The beloved banana peel is one of the most versatile items in the Mario Kart oeuvre, and even though it’s usually reserved for racers near the front of the pack, it can do a lot of good things for you. Hold it behind you and you’ll be protected from incoming disasters. Drop it and you can slip somebody up as they try to catch you from behind. If you’re skilled enough, you can even throw it forward and snipe somebody just ahead of you. They’re fun to use in the game, but would they have the same effect in real life? The folks at the YouTube channel Hoonigan decided to see how true to life Mario Kart banana peels really are, and the results are admittedly… a bit disappointing (via Jalopnik).
They peeled a bunch of bananas, threw them all over the road (not a public road, thankfully), and used a 2018 Audi RS5 for a traction test. They found that there was some slipping, but nothing significant in Mario Kart terms. Basically, if you got a real-life banana in Mario Kart, you’d probably be disappointed.
That’s not to say bananas aren’t slippery, of course. In fact, a study about the slipperiness of banana peels actually won a Nobel Prize in physics not long ago. The researchers stepped on banana peels, took precise measurements, and discovered that they have a coefficient of friction comparable to ice. I imagine the reason the banana peels didn’t work as well on the car is because it’s a finely engineered (and heavy) machine made to deal with adverse conditions… like a road full of banana peels.
Do you think a blue shell would still work on a real car? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Featured image: Nintendo
