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All I can tell you is my experience with my son, in that we waited until he was 8 until he was allowed to start Cadet'ing (and only after exam results etc etc) and I thought that was very young...
However, I will say if you start at 8 in MSA racing you will be in a very small minority as virtually every kid we have met in the last year, started either in Bambinos and/or non-MSA meetings. Most do min of 1yr in non-MSA and then move across (hence why some novice plates are bang on the pace and others not). There are many lads that have been karting since they are 4 or 5 and have done literally hundreds of days on track before they even get close to being able to race. I don't agree with this, but never under estimate how committed some people are and the amount they are prepared to spend. Don't be surprised that most people go warm weather testing most school holidays in the winter and race every weekend during the summer. And lets not even get started on the budgets - where you can genuinely do a season's BARC Renault for less cash!
I think the key to cadets is how many hours they spend behind the wheel and whatever figure you have in mind (both in terms of £££s and time) then times that by 10! If you kart every weekend for 12mths - you might just get near the front after first year if your son is exceptional.
The hobby I did with my Dad in the 1980s doesn't really correlate to the state of karting nowadays, and I am not sure that is for the better... I would love to paint a better picture - but unless you have endless enthusiam, money, time and a child that genuinely loves it all (including the 5am wake up calls to go testing 3 hrs away) - then I would just find a good indoor track and keep it as a hobby.
Pleas feel free to PM me if you want more deets...
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