# Super III -What to expect and do?



## Jim Norton (Jun 29, 2007)

I have four Auto World Super IIIs that I am about to take out of the box and prep. I have heard that some run well, some run then quit and some flat out don't run at all.

What should I expect out of these cars and what do I need to be prepared for to get these running as AW intended? Thanks.

Jim Norton
Huntsville, AL


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

I have 2 & although they are fast compared to say the AW magna-traction they are not nearly as fast as some of my 440 cars. Seem to be some good ideas in them but poorly & cheaply built, also heavy. Needless to say I was not impressed, one of mine rides on 3 wheels most of the time, so its really hard to run consistent laps with. To be honest though I have not put much time into tweaking on it either, as I just dont see much hope of it being a really fast car.

Having a couple of original Super II's from my childhood, these just don't compare at all. In my opinion I would rather spend a couple more bucks per car & pick up either a Patriot or Storm car, Unless you get a really good deal on the AW-III's.

Boosted


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## SwamperGene (Dec 1, 2003)

The worse thing to do with these cars is approach them with any sort of negativity. With no more time that what would be spent tweaking any other chassis for top performance, the Super III will scream....faster than any X2 or Super G+ as they should be given they are an altogether different class. 

Jim, get the shoes running flat, make sure the brush screws are not backed out too far not only for proper brush tension but to keep tension on the screws themselves so they don't back out on their own (heads flush with barrels is a good starting point). Flip the backwards-installed gear boss around so it can do it's job properly. The harderst part is finding a good set of rear tires for those oversized rims, experiment here. The worst part of the Super III is the generally heavy bodies, but some of the Nascar-style cars aren't too bad.

:thumbsup:


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## TK Solver (Mar 18, 2004)

If you're going to be racing two (or four) of these side-by-side on Tomy/AFX track, you'll need to cut at least 1/16th of an inch off the ends of the rear axles, otherwise they can't pass each other. They are amp hogs at startup and, I think, when accelerating out of a tight turn. Stock wall warts have the voltage but not the amps for this chassis. They like more voltage than the 18 I run all my other chassis on.


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## pshoe64 (Jun 10, 2008)

The pickup shoes were my biggest adjustment fix. The hooks that loop the brush barrels lift up and lose contact. I took a piece of piano wire the same diameter as the brush barrels and used a pair of flat pliers to shape the hook around the piano wire taking the angles out. A little tweaking of the shoe angle took the rest of the play out. The new hook shape stays in contact with the brush barrels and improves the performance greatly. I have several of these and have gotten most of them competitive against SG+, Life-Like and X2s.

-Paul


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## twolff (May 11, 2007)

I don't have a Super III, but given my experience in getting the AW T-Jet/Xtraction chassis to run:

You should be able to build one car that runs if you start with 4.


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

There seems to be a great improvement in quality in the SIIIs that come in the NTB drag racing set, over the first release. I couldn't wait to get one of these when they first came out, but was sorely disappointed when I finally got one. The same happened with my friends and many on this board. Some tuning tips have been figured out through trial and error that make them run better. A friend of mine got the NTB set and we raced the SIIIs right out of the box with only minor shoe adjustments. They ran evenly fast, although not as fast as a 440x2. Bone stock, they handled good and were fun, and LOUD. You know, I kinda like this set just because of that. Running them around his big track, they sounded like old ASA cars. With four on the track it would sound like a real field, no lap counter sounds needed.


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

I guess I should have said mine are very early release cars as well, another thing I had a problem with is the brush adjustment screws backing off after running them a bit, the brushes look like they do not have hardly any wear on them, just the screw backed off, of course a drop of small screw loctite took care of that. I will say that you can get a little better performance from adjusting the brush tension correctly, my cars were very high on tension. I too was really just overly disappointed with all the little tweaks that it needed just to run more than 50 laps. As for the tricycle chassis, I may try to make a jig to boil the chassis & straighten it sometime, the chassis just returns to the 3 wheel state even if you flex it beyond square. I saw the same problem with the pickup shoes. And as mentioned these have to be the loudest cars I have ever had, they do have strong traction magnets, but I have a pretty quite track. I also have the ability to turn up the amps & voltage & I just did not see anything spectacular as far as performance on the added power settings. 

Boosted


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## Pomfish (Oct 25, 2003)

As far as the tricycle action, just accept it and add a larger tire on the wheel that raises up.
This is much better than the chassis flopping up and down.
HTH
Keith


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## cwbam (Feb 8, 2010)

"..worse thing to do with these cars is approach them with any sort of negativity..." the slot car whisperer ?

"..You should be able to build one car that runs if you start with 4.."
Is that better than t jet's fray type cars?

I'm just a smart a*# 
but I got a good laugh


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## pshoe64 (Jun 10, 2008)

*PU Shoe Alteration*

Here's a short article showing how I altered the S-III pick shoe hooks to improve the electrical contact and performance.

-Paul

http://sites.google.com/site/speedinchowto/home/aw-pick-up-shoe-adjustments


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## LeeRoy98 (Jul 8, 2005)

"Super III -What to expect and do? "

I think another question is what to do for pickups when they wear out? I haven't seen any replacements available.
I bought several of the early ones and gave up on them. Regardless of what I did to them they were slow. My stock Super G+ and Tyco 44X2 will run circles around them. Put some decent hubs and slip on silicones on the Super G+ and the Super III would not even qualify to be a pace car.

Just my thoughts,

Gary
AKA LeeRoy98
www.marioncountyraceway.com


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## Jim Norton (Jun 29, 2007)

Paul:

Thanks....great imformation.

The AW site mentions Super IIIs as a 2011 release. It looks like the same cars so it had me scratching my head.....

Jim Norton
Huntsville, AL


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## pshoe64 (Jun 10, 2008)

I'd be happy with a Pitkit with parts! Although a stock version of that '70 Mustang would be nice too.

-Paul


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

LeeRoy98 said:


> I think another question is what to do for pickups when they wear out? I haven't seen any replacements available.


 In my mind, this problem trumps all others and makes the SIII nothing more than a collector piece for display only.

Joe


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## T-Jet Racer (Nov 16, 2006)

Also you can adjust the traction magnet heights to get the car looser, out of the box they have too much traction. just push them up till the car has a good hold but can fall out of the guide slot. they get real fast after this and the shoe and brush adjustments. Have fun playing around!


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## Dyno (Jan 26, 2009)

NTxSlotCars said:


> A friend of mine got the NTB set and we raced the SIIIs right out of the box with only minor shoe adjustments. They ran evenly fast, although not as fast as a 440x2. Bone stock, they handled good and were fun, and LOUD.


 I got my NTB set the other day and noticed right away that the Super 3 cars are extremely loud. I also noticed that the rear axle was really sloppy and vibrated terribly like most AW cars. I then pulled out the axle and revved it up and noticed it was very quiet and smooth. I put in an Aurora axle and what I think was an AFX crown gear. It fit much better and took most of the terrible vibration out of the car. It was mildly quieter also. I cant see these cars even being close to the speed of a Tyco 440- X2, they have great torque, but no top end. Having no other Super 3s to compare to, do the NTB releases have a different gear ratio? The Dragster and Stock cars I have are almost identical down the track with the stock power supply, which by the way, I feel is too weak. Its advertised at 13.5 volts, but mine is actually putting out 17.5. I feel it needs more amps.


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## pshoe64 (Jun 10, 2008)

I have 20-25 of these and have 10 that run very competitively with SG+, Life-Like and X2s. I had to work them up to this point, but the same holds true with the other makes. Once I get one going I try to back track the process with the next chassis. Between the PU shoe change and fiddling with the brush barrel screws it can be a challenge.

-Paul


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## Dyno (Jan 26, 2009)

I just pulled one traction magnet completely out and adjusted the shoe hangers. I kinda butched up one of the hangers, but the modded car is WAY faster than the other one now on the road course. It might be competitive with my average 440s and Like Likes now. I have to turn the timer on now and see for sure. :thumbsup: The rear axle swap made a huge difference in the overall smoothness. Im not having trouble with the brush barrel screws coming loose. I think they are too hard to adjust. I think they have a thread locker in them. One car I can adjust them. The other car stripped the heads after trying to turn them. They are set fairly firm. Well inside the barrel as compared to the heads of the adjuster being flush with the outside of the barrel. I pulled the whole barrel out a hair on the car that is stripped and it got noticibly slower so I dont think it is too tight.


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## Dyno (Jan 26, 2009)

Okay, Ive done some testing this evening. After much adjusting with the Super 3s I have some hard data. My "average" stock Tyco 440 with a 78 Trans AM body ran an average of 4.1 seconds around my track. 
I tested an "average" stock Super G plus with an indycar body that was averaging 3.9 seconds. My tweaked (adjusted the brush tension, shoes and hangers, raised the rear magnets and swapped the rear axle) Super 3 ran an average of 4.2 seconds with a Nascar body. So it is completely possible that a Super 3 can be competitive with a LL, Tyco and Super G plus. BUT, the Super 3 has MUCH stronger traction mags, and I was running almost full trigger all the way around the track to get a 4.2. On the other hand, the Super G plus and Tyco were were only using about half trigger to get these times and were only limited by the grip of the traction mags and tires. I feel that on a longer, faster track or on a dragstrip the Super 3s would most likely get destroyed, but on a tight track like my own they can definitely hold there own and are easy to "drive". Im sure there are other people who can tune em up better than myself. Maybe someone else would like to do a similiar test? Maybe with some timed drag strip tests?

It seems that getting the shoes flat on the track helps dramatically. And tied for second place is brush tension and getting an axle that fits without excessive slop in the rear. I love the adjustable magnets too. :thumbsup:


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