Well I've had some time with the TRF201 now, and have to say I am really loving the buggy.  I have worked on my setup, and have put one together that is easy to drive and still has plenty of speed, a great combo!

I have run the track at 4 different tracks so far, WCRC, OCRC, PRCR, and Pegasus.  I have been able to lay down competitive runs at all of those tracks, and the best part is I haven't had to change my base setup at all for any of them.

The car's durability is insane, I have yet to break a single suspension part.  The original idler gears are prone to be weak, but Tamiya should have a replacement for them in the very near future.  RW racing also has a replacement idler gear, I'll be testing it's durability this coming weekend, but it looks good so far!

I update on RCTech often with anything I find regarding the 201.  My setup sheet should be available on the TRF site anytime now, but for the meantime, it was posted on RCTech about a month ago.

I've been doing a ton of running lately at both OCRC and WCRC raceways, getting the track time and knowledge to get a running start with the TRF201.  I am really excited for the release of our new 2wd buggy, from the pictures it looks as if it should be a real competitor.

My main concern is to have the knowledge to be able to answer any questions that should come my way about the car when it arrives, and I feel I'm definitely on the right track.

OCRC is a pretty consistent medium bite track, changes a slight bit throughout the day but you can pretty much get away with running 1 set of tires without having to make changes as the grip changes.  WCRC is a very high bite track when it's wet, but the grip really goes away as it dries out.  The advantage there is it gives me the opportunity to run on 2 extremely different track conditions throughout the day.  I've also been able to make it up to Hot Rod Hobbies for a JBRL race in which the track actually formed a blue groove condition and had really high bite while the sun was out.

I just got home from a club race at WCRC which had a 10 minute main, definitely not used to that from my normal 5 minute experience on the asphalt side of things, but it was a blast.  Going to head to one of the tracks on this Friday for more club racing, and then the same on Sunday.  Having a lot of fun running off-road!

Randy

I never thought I'd say it, but right now in SoCal, we honestly just have too many tracks!  Racers are now spread between about 6 or 7 locations (if you count the parking lot tracks running as well) within a 30 mile distance of each other.  3 of these tracks are indoor facilities on top of that!  Although it's great to see race directors trying to pump up on-road racing, it is really just killing race turnouts at the individual tracks.  It seems like a new track will open, thrive for 3 or 4 months, and then the crowd will flock to a newer track leaving the previous one with horrible turnouts.  Unfortunately, already in the past year a couple of tracks have been shunned and eventually just closed the doors...

It's mainly because of this that I have been running more and more electric off-road, where turnouts are fairly consistent and the competition is always good.  Happy to say that last Saturday there was an A and B main for 2wd modified at a normal club race.  Right now seems like a good time to sit back and let the on-road tracks battle it out while I get more and more wheel time with the EP off-road cars like the TRF511 and soon to be released TRF201.

One good note for the sedan side of things is the directors of the Reedy Race have selected a host track for this year.  Although the announcement is late I'm hoping that they will end up with a good mod turnout, if so I'll head up for that race as well.

Finally, the long awaited 416X kits have arrived at Tamiya USA.  I'm really excited to start running this kit.  The changes are subtle, but should make for a car that drives completely different than the 416WC.  My WC has always been competitive on outdoor tracks, and even on carpet with rubber tires.  However, with the opening of the high bite indoor asphalt track WCRCR, I just haven't been able to find the steering I need without sacrificing traction or driveability.

I still have a couple of practice/race days left in my WC kit, and I'm going to focus on doing as much suspension testing as I can so that I can apply the knowledge to the build of my X kit.

I'll be back soon to report on how the new car is doing!

 

Randy Caster

Well the long weekend for the KO race is over.  I spent full days at the WCRCR track from Thursday through Sunday.  Going into the race, my previous setup was far too aggressive for the new track layout, so Thursday and Friday were spent searching for a new setup.  By the last round of controlled practice on Saturday morning I landed on a setup that felt really good.

Qualifying on Saturday went fairly well.  With all clean runs in both my 13.5 and Mod classes, I was able to secure a 2'nd place start in the 13.5 main, and a mid pack start in Mod.  On Sunday, we started with our 4'th and final round of qualifying, and since I was already guaranteed starts in both A-Mains I made setup changes to my car to try and improve my starting position, unfortunately they only slowed me down.

For the Modified AAA mains, I was starting in 6'th position, went out for my practice laps and the car felt great.  Did a couple practice starts, the car went perfectly straight, so I went to the line.  At the tone, I hit the throttle and my car jerks left and smacks the wall.  Finally got it back in line but it was tweaked.  At that point I was last but worked up to a 5'th place finish.  2'nd main, I went out and wanted to make sure the car would go straight from a stop, so on my warm-up lap I did several stop and go's and the car went perfectly straight every time.  Went to the grid and at the tone hit the throttle and the car jerks left again and smacks the wall.  Same outcome, I think I was able to work up to 6'th or so after another start sending me to the back of the pack.  3'rd main I went to the 6'th place grid in my warm up, hit the throttle and the car goes left.  Did a few other stop and starts and the car goes perfectly straight anywhere besides that part of the grid.  I asked to be lined up outside of the box, but because it is a large race they require me to start in the box, so at the tone I baby the throttle hoping to end up anywhere besides dead last at that start.  Sure enough the car behind me smacks me at that start, and another dead last beginning.  I finished 8'th in that class.

For the 13.5 mains I was starting 2'nd.  Got off to a great start in the 1'st main, but on the straightaway I was extremely under powered for some reason.  I had both Keven Hebert and Rick Hohward knocking at my rear bumper as I drove the closest lines I possibly could trying to hold them behind me.  It wasn't long before they were able to sneak inside me at the end of the straight and move me back.  Unfortunately for myself one of the passes had contact and spun me out.  I worked back up in a 3 person battle for 3'rd place, but without enough motor to make a move on anyone, I ended up at the back of that train for a 5'th place finish in A1.  For A2 I switched to an LRP SPX ESC, never having run the ESC before, it just felt weird compared to the KO I am used to.  Got the gearing a bit off, and had the same power issues but less luck with people making their aggressive end of the straightaway passes and finished towards the back.  For A3, we got the gearing down really well and the power was there.  Barry Baker had already wrapped up the title by this point, so I started first on the grid.  First corner I bobbled and went wide allowing both Keven and Rick to pass on the inside, and the positions didn't change much after that, finished 3'rd right behind Keven.  I ended up 4'th overall in 13.5.

This race was a huge learning experience.  I really don't run spec classes all that often, and I found that in order to run them alongside modified, you really need 2 cars because of the different ESC's needed for each class.

I'd like to thank Barry Baker for all of his help the past weekend, I was using motors and batteries that he supplied me from Team Checkpoint.  The motors felt great, and once I got the right ESC in there for 13.5 they had all the speed needed.  Also, congrats Barry on your 13.5 and Mod wins, and welcome to the RCRevealed race team!

I can't wait for the next big race at WCRCR, the race was run on schedule the entire time with excellent announcing from Charlie Suangka and Jeremy Felles.  This is also the first race I've ever seen with paid turnmarshals, none of the racers had to turnmarshal a single time.  Even better than that was the effort that the marshals put into their job, any bobble and they were right there to help, I didn't see a single one of them watching the race and missing an opportunity to help, truly a great job!  Robert from KO and Danny from WCRCR really put on a top notch race, thanks for all your efforts, they made it a great weekend for everyone.

The KO Race is just around the corner at WCRC Raceway in La Mirada, CA.  The competition is going to be excellent at this event, so I decided to build a new car for the event.  This is the last large event that I will be running the 416WC, I will be switching over to the new 416X platform soon after this race.

I'm very excited to say that my 801x will be arriving tomorrow.  Touring car racing has slowed down a bit out here so I've decided to pick up 1/8 buggy as another racing class.  I have run the 801xt in the past and really enjoyed it, so I am looking forward to receiving my buggy.  I'll post pics as soon as I get it completed.

Well I have to appologize for not updating my blog in a while, but life has kept me busy lately!  I was checking the site out to see the new TRF goodies, and when I saw the date of my last blog entry I felt embarrased, lol.

 I've been racing and practicing at a few different tracks since my last blog, Pound It Raceway, West Coast R/C Raceway, Bending Cornerz, and the Tamiya USA track, so I've been getting my fill of different track conditions.  Through it all I have kept very competitive, and my car has stayed excellent for the most part, I haven't had to make too many setup changes to suit the different track surfaces.

 I am planning on heading down to San Diego next weekend for some more racing at Pound It Raceway, which is a high traction, smooth parking lot track that is home to some fast local drivers.

 This is somewhat a spur of the moment entry so I don't have a whole lot on my mind.  But as always, if anyone is seeking help with the TRF products I'm easy to find on RCTech with username Randy Caster and am always open to questions.

 Hope everyone is enjoying the 416WC as much as I am!

 Randy Caster

  When I started racing sedans years ago, all there was to run on nearby were parking lot tracks.  Now I live in an awesome location between a handful of permanent tracks, so it's rare that I run on parking lot tracks anymore.  When I heard about the Dash For Cash race at Pound It Raceway in San Diego, I thought it would be a great excuse to go back to the old school and run on a parking lot again.

  I am honestly used to running on pretty blown-out parking lots, bumpy and torn up with a major lack of traction.  When I first drove on the Pound It Raceway track, it was nothing like this.  It was a smooth track with consistent traction, and a fun, technical layout that was very challenging.

 I made a few minor changes to my 416WC, started with the Hupo '08 Reedy Race setup listed on thard.co.uk and went from there.  I added .5 mm front anti-dive, 3 mm under the inner ball stud on the rear camber link, put 550 wt shock oil in, and stood the shocks up on the rear shock tower to hole 5.  My car was dialed.

 The modified class was competitive, heads up qualifying that made for some really fun racing.  I was 2'nd after the first qualifier, and managed to TQ the 2'nd after starting on the back row.  In the main I got a good jump on the start and ended up lapping the field, and taking home the 1'st place cash prize!  The car was good, but I wish I had switched to 3.5 mm under the inner rear camber link ball stud to free the car up a little more and get through the tight sections a little quicker.

  On a completely separate note, I have run 3 times at WCRC now since they opened a week ago, and my 416WC is doing great there as well.  My setup is getting close, but not good enough to post online yet.  I can group about 10 laps together within about .3 seconds of each other, but still have yet to go out and have a crash-free run.  I need to find the trick to getting my car a little easier to drive, while still maintaining the fast lap times so that I can go out and have rollover-free runs on the curbed track. 

Yesterday was the first day of practice at the brand new West Coast R/C Raceway facility in La Mirada, CA.  With a huge high-bite clay offroad, and huge asphalt track with curbing, this is one of the top facilities in the world.  The construction crew was still hard at work for the better part of the day doing the finishing touches to the tracks, mounting LCD tv's on the walls, and stocking the hobby shop.  Even with all of that going on, the doors were still open to anyone who wanted to come by and run all day, at no charge.

 The asphalt track is the size of the Tamiya USA outdoor facility, with grip levels that I've only seen at Seattle Indoor Raceway, an awesome combination that will make for some awesome racing in all classes.

 The biggest struggle of the day was getting enough steering to get through the tight areas of the infield with a mod motor.  Really the only way I managed to accomplish this was to take out nearly all of my rear traction which made the car extremely hard to drive, but fast, and consistant if driven very easily.  I tried a ton of setup variations over my 12 hour practice day, but as always, I think of the best changes I should have made once I got home and looked the car over.

 I'm going to get the 2.5mm 416 chassis, which is thicker than the standard 416WC chassis, but more importantly moves the batteries back on the chassis.  The combination of these 2 things should result in less side bite which should increase cornerspeed, and less weight transfer to the front tires, which will result in more off-power steering though the tight areas on the track.

 With a few more days of practice I should have a really competitive setup.  I'll post a sheet as soon as I land a setup that is fast but easier to drive and can be driven a bit harder if needed.