintendo icon, but he entered the scene with a hell of a splash. With Link as the driver of the Master Cycle, Triforce Tires, and Hylian Kite included, he’s practically unstoppable.
This combination offers well-balanced speed and weight with a medium acceleration, making it easy to drift around long turns, cut between obstacles, and stay stable at high speeds. Tricky tracks like the ones in The Bell Cup are a great place to really make this combo shine.