[Wraith]

Hi,

I brought my nephew some micro Scalextric over the past few christmases and have just found some ho cars by autoworld on you know where.

These look amazing, I'm a real fan of hotrod style and custom paint.

Two questions?

Will these run on his set?

Are they any good?

Thanks, I'll go back to my 1/32 now where I don't feel like a noob lol.

 

[Gareth]

Hi Wraith,

They should run fine on MS track.

There are a couple of different chassis made by Autoworld. The X-Traction is a replica of the old Aurora Magnatraction and uses the motor magnets to provide some downforce. I'm a big fan of this chassis and there are some very nice bodies as well.

The other common type is the Thunderjet 500. This is a replica of the Aurora Thunderjet. I wouldn't recommend this chassis for your nephew. The cars have zero magnatraction and like a really high ohm controller to drive well. A 90 ohm is most often recommended.

There is a further Autoworld chassis but its not as common and won't have the carfitti bodies you mentioned.

The X-Traction is great because it does grip a bit but also slides nicely in the corners. You can really drive the track with these cars and you can see them! It won't just be a tiny blur whizzing around.

Cheers

Gareth

 

[yakboy]

I agree with Gareth that Thunderjet's don't run too well on MS track but run better on AFX track

 

[Julian_Boolean]

I've run the Autoworlds on MS track, they work fine, but as Gareth says the T-Jets can take a little bit of skill to get round.

 

[yakboy]

Julian,

Comparing how my Tjets run on Faller and AFX track I've always found the rails on MS track to stick up too much and catch on T-jet tyres which can lead to some filpping in the corners.

 

[Julian_Boolean]

I'd say that was true of any of the commercial HO tracks including Tomy AFX, which is why I'm going routed with copper tape.

 

[yakboy]

I will wait with interest to see your build

 

[Julian_Boolean]

Already made a test track out of old Marchon track with the rail taken out, it worked surprisingly well.

 

[Gareth]

My problem with the Tjets are they are so much more tricky to get running right and require patience and lots of practise to keep on the road.

I had made a big assumption that Wraith's nephew is young and therefore a Tjet would never get run as they're frustrating to keep on the road!

 

[Julian_Boolean]

A T-Jet should be no harder to get running right than an X-Traction, after all an X-Traction is only a bigger T-Jet.
Gareth, you'll have to try my copper tape track, it really is good, though an oval is pretty boring and I'm leaning more towards routing a road race track.

 

[Gareth]

That's an interesting way of looking at the two cars. But I did find that I could lap happily with a Magnatraction using a standard AFX controller but I couldn't with the Tjet as it just span off at such low trigger movements.

I'd love to try it. Get some video up as well.

 

[Julian_Boolean]

My current single lane track will be at Yelling at Xmas and any EAHORC meetings I go to in the new year.
I don't think I've tried a T-Jet with an Aurora controller, but I have tried one with the stock MS set up and it was okay, I think MS works at a lower voltage than Aurora, the stock power is definitely smoother on MS, and on my track I've used a 13.8V regulated power supply with 1.5A.

 

[Wraith]

Gareth,

Correct assumption, he is 6.

To be honest, kicked myself after I brought him it as I remembered I have about 45m of aurora AFX plus cars in my loft. Doh.

He's still a bit all or nothing on the controller.

Next time I place an order from the states I will get two cars thrown in to test, they look cool so he will love them I'm sure.

As always guys, thanks for your help.

 

[Gareth]

I think my brother would have only been a couple of years older than that when we got our first AFX set and he soon got it nailed.

I hope he enjoys the car(s) you've got him. You should be a popular Uncle!

Glad to help.

Cheers

Gareth