Today at Katz-spa-ring, the first race in a series for Modified Johnny Lightning X-Tractions IROC was held, using the second generation chassis from the Fast and Furious cars. This was not only an innaugural race for the series, but it was also the first time I got to try this chassis with mods. The field was:
1. Jeff Hurley 2. Curtis Adams 3. Nate Katz 4. Rick Voeglin 5. Greg Katz 6. Mike Feddock 7. Ken Stevens 8. Bob Redmond 9. Bob Marketos
If you take some time to review the X-Tractions from the link above, you will see how much I love these cars. With a few tuning tricks, and some part swapping, and with the addition of some beautifully painted Jeff Hurley Ferraris, one gets a fine handling car, with many of the characteristics of 1/24 scale racing.
Right out of the box these cars perform (actually, you must change the wheels and rubber), and offer the feel you expect from a magnaTraction clone. For this race, many stock parts were dumped in favor of a pair of JW fronts, JW rears, with Hiester x-tra low silicones, JB ThunderBrushes, BSRT Green Meanies, BSRT pickup shoes, and Pro guide pins. Gear clamps from the original Magnatraction were used, The pickups were restricted, and the chassis cut to lower the magnets.
The combination produced a different feel in every car, from a lot of coast, to a lot of break, and in between. Most cars were handled with a 45 ohm Parma resistor. The more loose cars ran better when the ohms got as high as 80. So, I guess what we learned here is that it is possible to get a car for every driving taste.
Early on the race was boiling down to four drivers, N. Katz, Hurley, Adams, and Stevens. In the first round it was within a lap for the top four positions. The second round stayed close, but in the end, Hurley won by 20 feet. Remember, this is after almost 80 laps on a 171 foot course.
So, I expect you would like to hear my impressions on the chassis, since it's probably new to most of you. First off, load up on these, and get new bodies for them as quickly as you can, because the original bodies are too top heavy. Then throw out the comm brushes, and replace them with an aftermarket. For me, this is all you need. The Green meanies made the cars pretty unpredictable for me, and even the more experienced magnet racers described it as a tense race, where one had to pay attention through it all.
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