[Julian_Boolean]

I think the reasons for changing from the MR-1 chassis to the Micro Chassis are about profit and also that the braids cope with dirty track rails better than pickup shoes, when I first got an AFX set I couldn't believe how much I had to clean the rails, with Micro Scalextric I never had to clean the rails.

You can replace the braids with homemade pickups, but they run better with good quality braids (SCX Pro), just accept that the braids will at best last a race meeting due to the narrowness of the rails.

 

[Julian_Boolean]

I made homemade pickups out of the metal parts of floppy discs, they worked okay, I've tried SCX Pro braid and it's an improvement over the original braid, though it still wears just as quick, the real problem is the track rail design, but that's a bit difficult to change.

I like the MS cars, the motor is not too fast and the handling adjustable, the only weak point is the braid wear which could be sorted, but while nobody races the MS cars there is no reason to put the time into fixing the problem.

 

[Julian_Boolean]

I think for Hornby to produce a new Micro chassis you would have to show a way for them to increase their profits over the existing chassis, the existing one sells otherwise they wouldn't continue to make them.
I think Hornby would be better off doing a deal with Tomy and rebranding AFX cars as Scalextric in the UK or perhaps a similar deal with Mattel and the Tyco cars, but I don't know that the average UK buyer would be prepared to pay the price that AFX cars sell for in the US.