First off, if you liked tinkering with the Aurora model, this one will not leave you wanting. It tunes just like the old one. In fact, about the only difference we could outwordly detect is that the gear plate clamp is placed differently than the original. We could have done all sorts of mods to this baby, like Lapping, or strapped on fat tires, or even throw on some aftermarket brushes. Then we thought better of all that, and decided to go with just plain vanilla.

In this test we first cleaned and oiled the chassis.We did nothing more than strap on a new set of MM Inc screw-on wheels for a second trial (Note: the design on these wheels is excellent, and makes them very light in the rear). MM Inc does it better by offering silicone, instead of rubber, on their exact replicas of the Aurora "skinny" rims. Right out of the box this baby is not bad, but it still exhibited the same bad characteristics of the original - wheel hop. Change over to a pair of MM Inc screw-on wheels and tires, and the car could come within 20% of a full blown Fray Style car. Not bad, considering it came in a Willy's body, which is not the best choice for the track it had to negotiate (Petaluma Raceway). Let it be noted that if MM Inc continues to use machine screws for holding on the chassis, instead of sheetmetal, as Aurora did, it's better for all of us. The threads just last longer, and repair easier.

Some improvements we noticed were the better/thicker rivets that hold the copper plate to the chassis. The tooling also seemed to have better tolerances than the originals, at least on the top of the gear plate where the gears are clustered. The metal for the commutator brush springs seems to be the same guage, and the pickup shoes are a dead ringer for the old ones. Both excellent choices.

Magnet strength is exactly what the originals had, and they were perfectly matched. The gearing is a duplicate in all cases, and they are brass, as they should be. Though we only had one chassis to test, we did notice how well the gears meshed. If this is the norm, this is going to be an improvement. Guide pin was a replica, wth the same strength, flexability, and color.

The armatures were the same except for the light blue paint on the poles and what may be a silver lamenate for the commutator. We cannot be certain how this will impact performance, since we didn't have enough time. Workmanship looks very good, though.

It appears that MM Inc is also making its own commutator brushes. When compared with ThunderBrushes and originals, the ohm readings were right in the middle, 4/5/6, with JB's being the highest. Since our equipment was not the best, this is only a meeger test It did appear that the brushes had less graphite than the originals, which should give them better tuneup life and performance.

The three poles on the armature registered at 14.2/14.3/14.4, on a self zeroing meter, which is pretty good consistency for this part. The one thing that we think MM Inc should consider is making it 15 or greater at each pole so that they conform with Fray rules. It would mean adding a few inches of wire to each pole, but would be well worth it to keep a standard that is as ubiquitous as this one.

If there is one possible improvement for any T-jet chassis, it is the way the pickup shoe retainer is designed. Both MM Inc and Aurora went with two pieces for retainer and commutotor brush spring, connected by a rivet. This leaves a connection to have to maintain, and no easy way to do it. Removing the extra joint, as Aurora did in the Magnatraction chassis, would have been a better design. We would also hope that the car either come with the add-on wheel set, or make the upgrade easily available, maybe through "modified" versions of the cars.

Bottom line. Yee Haw!. This is a wonderful product. I think it makes a lot of people's dreams come true, including this writer's. All parts, except the retainer, are interchangeable with the old chassis. Price will be the big factor. None was suggested at this writing, and we won't offer any opinions either. Let it be known, though, that this is a solid performer, and MM Inc's notion to keep it like the original was a very smart move. Why mess with a winner?