In MK8D There's no (obvious) indication of whether your driver and kart selections (kart body, wheels, glider type) have any impact on how you drive.

I'm pretty sure I recall that in earlier games some of these choices translated into in-game physics differences. I think some drivers had higher top speeds, but worse handling, in the N64 game? And I thought I recalled that sure motorcycles behaved differently than karts in the first game they appeared in? But I don't see any driver or kart part stats to suggest that's true in the new game.

So my questions are:

1. Do any of these choices (driver, kart parts) affect how you actually race?
2. Assuming some do, which ones?
3. Is there any way in-game to see the differences and compare them?

4

3 Answers

As the other answers have stated kart information is available in the game itself. Press +/- to bring up an info panel while selecting your kart parts to see these stats. As you switch kart parts the game shows how these changes affect your stats. I've added a picture below to illustrate the view I'm talking about.

Edit:

Thanks to @Grirg for linking me to an updated Mario Kart 8 Deluxe wiki page that includes both kart part stats and racer stats. Due to the amount of kart parts available in MK8D you'll have to go to link for that information. Some kart part stats are available in game but it only shows their overall affect on your kart not the individual part as well as missing some of the other stats available on the wiki. I've included the updated character chart below and as I stated before when it comes to the characters you chose there doesn't seem to be any information available in game or if there is I haven't seen it.

2

The combination of driver, kart, wheels and glider all affect your race stats individually. Multiple parts give similar stats, but you can get unique combinations between the choices. The easiest way to view the stats is to press the + or - button on the Nintendo Switch controller while you are selecting parts.

1 and 3 have been answered, so I won't answer them. The best kart combination for Mario Kart 8 is the combo with the highest speed. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, however, nerfed speed by removing a glitch that benifited speed. Now, the hidden Mini-Turbo stat (which means how fast you charge mini-turbos when drifting) is the most important stat. The best combination now is Wario's weight class (Or Waluigi's in 200cc), the Biddybuggy or Mr. Scooty (Mr. Scooty in VS, Biddybuggy in Time Trials), Roller or Azure Roller wheels, and I guess the Cloud Glider's Weight Class, but gliders don't matter too much.