Hey everyone out there. I been away the last couple of weeks. I have been doing a TON of running at West Coast Raceway in La Mirada. I can not tell you how great this facility is. The owner Danny is also a class guy. Every week this place gets better and better. Anyways, back to racing. This Saturday we had another stacked class of 13.5. This is by far the most popular on-road class. We are seeing 3-4 full heats every weekend. This weekend was no different. The Tamiya guys were in full force. Randy Caster, Rod C., and myself were running 13.5. Our cars are good but they need to be a little bit better. Congrats to Steve W. taking the win. The competiton was fierce, Rick Howart and Sean C. was there as well. If you didn't do a fast 22 lapper, you weren't in the A. This place has the great feeling. Eventhough its only a club race, you feel everyone trying their best. You see everyone pushing for the next tenth of a second. Its great to compete against good drivers. They are definitely helping me find every bit of speed from my car. On Saturday in the main, I found my car was traction rolling. I plan on doing a little bit of testing this week to hopefully find a solution. Also I am looking to add a little mor mid corner to improve my lap times. My current set up is easy to drive most of the time. I think if I add a little droop in the rear it should help. I think after this week of testing I should have a base line set up for you guys. A few of us are using it with a tweak here or there based on preference.

-Corey

Hey everyone....Just checking in with an update. I have been running at the new track in La Mirada and all I can say is wow!!!!! It's been a long time since we have had such a great indoor facility. I ran my 416 there and the car is very good. I figured out how to get the steering I needed without losing any of the stability. One of the features I love about this car is its ability to steer without losing corner speed. I think I have a pretty decent set up that I am looking to make better of course. I think my consistantcy on the track is what I need to work on now. Being able to concentrate and not crash over the course of the race is key. I know the car can do the lap times....Its just a matter of me getting there. I am racing this weekend at WCRC so come down and race. Check with everyone later.

-Corey

Back again everyone. This past weekend was the 4th time out with my 416WE and its the best touring car I have driven around the Tamiya track. This past weekend I played with the rear droop and it transformed the car from being good to VERY good. I will try to get the set up sheet posted somepoint this week. I also raised the camber link by .5mm on the rear hub.  By the end of the day I had a car I could consistantly complete laps in the 13's. I was running the MuchMore absolut 32's and they were hooked up from the start. I really like the way the car felt in the corners. Felt, really planted with corner speed. Next time out, I want to try adding a little anti-dive to help with the intial steering. One thing I found with the 416 is that many set ups seem to work. Here is some video of my car (red) with Rod C. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euinxQP38Lk. Thanks everyone for checking in. I'll be back letting you know what I find.

Corey-

Hi again, well after another weekend my 416 is getting better and better. On the current layout, I am running consistantly between 14.1 to 14.3, With a best time of 13.9. The car is more stable and has enough steering for me. Currently I am running the kit set up with a few changes, Yellow springs all around, 400 wt oil, 2.5mm inner camber links front and rear and 2mm on the outer rear hub. Also I am running the 1E block in the rear instead of the 1F. The past couple of weeks I had been running 500 wt oil as this worked REALLY well with my 415. But in the 416, it made the car really twitchy. Going down to 400 wt really mellowed the car. I have been thinking about changing the front blocks to D,D but I really like the steering I have. I still have a little instability in the rear in certain corners. I am thinking of trying a few different things. From running the rear blocks flat, to running a slightly stiffer front spring. I know that if I can cure the rear from sliding I can consistantly run in the 13's. Update everyone soon!

Corey-

It was another great day at the tamiya track. This week I tried some different set ups to get the car working better. Last week I kind of threw on a standard tamiya set up while I was knocking some of the rust off my driving as well as some of the paint off my car! Anyways, I started with yellow springs, 500 wt oil, camber links at 4mm in the front and 3mm in the rear. I ran kit blocks and RP30 for tires. As a comparsion I was running with Rod C. who was running his 415 MRE with the dialed Reedy set up. The thing I noticed instantly was the amount of steering this car has and the corner speed. I have never had a car that could carry as much corner speed as my 416 WE. OK, I pretty much ran with that set up ALL day. I then decided to raise the camber links 1mm all around.....BIG MISTAKE!!!! After that change the car basically just washed out, There just wasn't enough traction for that change. Coming in to this past Saturday I wanted to try something really different. So I threw on Jilles basic asphalt set up. It consists of White front spring, Blue rear, I ran 500wt oil...camber links at 5 in front and 4 in rear. C blocks in front 1XA and E blocks in rear. I have to say, for the tamiya track this was not very good. Just not enough traction and the tires heated up very quickly making the car very difficult to drive. After making a few changes, I think I have a really good base line for the upcoming weekend. I ended this Saturday with a car that was stable, maintained excellent corner speed and could I race with it. Its a little twitchy for my style, but definitely drive-able. I am looking to cure that. Once I do, I will post my set up.

Corey-

 Well, it has been about two years since I last raced with Tamiya. A lot has happened in that time. I never stopped following the RC action on RCtech and other forums. I finally decided to get back into racing. I received my 416WE about week ago. I just want to say that this is the BEST Tamiya kit I have ever put together. Everything went together perfectly. The tolerances are so much better. All of the slop that you use to have to shim out is gone. I will be at the Tamiya track this weekend for the maiden run. This is my first BLOG entry of many...If you have any questions or suggestions; Please feel free to add your input.  See you at the track!!!!!!

Corey-