View Full Version : X Traction Opinions
Ligier Runner 04-09-2009, 07:56 AM I know this has been discussed before but I can't seem to find the answers I'm looking for.
What is everyone's opinion on AW X-Traction chassis'? Bear in mind that I'm a Magna Traction guy from way back so all I know is that the 2 chassis appear very similar.
Are the X Tracs fast? Handling? Cheap? Great little monsters so grab all you can? :confused:
demether 04-09-2009, 08:23 AM the xtraction chassis is very similar in handling with the aurora magnatraction.
the xtraction chassis appears faster than the aurora magnatractions I 've got too.
on a quality point of view, I think aurora magnatractions are better. But a xtraction chassis is perfectly raceable, and they 're cheap, so it's a perfect choice for scratch building or to wear good looking bodies.
By the ways, the last xtractions 's got good factory rear tires, very soft and sticky.
Avoids the xtraction large front wheel chassis : prefers the thin/medium front wheels ones.
the bodies are usually good looking, but sometimes a little high on wheels.
Last thing : sometimes you'll have to slightly modify the body clips on the xtraction chassi to fit original AFX bodies. The xtraction chassis, like the tjet repro, is not 100% accurate copy of the aurora.
hope it's help.
noddaz 04-09-2009, 09:01 AM some of them work well, some of them don't...
For the ones that don't work well there is usually a lot of slop in the cluster gear pin/rivet. if you can tighten that up without destroying the gear plate you are good to go...
I have found these chassis to be fast and fun to race...
But like Demether said... ditch the big front tires...
rideinstile 04-09-2009, 09:27 AM Believe it or not, we got a few big front wheeled chassis, the chassis ran fine, all I did was put small Oring front tires on the fat rims. (Not aesthetically pleasing but functional) it dropped the front end down more and they handled beter. At least until I can find some skinnny front wheels. This really did the trick for now. Dave:wave:
tjettim 04-09-2009, 09:35 AM I would use them for parts.Find an early magnatraction
chassis,the ones without the protrusions on the ends of the
magnet pockets.Use the X-traction magnets,armature and
motor brushes.I run a brass frontend and narrow silicone
coated sponge tires.It is a very fun to drive car and I wish
I had this setup back when Mags were the hottest cars out
there.
Xence 04-09-2009, 09:42 AM Micyou3 & I race these fairly often and if you can find it somewhere on here someone has posted the same thing but the fast & furious release seem to be the bomb concerning these things. I don't know why but they are just excellent. I bought a pile of them awhile ago and haven't been sorry.
For an example: My track is in rough shape. I gotta go through it real thoroughly because when I put my old AFX' magnas down they don't always like the track but when I put those FF x-tracs down I rarely have a problem. They usually take off like a shot and don't stop till I hit a wall.
Ligier just so you have some basis to go by, my fav. chassis is the aurora magna. That comprises about 70% of my collection and when I race by myself I rarely take a magnet car out. Magnet cars are awesome and fast but I enjoy hanging my Ferrari 512M off a turn all day long.
Cheers,
Xence
Ligier Runner 04-09-2009, 11:21 AM Thanks for all the great responses!!
As far as piece parts go and swapping out components between Mag Tracs and the X Tracs. What is not interchangeable between them?
resinmonger 04-09-2009, 01:04 PM Ligier Runner,
The two items that are not interchangeable between original Aurora Magnatractions and JL/AW Xtractions are the chassis and top (or gear) plate. This is the same case between the original Aurora T-Jet chassis and the JL/AW T-jet chassis. As demether noted, the JL/AW gear plate clamps are a little tall for the Aurora chassis but some bendification can fix this.
I have built a few hybrid chassis using Aurora chassis, gear plates, gears, axles and wheels with JL/AW components for the rest. The Aurora gears, axles and wheels are used because they are of better quality IMHO. These chassis are shod with Bud's HO tires at $10 per 12 pair. The JL/AW magnets are more powerful than any Aurora product and the arms are quite good as well. These hybrids are a lot of fun and the use of the Aurora parts addresses the main areas of quality issues for the JL/AW chassis.
Hutt :drunk::hat::freak::dude::tongue:
grungerockjeepe 04-09-2009, 01:34 PM I love em. Theyre priced reasonable, they run pretty fast, very tweak-able, and if you cant find a body style you like then you just dont like cars.
And as to the wide front tires, I use them on the Jeeps, Rams, Hummers, Broncos, etc. The skinny or medium fronts look stupid on these bodies, IMHO.
roadrner 04-09-2009, 02:07 PM I love em. Theyre priced reasonable, they run pretty fast, very tweak-able.
.
Yeah, what grj said! Great complement to the real ones. :thumbsup::thumbsup: rr
Jim Norton 04-09-2009, 02:21 PM AutoWorld X-tractions have proved to be a very enjoyable car to drive.
They run tighter, quiter and smoother than the original AFX Magnatraction.
Jim Norton
Huntsville, AL
resinmonger 04-09-2009, 02:24 PM I have to add that the medium width front tires/wheels are a really good improvement from AW. They get you away from the skinny tires issues with staying attached to their rims (I know one can glue them) and they look better under a sports car or street car body. I agree with grungerockjeepe that the wide fronts have their place on some cars. The performance of the wide and medium fronts is pretty fair as well at least on my realitively short Tomy track layouts. :thumbsup:
A/FX Nut 04-09-2009, 06:13 PM I like the X-Tractions quite well. I think the quality control was better on these than the JL/AW Thunderjet Tuff Ones.
But you do have to watch for the bent axle or out of round hub. I have one Magna -Traction chassis that's faster then all of my X-Tractions, It's been a handfull in the corners lately.
I do have and seen some very fast X-Tractions. They are great for racing and we have a class where you can run either the X-Traction or Magna-Traction chassis. The X-Tractions have walked away the winner on numerous occasions.
I'm having a race on June 7th if you'd like to come up and race with us. I'm just north of the state line in Michigan. Let me know if your interested. Randy.
NTxSlotCars 04-09-2009, 07:19 PM Tycos :thumbsup:
I have a pair of Fast and Furious XT's and did not really like them until I got my AFX Tripower pack and was able to reduce the power to 12V. Ever since then, these cars are definitely my favorite and are staying in my collection for sure! The higher voltages make them uncontrollable and not all that fun. But I have really enjoyed them with the right voltage.
Like everyone says they seem to be way more solid than any of the other JL/AW cars and comparing them to the one or two magnatraction cars I have, they are very similar but seem to have either the same speed with a bit more consistency. I have a Toyota LMP body on my magnatraction and it seems to deslot more than the FF XT car.
Definitely no complaints here! I've also been wanting to check out the Ultra-G XT's - I think those would be like magnatractions with stronger magnets or something, but I may be wrong.
My $.02!
PD2:thumbsup:
demether 04-10-2009, 09:45 AM I think the Ultra-G chassis are just xtraction chassis + a little neodyn magnet on it...correct me if I'm wrong ;)
by the way, on ebay, or on bud's website you can find cheap bunchs of xtraction chassis, ideal if you like more sliding action than strong magnet cars, for resin kits projects, or to fit afx spare bodies too. I used it my self to fit the racemaster bodies. I'll make a topic for that (I have to paint the wheels first).
bye
One thing AW/JL did do with with the XT's that I like is the introduction of the wide shoes. This little improvement lets XT's run on routed tracks without getting the pickups jammed on the rails after a mild spin-out, which happens with the old-style ski shoes.
wheelszk 04-10-2009, 03:32 PM [QUOTE=PD2;2782728]I have a pair of Fast and Furious XT's and did not really like them until I got my AFX Tripower pack and was able to reduce the power to 12V. Ever since then, these cars are definitely my favorite and are staying in my collection for sure! The higher voltages make them uncontrollable and not all that fun. But I have really enjoyed them with the right voltage.
PD2, What type of controller are you using?
demether 04-10-2009, 04:00 PM Tonight, I prepared a chassis for a resin kit (corvette gs...). I made an hybrid chassis, with aurora and JL parts.
I saw that not everything is compatible, and the 2 chassis, are quite different, 1 millimeter there, another here, etc...
The gearplate for example, is not exact the same fit. The arm too. The brushs and brushes springs too : the midlle crown, the wheelbase in a bit shorter on the magna traction too. the axles are diferent too.
Hum...lets say that the JL looks like the aurora chassis, but it's not the same measures. To make an hybrid car you ''ll have to modify and make choices.
hope it helps.
[quote=PD2;2782728]I have a pair of Fast and Furious XT's and did not really like them until I got my AFX Tripower pack and was able to reduce the power to 12V. Ever since then, these cars are definitely my favorite and are staying in my collection for sure! The higher voltages make them uncontrollable and not all that fun. But I have really enjoyed them with the right voltage.
PD2, What type of controller are you using?
Hi wheelszk!
I'm just using the stock Aurora/Tomy AFX controllers that come with the Tomy AFX track. I know that many people say that I should have this controller for this type of car and that controller for that type of car, but I was really not too interested in having a stock pile of controllers depending on the types of cars I wanted to run. So, to me, having the new Racemasters/AFX Tripower pack helps to control the cars and keep the same controller.
PD2:thumbsup:
AfxToo 04-11-2009, 09:22 AM I really like the XTs a lot once you get them tuned and adjusted. The wide pickups are a nice change. The ones with the big front axle holes with small axles are a bit of a challenge/annoyance but this can be worked around with a larger axle or bushings (I suppose). The wide front wheel versions were a put-off at first, but when I replaced their front tires with Tyco 440 pan chassis front tires, which are less grippy, they are actually excellent runners, handle great, and look good with certain bodies besides the truckster types. I really like how the wide front XTs (with Tyco tires) look on the Aurora AFX AP Corvette and the JL F&F Camaros, just to mention a couple. The wide front chassis probably looks least appealing with the bodies they shipped them with than any other body.
The lighted XTs with the spring bar pickup spring are difficult to get adjusted right. I ripped the lighting gear off of most of mine and reverted to conventional springs, sans lights. If I was collecting them I would not do this because the lighting is a novelty.
My best running XTs tend to come from the F&F series and have the tuner wheels. The fronts on the tuner wheels definitely require tire gluing, but the wheels seem to run very smoothly and be rounder than the 5-spoke wheels. I don't mind the high chrome wheels because I black wash them.
The XT motors are the same as the JLTO ones, tri-lam, and if you have a nice flat comm plate you will tend to have a decent runner. Just make sure the brushes are sitting at the same level.
I love the XT versions of the Charger Daytona body, the new JL street version more so than the Aurora copy version. I also love the XT versions of the 69/70 Chargers, especially the ones without blowers.
As long as AutoWorld keeps making XTs, I will keep buying them.
copperhead71 04-11-2009, 09:43 AM ...and till this day(9 month later),that red chassis a.w gtx has given me 0 (no,none) problem's and trust me i run the car very,very often!and was very fast out the clam!(just switched the rim's for lighter chrome one's from j.l chevelle and now i have a even faster car)!Hit and miss!:thumbsup:
wheelszk 04-11-2009, 10:55 PM PD2,
If it works for you, and you are happy than say no more. But if you would like my opinion, I would go with a professor motor controller.
My .02 cents
PD2,
If it works for you, and you are happy than say no more. But if you would like my opinion, I would go with a professor motor controller.
My .02 cents
I know and funny thing is I own a PM controller as well as two Parma Turbo controllers from my 1/32 racing time. My PM controller is what I raced 1/32 with a lot - nice smooth sweeper and brake control to boot. I just really have been trying to stay away from chasing the controllers to control the variances in cars.
Thanks!
PD2:thumbsup:
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