- There's more to Auto vs. Manual than it may seem:
Automatic - Slightly higher top speed, cancel wheelies instantly by turning w/ analog stick only (sorry, wheel users)
Manual - Slightly lower top speed, hops, miniturbos, cancel wheelies instantly by hopping
If your vehicle has a low miniturbo rating, it may not even be worth using manual because the whole point of using manual is the miniturbo. Miniturbos play to your advantage on tracks with lots of opportunities to use them like Mario Circuit 3 or either jungle track. However, more straight tracks like Moonview Highway favor top speed, which you may be sacrificing by using a vehicle with a high miniturbo stat and using Manual.
Of course, bear in mind that you'll have to be able to remain competitive in nearly any track, so a vehicle like the Spear which can go faster than anything else actually has unacceptable handling and acceleration and will only help you win a handful of courses like, say, Luigi Circuit.
- Karts generally have slightly higher top speed ratings than their equivalent bikes, but those bikes are actually faster during a wheelie. In other words, if that front wheel isn't in the air often you aren't riding properly.
- Don't go too far out of your way to perform a trick. You'll lose more time in the detour than you'll make up for with the slight boost in speed. I'm thinking of the ramp before the river in Koopa Cape here and the sides of the figure-eight in Rainbow Road(UNLESS you minimize lift and trick straight forward there).
- Dragged items like banana peels won't defend against a side shell impact. Get close enough and off to the side so your red shell will hook over.
- If you have a star or a golden mushroom, take drastic shortcuts when possible. Following the track is a waste of an item unless you have somebody to ram.
- If you're neck and neck with somebody else, never underestimate the effectiveness of running them off the track.
- The moment you should start throttling is also indicated by the buzzer. Each beep has a 1-2 beat, and the start of the second 2 beat is when you should start. The closer you get to this point without being too soon will give you a greater starting boost. A wheelie will stack with this so perform the wheelie the instant the light turns green.
- Practice some form of meditation to keep your stress levels low because you WILL get punked in this game at some point or another, and it only gets worse the better you become.