I see you experts talking all the time about certain characters and certain bikes. I thought all the Lights, Mids, and Heavy people were equal? Like Mario = Peach ? Is this not true?

Or is all of that true but Funky Kong has some special to him?

When I compare the attribute meter for a kart/bike with characters of same weight class it appears the same to me.

I saw a chart recently in a text file that added a few different attribute points to characters within the same weight class on different attributes.

This is one thing I can't figure out about the game

Each character has small differences compared to others in the same weight class, but the differences are so small it really does not make a difference. The karts/bikes makes all the difference. So pick a character you like and get racing.
(Personally I use Rosa+FR; She has a voice that does not grate on my nerves IMO).

Depending on the vehicle you choose, those small differences can mean a lot. Example: Bowser Bike's acceleration is 19/80. If you pick Waluigi, who has +2 acceleration (that translates to 2*3 = +6 points) you will get a 25 acceleration bowser Bike, which is around 30% higher than its normal acceleration! If you don't believe me, pick Funky Kong, look at the Bowser Bike stats with him, then pick Waluigi and look at the stats. You will see a very noticeable difference in speed/acceleration

On that note, if you play competitively, character stats matter, period. Every fraction of a second, every drift can make a difference.

Nothing about Rosa gets on my nerves. I like to hear her giggle

There are the "hidden" stats that boost the other stats, and as "Slic" said, yes in competition, they matter but every race is different. Even with the "best" character, you may still lose.
I play with my favourite character and win quite a bit but choose who you like.

where does Slic get the "3" in his equation?

For the sake of others, I'll post here exactly what I PM-ed you:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/wii/file/942008/52716

If you don't want to read through that, the pic URL is:

http://ark42.com/mariokart/Mario Kart Wii.png

AFAIK, this is very accurate data, I have actually gone and compared over half the characters/vehicles and found it to be more or less correct.

On that same note, the reason people use +1/+2/+3 (instead of the actual +3/+6/+9) when describing character stat bonuses is because vehicle stats can easily be compared visually in the game without the need to know their exact mathematical values. All thats really important is the RELATIVE stat bonuses of the characters that can drive each vehicle.

thanks.

that is the same link I had found when researching this. I didn't know how accurate it was since I couldn't find it anywhere else.

thanks for the links! now its time for my exceptional mathematical mind to figure out the top 3 charector-vihicle combos! MUAHAHAHAHAH!