# Auto World Super lll question



## JBuie (Jan 9, 2019)

I recently purchased an AW Nascar set. The set cars appear to be R1 Nascar Releases. Both cars run like junk. One especially ran slow and made a grinding sound, starting getting hot and stalled. I adjusted the barrel brushes and it ran better but it still gets hot and stops. The other car ran better but not great I called AW and they are sending new chassis to replace them. My question is are the later release Super lll chassiss better than this junk?
I have a few AFX Mega G plus chassis and they run great compared to the AW.


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

the jury is out .....
like many AW products, sometimes they work well, most times NOT.
I haven't dealt much with those chassis. I have heard that they can run very fast, but I don't know how.
I hope you have better luck with the replacement chassis and you let us know your progress.
I will say, that in most cases of complaint, AW has replaced without requiring return. that is good customer service even if their quality control is lacking.


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## JBuie (Jan 9, 2019)

I agree with AW's replacement policy. As soon as he asked which set they were from, he said he was sending replacements out. I got the feeling they have had issues with cars from that particular set. That was 2 weeks ago and still have not got them. If they dont come by the beginning of the week l will call back.


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## JBuie (Jan 9, 2019)

Well has been 2 weeks since AW said they would replace the bad chassis. Spoke to them again early last week and they said they were sent on the 7th and they still have not arrived. Called again today and they said they were checking on it and would call me back. Not impressed with AW cars and customer service so far though their track is nice.


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

One of the guys in my club works at a hobby shop and he got some of the Auto World NASCARs at cost to use as IROCs. He had the same problems that many others have noted. Before a recent race I tried one of the cars and that started to overheat within a few laps. I believe that many people thought that the armatures were defective and replaced them only to have the same thing happen again. As it turned out the overheating was caused by tight armature shaft bearings. If you got a replacement car that would be likely to have tight bearings as well.
It is a shame that these cars are often not good runners because they look great. I have often said that a slot car should run well out of the box and not require fixing. Defective cars will turn off people new to the hobby. More experienced people might be inclined to tinker with the cars. The grinding gears can be replaced, the tight bearings can be reamed out or replaced with bearings for another make like Wizzard or Slottech.


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## Fozzie1952 (Jan 1, 2019)

I bought an AW Super III car at Hobby Lobby, and it barely ran. So I returned it for a refund. The following week, it was back on the shelf for sale, broken package and all.


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

Defective merchandise should not be returned to the shelf, but I have seen that happen with other dealers. I doubt that any Hobby Lobby employee knows anything about slot cars. I suppose that we should be thankful that they carry them at all.


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## JBuie (Jan 9, 2019)

Next time call AutoWorld tell them the issue and they will replace it and the defective chassis does not end up back on the shelf but in your parts bin.


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

JBuie, make sure you get a name if you call AW again.
I purchased the 3 car Jungle Jim set that just came out on the 11th and it arrived yesterday.
fortunately, because it was a purchase through PayPal, I got a tracking number.
your package might not get a tracking number.
call them on Tuesday if you don't get it tomorrow.


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## JBuie (Jan 9, 2019)

Finally got the two replacement Super lll chassis today. AW said the original package came back to them because of a Zip Code error on their part. Have not run them yet but hope they run better than then originals.


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## Ejeff (Jan 22, 2019)

Hi, yes I've has similar experiences with the super 3 as have my friends. 
When comparing them to any if the older standards like Tyco or Lifelike and of course Aurora, the quality is very poor. The bodies are great, well detailed but, of course, you pay a huge premium for all of those copyrighted decals. 
The chassis is a huge disappointment. The components are cheap knockoffs of any real slot car. The electricals are chromed brass instead of copper, the armature is wound with microscopic sized wire, the arm bushings don't line up and the gears are just very, very poor. And it goes on, the pickup shoes have way too much travel, the pickup shoe springs are wimpy and fragile and the front tires are so big in relation to the chassis as to raise the center of gravity to the roof. 
All that being said, you wanna race it? Ok, take the entire car apart, you can leave the front axle in. Drill the arm bushings out to .0625 (1/16)" replace the arm, gears and rear axle with ones from a Tyco 440X2 and glue the rear wheels back on after you've knurled the ends of the axles a bit to hold them on. Replace the front tires with small 440 tires or Jel claws replacements. The rear tires seem adequate for this underpowered shelf queen but at least it will run now. It would be nice if all of the wheels didn't wobble and run crooked, may have to swap those too. Best of luck!


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## JBuie (Jan 9, 2019)

Ejeff....I never said l wanted to race the Super llls just wanted to know if the later releases were better chassis and if the early ones could be made to run better. From what l see AW makes some great bodies and their track is not bad either. I just wish they would make a chassis worthy of the bodies that ran decent out of the box. It was a turn off to my youngest son who l am trying to get into the hobby.


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

When the first generation Super III was introduced in 2011 I bought one with a Mustang body for test purposes and reported my results on a number of slot BBs. That car at least still runs OK. I do not know what changes have been made with respect to the latest cars. If I had more ambition I would obtain one of those and do more testing.


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## JBuie (Jan 9, 2019)

Finally got a chance to run the two replacement chassis AW sent me. One does OK no better than the best of the first two that came with the set. The other was a complete DOG. It ran slow and started heating up. I adjusted the brushes but that didnt help much. I have to say while the set is nice the cars are a huge disappointment. If l had never been in the hobby before and didnt have other cars to run l would most likely returned the set and walked away. I hope AW does not cause people to not get into the hobby because of their lack of quality of their cars.


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

I would start tearing them apart and look for any kind of binding on anything that rotates. As for my experience with these, most are dogs even when tuned correctly, the armatures are junk, loose winds, poor balance, bent shafts etc, the magnets are all over the place as far as strength. I bought 4 when they first came out and they all are terrible, I tried different armatures, fixed all the friction problems and I have t-Jets that will whack them all day long. The AW Magna traction chassis are much better than the super III in my opinion, I have some that are pretty fast

Boosted


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## JBuie (Jan 9, 2019)

Emailed AW and they have offered to send me two non-Super lll cars. Guess l will do that and be done with this saga. At least they are trying to make it right.


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## JBuie (Jan 9, 2019)

On thing l noticed about these cars is the traction magnets really stick the chassis to the rails. On a couple of them it takes effort to pick the car off the track. One of them even tries to lift the track up. Should they be recessed a little deeper. I understand you want the chassis to stick but not so much it causes the car to bog down. ????


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

Too much magnetic pull causes too much drag, you might try turning them over and see if it is better or worse, also look for any rub marks on the chassis or magnets where it may be dragging on the rails. Good luck with these, I am not a fan of any of the AW chassis other than the magna traction, and they take work to make them fast and reliable

Boosted


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## Bubba 123 (Sep 10, 2010)

Hi All !!

My take on the "Super-III", is;
Looking @ them (& NOT Owning 1) , could a TOMY / AFX Chassis replace these (??)

Then, Just $$ the Bodies, & the TOMY / AFX Chassis for them...
Several Online Dealers, sell just the Bodies, & other brands of Chassis..
(NOTE: I Am NOT Saying That This "WILL" Work.. More of a "Question", Than an Answer.)

Our Hobby Lobby has about 4 Different "NASCARs", ALL with "Super-III's"....
LOVE the Body-Workmanship/Detailing!!

But, @ about $ 30 (MSRP), for a "Junk" Chassis Car (???!!!) 
I can get a Couple of "Carrera-GO!" 1/43's OR Close-To, OR 1, of some 1/32's (NIB)..!! 

Dat's' about It ,

Bubba (The Senile-1) 123 ;-)


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

The Super III chassis has a body clip like you would use on a Tomy, AFX or BSRT G3 chassis, however the ears are not in the same location, making it difficult to interchange bodies. Perhaps someone will do a 3D printed clip so that the Auto World bodies can be used on a less problematic chassis.


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

try to find Bud! I think he is in NY. I know him from slot shows but he hasn't done that in years. he does sell on eBay, sorry, I don't recall his ID.
he has sold many different "buddy clips" for adapting different brand bodies to various chassis and just might offer those.

Rob Budano

.


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## JBuie (Jan 9, 2019)

AW is sending me a couple of their Tjets to replace the clunky Super llls. I picked a 59 lmpala and a 62 lmpala. Already have decals picked out to custom them to a pair of early Nascar racers.
I will give them credit for their communication and trying to satisfy the issue.


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## JBuie (Jan 9, 2019)

So l got a package today from AW. The box was kind of big for the two Tjets l was expecting since they sent the earlier replacement Super lll chassis in a padded envelope. I was quite surprised when l opened the box as it not only contained the two Tjets l picked out but they had also thrown in two R3 Nascar Super Ills. I did not ask for or expect anything extra. I didnt even ask for the Tjets as they offered them instead of replacing the Super lll chassis again. I really appreciate what they did to satisfy me as a customer. I have not had a chance to run them yet.
I will give AW alot of credit for trying to make things right. That does mean alot to me.


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## Bubba 123 (Sep 10, 2010)

alpink said:


> try to find Bud! I think he is in NY. I know him from slot shows but he hasn't done that in years. he does sell on eBay, sorry, I don't recall his ID.
> he has sold many different "buddy clips" for adapting different brand bodies to various chassis and just might offer those.
> 
> Rob Budano
> ...


https://www.ebay.com/sch/budshocars...TRK:MEFSXS:MESOI&_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2654

Bud HO Ebay link :wink2:

Bubba :wink2:


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## JBuie (Jan 9, 2019)

Did not see any clips on his ebay page. Saw some things l liked. Thanks


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## Fastslots (Jan 28, 2020)

On another note.... Is there a cure for the sloppy gear plate from the AW 4-gear chassis???.... ?


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

Where exactly is the slop? You might try the gear post expander that RT-HO sells if the problem is with either idler gear. Wizzard now sells a tool to close up sloppy armature shaft holes. The rivet holding the driven gear could be replaced with a small flat head machine screw. JW's used to sell those, but they are no longer listed. Another possibility is to substitute an Aurora specialty gear plate, JAG Hobbies has those.


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## Fastslots (Jan 28, 2020)

It's the rear brass press in post and gear.... It just binds up the rear crown gear and rear axle.... It's been like that since brand new.... That's why I haven't tested it yet....


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

you need to tighten the rivet/post that holds the cluster gear to the chassis.
this requires a tool that can reach inside the open end of the rivet and is slightly larger to expand that portion of the rivet.
something like an awl with the tip rounded off.
there are probably guys who have designed something especially for that.

you tap the tool gently with a small hobby hammer and test to get the right mesh of the gears.
yes, this has always been a problem with this style of cluster gear and much more so with the AW.

hope others weigh in on this to make it a little more clear what I mean.


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## Fastslots (Jan 28, 2020)

Gotcha!.... Thanks a bunch for the info!... I'm sure I have something like that laying around.... ??


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