I recently obtained both the original Aurora AFX Daytona and Monza bank turns.

One thing I have noticed is that when combined to form a 4 lane bank....the two do not match up well. Where the outside lane of the Monza butts up to the Daytona the Daytona is about 3/8" higher.

Then, I looked at an old Auto World catalog from 1973. On the cover was the Clubman track and in plain sight was a noticable gap between the Daytona and Monza banks used in its construction.

Has anybody else ever experienced this? With the quality of design in the original AFX track I found this very surprising!

Jim Norton
Huntsville, Alabama

Wow good question , I am not positive on this one but I thought that the Monza bank turn was different from the other banked turns, the 9in and 12 in? This is based on what I remember of a friends set and may not be the right answer.

Yes. The Daytona is 12" radius and the Monza is 9". The Daytona set actually came with 4 lane supports if you wanted to combine it with the Monza.

Jim Norton
Huntsville, Alabama

I have built a handful of permanent tracks using this pieces, never had a fit issue. But they were new parts, right out of the package. Guess that fits me into the "oldsters" category:). Any chance the track pieces are distorted over time? I've seen the old Eldon 1/32 track do that. Especially if it was stored in an attic or similar spot that sees some hot and cold extremes over the storage period.

-Paul

A friend of mine has these on his track.
And it took a lot of work to get the turn into the "acceptable" catagory.
Not awful, not great...
Just acceptable....
But they are a blast to run on!

Scott

Jim,Any chance of you posting some pics?

A friend of mine has these on his track.
And it took a lot of work to get the turn into the "acceptable" catagory.
Not awful, not great...
Just acceptable....
But they are a blast to run on!

Scott

The modern Tomy versions aren't any better, although I should add that I've never built a track prior to my current project (see Flying A Raceway) which is a modified Clubman layout.

I would have been ecstatic to have reached a point where everything worked together at an "acceptable" level, but never got there. In addition to the gapping, getting a smooth transition from the banking to flat was just too frustrating an ordeal. I wound up abandoning the banked turns and one of the "mods" I referred to is the 180 degree flat turn that replaced it :rolleyes:

No problem here with the Tomy AFX banking,but could see the 2pc AFX Daytona being a problem. I have one set unused laying around all these years and it has spider cracks all over! If you are going to use banked turns pay close attention to your transition (length&angle) or else you might launch your cars,better to bank the whole track for OVALS anyway! Go Fast and Turn Left........ We also ended up epoxying (JB weld) are turns from underneath as the cars were really moving them around at that Speed (over 23mph).

If the smallest banked turn were the 12" one they would be a lot more versatile. A 15" and 18" nested set would be a nice starting point and even larger radius turns would be even more desirable. The 9" Monza banked section is just too freakishly small and steep for anything resembling a realistic setup, especially with HO cars being much closer to S scale than HO scale. The most popular form of closed circuit racing in North America is NASCAR yet not a single HO set manufacturer makes a set even vaguely resembling a typical (cookie cutter) NASCAR track. Very strange.

The most popular form of closed circuit racing in North America is NASCAR yet not a single HO set manufacturer makes a set even vaguely resembling a typical (cookie cutter) NASCAR track. Very strange.

Exactly. A 21" & 24" banked set would be a nice start.

Agreed, AFX2 & Doba. I have a 4 lane banked oval, Tomy. One of my projects when I get back is rippin out one of the turns and replacing it with another bank. The slot in one of the 9 radius was catchin pins and launching cars, even at slow speeds. I went to 'fix it' with an exacto knife, bad move. I can see the concession area beneath the turn now. Sad thing is, I wish the 12 radius was the inside turn. The 12s are smooth as all get out. A 21 and 24 would be sweet. I thought about how to route a turn for the ends, but if Im gonna do that, might as well route the straights too.
Jim, I wish I had a set of those Daytonas and Monzas, just to experiment with.

RIch

It would be great if the angle was around 20 degrees instead of 40. The old Rokar 12" bank was like that, but they didn't make a 9" for the inside lanes, you used a standard flat 9" curve. What was so nice, was older chassis like T-Jets could navigate the turn without the magnets required on the Tomy, Tyco and AFX banks. And you still had to drive through them!!! I barely twitch the trigger with the Tomy banked curves, even after I tweaked them to 35 degrees. Steve, Tom anyone catching this?

-Paul