Ok, you guys have probably been asked this to death, so I apologize in advance.

I have been enjoying my Xtraction cars SOO much lately. I would like to get some of the JL Tjet 500's. Are these cars pretty much the same speed as the Xtraction chassis? They are the perfect speed for my son, and well, admittedly myself as well. I sent a G+ flying the other day as it was just a big diff in speed.

I would like to get a few of the Model Motoring cars as well. Are all of these relatively the same speed overall? I have a 40 foot track in the basement and the Xtractions are perfect on it.

Could someone list the chassis types I will be wanting to collect that all perform about the same as the JL XT's? Thanks, and sorry if this is a repeated question.

The JL TJets are about the same speed as the XTs but they are more top heavy and don't corner as well as the XTs. The JL TJets are modeled after the Aurora Tuff Ones.

The regular Aurora TJets are slower and smoother than the JL TJets. They can be made to go fast and are fun in a slow sort of way.

The Aurora AFX Magnetractions are the cars that the JL XTs were modeled after. They operate about the same as the XTs. The XTs arms may be a bit stronger but the Auroras are generally smoother and better built.

The Aurora AFX (non magnatraction) cars are somewhere between the TJets and the Magnetractions. These require a bit more skill to control than the Magnetractions/XTs.

The Aurora G-Plus cars are a bit faster and corner better than the Magnetractions but they are definately not high downforce magnet cars like the Tomy Super G+ cars. These are tons of fun and should not be mistaken as "magnet cars."

After that you start getting into the magnet cars. There is a broad range of these and you may find some (or all) of them very compelling on your track. My unscientific scale for rating the various "box stock" cars in terms of speed and downforce is listed below. Keep in mind that you may occassionally encounter "freak" cars, say a G-Plus that sticks like Tyco 440.

Aurora Vibrator
MM ThunderPlus
Aurora TJet
Aurora Tuff Ones
JL TJet 500
Aurora AFX (non-magnetraction)
TycoPro
Aurora Super II
Aurora AFX Magnetraction
JL X-Traction
Aurora G-Plus
Aurora Super G-Plus
Tyco HP7
Tyco HP2
Tomy Turbo
Tyco HP440
Tyco 440
Rokar/Life-Like M
Tyco 440-X2
Life-Like T
Tomy SRT
Tomy Super G+

All - Feel free to edit this list! I don't own any Marchon, Artin, or Micro-Scalextric cars. I purposefully did not list anything above the SG+ to avoid the religious war that would likely ensue.

Thanks, and sorry if this is a repeated question.
Nah, don't worry about it. It hasn't come up for a while now.

XTractions and AFX Magnatraction are the same. The magnets and arms may be a little different, but the chassis is the same thing. JL Just copied the old AFX model and called it XTraction. (not that there's anything wrong with that)

TJets are pretty much the same again, but the vital difference is the scale is a wee bit smaller, and the magnets ride higher in the chassis meaning a total of 0 magnetic downforce, making them way trickier to drive. Overall, they're a bit slower than the XTractions, but some of my better running Tjets come pretty close on the straights.

The tough thing about Tjets that turns many people off of them is that they need tweaking to run well (as a rule) If you have fun working on your cars then its great. If you just wanna have the car run perfectly right out of the box, then TJets can be disappointing.

I like them myself, as do many on the boards. They're fun to drive, and come closest to the handling of a real car, as close as you can get with a slot car anyway. But they can be frustrating for the uninitiated.

SO you've got TJets which came first, then XTractions, which were new improved Tjets. After that you get into magnet cars like Tycos, Tomys and Lifelikes which all go much faster, but rely on the magnets, so they handle a lot different.

I guess I'm saying that only Tjets and Xtractions handle comparably to Tjets and Xtractions. Everything else is different. Not better or worse, but different. Play the field a little. Tyco 440x2s are lots of fun too, and not quite as wicked fast as the GPluses.

Hope this helps
Trev

we love the x tractions but if you have good drivers the t-jet 500s are a ball to drive also

I don't agree that X-Tractions and T-Jets are comparable. They're very different animals. On my track (63 feet per lane), the XTs average about 7.5 seconds per lap. The T-Jets average about 10 seconds per lap and require different controllers for most drivers to reliably complete consecutive laps without frequently coming to complete stops in the turns.

You'll need different controllers to get the most from the JL T-Jets. They're jumpier in the corners because of the lack of downforce magnets. I really think you need to have 120 Ohm resistors in your controllers. Some cars will work ok with lower Ohm controllers but most don't. The standard controllers will probably frustrate you if you have any 9" radius curves and definitely if you have any 6" radius curves.

The JLTJs also are much more sensitive to uneven track connections, often jumping out of the slot at relatively low speeds if you have some poor connections in the corners.

Based on your description of your use, and the fact that your kids will want to drive with minimal problems, I'd stick with X-Tractions. To me, they're in the sweet spot, delivering nice variety, challenging speed at a good price. T-Jets are for purists who find enjoyment in tweaking their cars and tracks.

Lots of purists around here...

Someone posted a picture once on where to glue the tiny little rare earth magnets (about 2.00 a pair at radio shack) on the bottom of the tjets for better "kid control".
works like a charm.

I have put earth magnets on my T-Jet before and mine was just ballistic!!! It also felt like it got alot faster. I did this to one of my worst T-Jet and it run like a charm!:thumbsup::dude:

While we're on the subject,how do the Tough Ones fit in between the tjets and the MT's???????
In other words what were the major differences.I have some of both and don't really see a whole lot of visible difference.

As far as what my son and I like to race,so far the G Plus is the house favorite with the Magna Tractions a close second.I really like the original AFX G PLus cars,and will definetly be getting in more of those as time allows.
I can't really give a fair review to the tjet style cars at the moment,as all we have run them with were either stock controllers or else 45 ohm Parma econos.They are more trouble then they are worth right now ubtil I get us a set of some of the higher ohm controllers,like the 125's.

But down the road,I would really like to get heavily into the JL tjets and to's as there just seems to be a lot you can do with them,as well as they are as close as you can get to the originals that I raced as a kid without having to hack up an original.

Slot show coming up and I plan to go and lay in a good supply of the JL's as well as building up my parts inventory.



Mike

Tough Ones are the same as tjets, except for the hotter arm, higher gearing, silver electricals, and wider stance. The down side to TO cars were that they can get hot and burn up.

An Afx non-magnatraction car has the same gear ratio as a Tough-Ones, but the chassis sits lower for better center of gravity. Aurora also ventilated the chassis to address the heat issues. Think of it as getting a pre-hopped-up, Tough-Ones car. These cars are very fast and about as light as a TO, so you really have to mind the turns.

The Afx magnatraction (JLXT's predecessor) are the same as Afx non-mag, except the arms are 15-16 ohms instead of 5-6. And the magnets are larger, which adds some weight.....also the chassis exposes the magnets to the rails to get a little added downforce.

wow. wealth of information from you guys. Thank you very much.

We'll continue to run the XT's until he gets a little better at the slowing down in curves aspect (for 6 years old, he is pretty darn good). I ordered some of the TJ's because I got them for $5 a pop on FleaBay with low shipping. Is there a link to what I'll want to do to these in order to get them running well enough to be fun and not headaches? Starting to tweak a few things and reembering the fun I used to have, so I figure these will be fun for me.

Once my son masters the slowing down aspect, I think I would like to see him take a SG+ out for a spin. His eyes will bug out from the speed. :-)

Again, thanks for the information guys. I'll have to look into some non stock controlers soon. We just finally decided on a track we love driving on, so now it's time to get the 4x8 surface and extend the straights to fill it out more (currently we have it on a 3.25x6 bed frame).

If you have a puller and press, you could take some of the JLTO cars and re-fit them with tjet gears. You'll need 1 cluster gear (the gear at the rear of the gearplate on the top side), 1 cluster shaft, one cluster pinion gear (the small gear that meshes with the crown gear on the rear axle), and a tjet crown gear (these have a larger bushing behind the teeth that a TO crown). You need one set of these items for each JL Thunderjet you want to redo.

BTW are you near Huttonville? there's a big slot car show that takes place at a school. Give Rick Anderson (http://mailto:inthegroove@toys2nv.com/?subject=Slot%20Car%20Show%20Information) an email for info.

If you have a puller and press, you could take some of the JLTO cars and re-fit them with tjet gears. You'll need 1 cluster gear (the gear at the rear of the gearplate on the top side), 1 cluster shaft, one cluster pinion gear (the small gear that meshes with the crown gear on the rear axle), and a tjet crown gear (these have a larger bushing behind the teeth that a TO crown). You need one set of these items for each JL Thunderjet you want to redo.


I know there's a right and a wrong way to do things, but I've successfully done these the wrong way with nothing but a small screwdriver. And I've reused the JL cluster gear and pressed it onto the Aurora cluster shaft. (In my experience, the Aurora cluster gear always comes already pressed onto the shaft.) I can tell that it isn't as tight a fit as if it were pressed into a brass Aurora gear, but the few cars I have done without the proper tools run okay for now... I suppose if any of them got heavy use, the cluster gear would loosen on the shaft. Wonder if Loctite would extend the life of that a little...

On a good-running JL chassis, the gear change makes a dramatic difference. The car is a lot smoother and easier to handle. I usually do the change as a part of converting to skinny Tjet-style wheels...

--rick

Here's my $.02 on what to do to the JL TJ's.

Easy mod that helped a bunch of my JL cars with speed and general driveability.......Nearly all of my cars came with the cluster gear shaft hole in the chassis too small, or possibly misaligned. It's the hole directly above the rear axle. Used a 1/16 inch drill bit to enlarge the hole. This makes a huge difference with some of the cars, and a noticeable improvement in others.

I have noticed that every single one of my JL's have a non-concentric cluster gear (the small gear on the bottom of the plate). Might be why you guys that change the gears back to the original Aurora ones run better.

A bit more work, but makes a big difference in cornering...........Replaced the front tires with 5/16" outside diameter x 3/16" inside diameter o-rings. Stock fronts are .385" in diameter, the o-rings are about .325". Lowers the front of the car dramatically. You do have to file the body screw down to about 1/2 the original height so it doesn't drag on the track. Some pickup shoes need to have the bottom of the slot enlarged so the chassis sits on the wheels, and not bottom out against the pickup shoes. But, the o-rings do look a bit goofy. I have ground down the stock tires, but that in itself is a bunch of work to do nicely.

Then really take advantage of the small front tires and lower the body by filing on the posts. Some bodies can be lowered a ton, some not so much.

The stock set 60 ohm controllers are fairly useable after lowering the chassis and bodies. The 6" corners are still a bit awkward, but not bad. 9" corners are no problem. Someday I'll get real controllers.

There's a bunch more, but those are the biggies in my opinion.

My fast TJ's are faster than my slower Xtractions. Took some tinkering to get them that way, but tinkering is a lot of the fun for me.

here's some reading material. Lots of good stuff. Somewhere near the bottom is a "Tune Up" section that has TJ stuff.

http://howorld.net/pages/archives.html

Fingers are tired.......