I actually ran my car ones outdoor with foams and it feels less grip then with rubber tyre so I suggest the same topdeck to use for foam outdoor. For indoor foam carpet you might have to use a thicker topdeck but Tamiya has no other option then 2mm. The chatter which you get running a spool is normal, when you drive you will not notice it anymore.

What is your 'usual' methods of additiving and warming your tires - both indoor and out. And what are your current recommended additives again for both indoor and out?

Well for indoors we never use tyrewarmers, CS yellow or LRP carpet 2 is most used at indoor races.
For outdoors I recommend Tyre Tweak for most type of tyres and tracks, this with tyre warmer for about 20min on 60 degree.

My questions would be when you guys get to a track, do you have a usual method which you try to setup your car with? I.e. are there some adjustments you try before other adjustments? Do you have a base setup? What kind of "feel" do you look for in your car?

The whole winter we had a decent basic set-up which works at all track pretty oke. So when you come to a race we don't worry about any set-up changes till the track has the same bite as it will be for the race. Normally we only play with shockoil, indoor this is between 400-500. If the car traction rolls we make it wider on the hex. 1mm wider.
It sounds easy but actually with this car it is easy to have the right pace all the time.

Did you notice a difference going from the 416 to the 416WE? Do you switch back and forth between the 2 or is there an advantage of one over the other on certain tracks?

The main different between the 416 and the 416WE is the chassis and topdeck. At the LRP Marc and Viktor used the old 416 chassis and I used the WE chassis. I choose for the WE chassis as the battery is little more forward which makes the car easy to drive. We all used the old topdeck with the brace to get the rear a little stiffer for better rotation. So yes we play a lot with both chassis.

Whoose shock oil do you use? Is it Tamiya's or another brands?

All the TRF guys are using Much More oil.

Which motor do you use last week at the LRP TCM ? 3.5 or 4.0 ? And also, the ratio...

At the LRP we all used 3.5 SP motor with gearing of 105/23 9.3

And the timing between A and B ?

I run the timing between b and c. Maybe 4.5 you can run between a and b but this is too much timing for 3.5motor.
When you use Speed Passion speedo you can run timing in the middle with 3.5 as this Speedo has a different timing then a Nosram/LRP speedo.

Can you explain further on what you mean by "easy to drive" with more weight forward? Eg - less turn-in, more mid corner or exiting steering or a combination of things?

With the WE chassis the battery is more forward which makes the car smoother and easier to drive, less steering.
When you use 5 cell try to drive the battery in the back and you will feel the car rotates way to much mid corner and exiting the corner. Battery more forward will keep the rear more stable mid and exit which drives more easy.

Are we right in thinking some of the TRF guys were running more Ackerman spacers than the usual 5mm with spool in Poland?

5mm Ackerman is most used, sometimes 5.5 to get little more aggressive steering.

I got a little question for the shocks: What length do you run your shocks ? do you change this length or always run the same?

We always run the shock 61.5mm, don't really know why, Maybe because Kiyo (TRF Mechanic) always makes this length. See you in Luxembourg!

I don't have any setup questions since I have found that car setup is something you have to work out yourself since everybody drives their cars very differently.

I do have some specific questions about the TRF416 chassis, however, that you may have some suggestions about:

1. I think most people have found that when we build the 416 we have to add quite a few shims to the direct center shaft before putting the flanged bearings on and fitting it into the bulkheads. For example I have to add four or five 4x0.2 mm shims to the center shaft. How much do you guys have to add, and do you keep it equal on each side of the shaft or do you add more to one side?

2. In the rear diff the diff balls are partially exposed, and running outdoors on asphalt the diff attracts a lot of dirt and hence requires frequent rebuilds. I currently use a small sheet of clear vinyl as a diff cover, but since it only sticks to the outside of the diff pulley they don't last long and more often than not come off. The same is true of the Tamiya diff covers: there just is not enough area for the covers to stick to and last more than a few runs. Do you have any tips on how to somehow protect the diff and keep it clean?

3. Obviously parts wear out as time goes by, but I have to constantly replace the swring shaft protectors (or C-clips) that you put on the rear swing shafts before putting then into the diff halves. For me they wear out completely after about three full race meets (I run 10.5), and although they are not an expensive part I seem to be constantly buying new ones. The other issue with this is that as soon as they wear down a bit the swing shaft starts damaging the diff halves. Do you have any tips on how to make the C-clips and diff halves last longer? It seems that the Xray C-clips last significantly longer, would trying another manufacturer's C-clips help? What would be really good is if Tamiya went back to the design of the original TRF415 and TRF415MS, where you didn't have C-clips on the rear swing shafts just a ring the clipped to the end of the diff halves. If you got the delrin diff halves for the 415 and 415MS they seemed to last for a long time.

Yes, we do run a lot of shims on the topshaft (4 or 5 0,2mm), normally little more on the right so the spurgear centers little to the left which make the belts run more in the middle of the pullies.
I just started to run outdoor and the diffs get little dirty after some runs. I have tried the sticker covers and they seem to work fine.
I use a lot of diff lube on the plates and the ball and even in the pulli holes. Btw, I found Schumacher diff lube the best lube for the diff balls.
The c-clip or blades we call them are pretty strong even when running modified. I lube them a little bit with Xenon blue grease.

Do you mean you lube the whole end of the rear swing shafts with the blade attached before putting them into the diff halves? How exactly does that help?

Yes, just grease the pin of the drive-shaft and the blade on the outside before putting it in the diff outdrive.

Some more questions related to shocks;

How are you guys building you shocks up? Do you use the standard WE kit method, with the delrin spacer and one o-ring, or still using the double o-ring setup?
I re-built my shocks recently using the WE instructions (where the spacer is swapped round from before), and with the new blue Tamiya O-rings, and I have to say, I've been very impressed with the action, just as smooth as before with the two much-more o-rings, and no leaking...yet

Also, for outdoors, what oil would you start off with? and would you run the foam spacer or not?
My local outdoor track is quite bumpy, and being lazy, I've left the car as is with it's std indoor shock setup, of 450 oil and no foam... I'm thinking I might want to go with a lower weight oil, and the foam.. but it's not something I can really try at a club meeting, as they are run quite tightly, with usually max 4 heats..

For indoor we always use 1 o-ring, the blue tamiya one with little bit of rebounds, 5mm.
For outdoors I'm not sure yet, as at the worlds we absolutely run 0 rebound and we even made a hole in the top plastic to get the air out between the top and the rubber cover. I think on a bumpy track you need to run a little rebound but I'm still not sure about this.

Adam,

Correct about the arms.
The reason why we not use the screw in the topdeck is that it flexes more up front which gives more steering. Sometimes the car tweaks little more using the screw.

One quick question, your base asphalt setup runs D/D suspension blocks up front with 1mm spacer, whilst at the worlds you ran C/C with 0.5mm spacer. What effect does the narrower track have and what makes you decide to run D/D or C/C? What would you change for low grip tracks?

With D-D and 1mm spacer the car is easy to drive with medium steering and not too much responsive on the steering. At the worlds we ran C-C to get maximum steering.
For low grip track try softer springs, sometimes we also cut the topdeck to get more flex in the chassis.

-The Evo 5 arms stated in the Setup Sheet, is that referring to the "standard" or the "short" reversible arm?

-When you say zero rebound on the shock, how do you visually check that? Is it when you push in the piston, and it doesn't rebound?
And when you said 61.5mm in length, where do i measure it from?

Evo 5 arm is the short arm, and it comes standard with the 416WE.
The shock-shaft with 0 rebound will not go down when you push it in. So when you built your shocks you oush the shockshaft all the way up and close the cap.
61.5mm is from the very top till the very bottom of the shockholders.
We all ran a 3.5 Motor as it was "only" 5 cells. Our motors got around 80 degrees. I know the LRP motors get little hotter but that isn't a problem when it gets 100 degree. SP motors have bigger holes in the can which makes it run cooler and have better sound!

I assume you drilled the hole in the top cap to make the shocks more consistent in the high heat conditions in Thailand?

I tried this at home under normal temperatures (25deg) and the car felt softer and less responsive, more sluggish actually. Maybe heavier oil would have helped?

Yes, we drilled the hole in the top cap, and yes we ran 700 oil at the worlds.

Do you think its better if I double the upper deck to stiffen the chassis up? Coz I dont have 2,5mm lower chassis.

Two topdecks will make it I think too stiff but you can try it. In Vegas we ran a 3mm chassis with 2.5mm topdeck which was made only for this race.

I have a question about the rebound, when you pull the shock shaft down, is it better if the shaft gets up a litttle bit by itself or not (a kind of negative rebound?)

With making your shock with 0 rebound the shockshaft always goes little bit back in, it's almost impossible to make it without going back in. Using an older bladder you might have the perfect shock with 0 rebound.

Using short reversible suspension arms do you need to use a 42mm CVD? Also does it shorten the width of the car?

Yes, with the short arms we use 42mm in the rear and
44mm in front. It makes the car more narrow, but more traction for sure.

The whole that you made in the cap, did you seal it after you bled the air out or did you tighten the cap which seals the bladder. How big of a hole also?

It's a hole on top of the plastic, so it has nothing to do with bleading the shock. The hole in the plastic cap is only 1mm, and it get the air out between the bladder and the top cap which helps by making the shock as little rebound as possible.

As far as practice goes, what do you think is the best way to improve the most? To run a faster motor and learn to control it, or run a slower motor and learn how to maximize corner speed? Any other tips to make practice time the most productive?

I think the best way to improve your driving is to start with a normal motor, 10.5 or something. If you can drive all your laps within 0.2-0.3 seconds it's time to go lower turns. Of course many people think with a faster motor you get better laptimes. I started a long time ago with Tamiya cup and 540 Johnson motor and I ran it for a couple of years and slowly on I went faster motors. Nowadays newcomers will switch from a stock motor to a modified motor within a few month.

Some questions which need your expertise;

1) Why did you run 0 rebound at the worlds? When will you use full rebound?

2) Softer springs equal more grip? How do springs-rebound-shock oil compliment each other?

3) Higher the number of the downstop (higher arm raise) = more grip at that end of the car? What effect will you get by raising and lowering the arms?

4) How did you become so damn good?

Thanks! I have been very happy with the TRF team which gave me very nice results so far. 0 Rebound gives more traction, indoor rubber carpet I use a little rebound just by experience, I never use full rebound as it feels not so grippy, and I don't run much on bumpy tracks.
Actually a harder spring gives more traction but there must be enough traction to use it. Nowadays with the over powered cars we use quiet soft spring ( 13-18pound) to get the car easier to drive. With harder spring you also heat up the tyres more fast. I can't really give you an answer about the shock oil/spring question.
Just out experience I always use 6mm downstop in front and 5 in the rear. For example when I test outdoor and I go to 5.5mm downstop in the rear, the rear gets lose in the middle of the corner, go to 4.5mm it gets too stable.
In front sometimes we play indoors on carpet with 6.5mm downstop, almost no uptravel for little more easy drive, not so much steering. Rollcenters I always use just from experience 0.5mm in the rear and flat or 0.5mm anti-dive in front.
Thank you for your compliment, i love my hobby that's why i'm so motivated to go fast and never give up.

Do you usually use the lightweight Mazda Speed 6? and also how far back do you mount the wing? I have mine mounted about 2.5mm farther back than the farthest indent on the wing, for a little more mid corner steering on the sweepers should I move it a little farther forward? or what would you recommend. I'm using a setup similar to your basic asphalt setup.

Yes, I always use light weight speed 6. I always mount my wing as far as the regulation says, 10mm behind the rear bumper.

How does the anti dive affect the car's handling? When do you decide to use this setting?

When you need more turn-in steering I always use anti-dive, makes the car more aggressive.

Did you try LTC-R body?

I have tried the LTR body and it gives more steering but is more loss in high speed sweaper compared to normal speed 6.

Jilles on your foam carpet set up, you set 1mm uptravel for front and 1.5mm for rear, do you mean set the downstop 1mm and 1.5mm on the downstop block?

With foam racing I never check downstop under the arm as with the variation of tyres diameter and ride-height you can't really tell what number downstop you need to use.
When the car has 4mm ride height, I push the chassis in front 1mm up till the wheels get of the ground, rear is 1.5 mm. Hope this is clear enough.

I'm little confused about the rebound you mentioned above always used 0 rebound. Is that only for either Mod or Stock on any kinds of asphalt traction condition? Since I'm running Stock 13.5.

Also for stock I suggest to use little rebound.

A couple of quick questions for you

Tweak- I was curious about how you go about making sure your car is tweak free, is there a method for doing it and do you use things like tweak guages and balancing tools...also what is an aceptable spring collar diffrence left to right?

Steering throw- Its something i have played with alot do you have a bench mark angle you always start from? i have found that you can really upset a car with a lot of lock and make it equaly as bad with not enough!

Tyres- If you feel that the cars tires are over heating But changing to another compound is not an option how would you go about curing this with set up changes, obviously smoother driving helps but i was wondering if spring changes can help at all?

Chassis tweak:
I always set my chassis on two support blocks and then I tight up the topdeck. After a crash I always untight the screws and do this. Then I first check the downstops without shocks. After I check the length of the shocks I put on the shocks and check the downstops again. I always measure the distance from the spring collar to the top so all left and right are equal. Sometimes I match some springs and try to find two with the same length but the different is minimum anyway.

I always use 90% lock so the steering block have 2/3mm distance till the caster blocks, must have little play.

A softer spring helps to avoid tyre overheating as well as run thicker oil. Like Worlds in Thailand we ran HB blue spring(14Lb) with 700 oil.

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