But there are healthier ways to temper your lust for speed. Especially in the South Sound, there’s no excuse to exceed to posted limits, except perhaps when it comes to these activities:

SLOT CAR RACING

SlotKar.com recently moved from Freighthouse Square to 3817 Sixth Ave., also in Tacoma. With frequent organized tournaments in addition to hours of open racing, you can test your skills against the clock or against other racers. The store is open from noon to 9 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, noon to 6 p.m. Wednesdays, noon to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 1 to 6 p.m. Sundays. Track rental is $5 per visit or $40 for a 30-day card. For information, call 253-572-5761 or go to www.slotkar.com.

132 Slot Car Raceway is the storefront for 132SlotCar.us, a mail-order slot-car business. The store is in the Spare Space business park at 3030 68th Ave. W., Unit E, in Tacoma, and it has the only 1/24th scale track in Western Washington, according to manager Paul Kassens. Most home hobbyists stick with the more popular 1/32nd scale, he said. Track time is available for free with the purchase of a car, and the store sometimes has a rental fleet available when the collection isn’t booked for parties. Hours are 2 to 9 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, noon to 9 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays by appointment. For information, call 253-564-1145 or go to www.132SlotCar.us.

RA DIO-CONTROLLED RACING

The Tacoma R/C Raceway sells and maintains both gas and electric radio-controlled miniature vehicles. Best of all, they offer regular races. The store and track are at 4802 S. Adams St., Tacoma. Hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. The dirt track is available for practice during those hours for $3 per hour or $8 for all day. Racing takes place at 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays and at 1 p.m. Sundays for electric cars and at 5 p.m. Saturdays for gas-powered cars. For information, call 253-565-1935 or go to www.tacomarc.com.

Fantasy World Hobbies is at 1909 S. 72nd St., Suite A-12, Tacoma, and the store’s road course is outside in the parking lot. Maybe you’ve seen members of the Fantasy World Racing team demonstrating their hobby on the Tacoma waterfront during Freedom Fair. Store hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays. During good weather, the track is usually open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays, and the first few races are free for novices. After that, they go up to about $10 per event for league races. For information, call 253-473-6223 or go to www.fantasyworldhobbies.com.

GO-KARTS

The Point Defiance go-karts are located near the entrance to the park at 5402 N. Winnifred St., Tacoma. They’re not quite as fast as other karts in our area and are geared more toward families. They’re open from 3 p.m. to dusk Fridays and from noon to dusk Saturdays and Sundays until Memorial Day when they’ll run from noon to dusk daily through the summer. Rides cost $6 for the driver and $2 for a child passenger. You’ll need to be at least 10 years old and 4 feet, 6 inches tall to ride alone. For information, call 253-752-6413.

Grand Prix Raceway offers a little more speed in the karts that race around their indoor track at 11015 Pacific Highway S.W., Lakewood. OK, a lot more speed; you’ll be doing 30 to 35 miles per hour, maybe even more, and you’ll have to wear the provided safety gear and be able to stand the smell of gasoline. Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and noon to 8 p.m. Sundays. You’ll pay $20 for 20 laps around the track as a nonmember, and there are numerous types of parties and structured league racing for members and nonmembers alike. For information, call 253-272-9000 or go to www.grandprixraceway.com.

COMPETITION AND HIGH-PERFORMANCE DRIVING

ProFormance Racing School, on the grounds of Pacific Raceways at 31001 144th Ave. S.E. in Kent, is for the big kids. You’ll drive real cars really fast. During the warm weather in spring, summer and fall, instructors will teach you how to take the road-course corners and zip down the straight-aways. The one-day high-performance driving class starts at around $535 if you’re using your own car (so long as it passes inspection), $935 if you want to use one of the school’s sedans or $1,135 if you want to try your hand at one of the school’s Lotus Elises. Class completion qualifies you for participation in regular lapping days which can lead to amateur racing. For information, call 253-630-5130 or go to www.proformanceracingschool.com.

ON DISPLAY

The Pacific Science Center in Seattle will open the new 6,000-square-foot exhibit “SPEED” this month. The exhibit begins May 31 and continues through Sept. 1. It will focus on the science and technology of achieving record-setting speed and is broken into five sections.

 • GO! investigates the math and physics of speed and the evolution of race cars over the past century. Visitors can design their own cars.

 • STOP! deals with rapid deceleration and crashing. The Penny Smasher shows what happens to objects during rapid deceleration.

 • DRAG! is about aerodynamics and friction’s effects on speed.

 • PUSH! explores sources of speed. Guests can experience virtual bobsledding and design roller coasters.

 • ZOOM! looks at the strange things that can happen at high speeds and examines why we call the speed of light the “ultimate barrier.”

For information, go to www.pacsci.org.

Bill Hutchens: 253-597-8460

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