Fred Medel of Tamiya USA on the TRF101

Fred posted on Rctech on the new TRF101 and what it does differently on the track:

"Hello All,

I decided to take the TRF101 for a spin. I built one off the shelf to see how I can best share the differences between both platforms.

As most of you may know I have A LOT of time on the V2. About 6 weeks ago I was in Japan talking to the designer of the car. In case anyone wondered it's Kiyo Suzuki. He's the same fellow that travels the world with Marc Rheinard developing the TRF touring cars. The man knows his stuff when designing cars in case you wondered.

In short Kiyo and Satoshi Maezumi told me the new front end changes the way the front end responds to your steering input. Basically, you'll notice it feels more neutral compared to the standard front end. Having driven a million laps with my V2 around the Tamiya track I can confirm that is indeed the case. The V2 is a stable car. However, the 180 hairpin turn after the sweeper has always frustrated me as the V2 wants to continue to turn. You have to be careful after the 180 to keep the car straight to make the inner sweeper. In the past I've tried to fix this with dual rate on the radio and with tire choice and sauce application tricks. With the TRF101 the car enters the turn with immense stability and there is no sign of the car wanting to continue to turn after applying throttle after the 180. It's just that stable. I believe this is the case because you now have a solid front end like the F103 on top of having the side links further apart. With the F104 link front end you have more movement going on with the front end, which makes for some unwanted movement. I didn't think this was an issue before, but it seems like the solid front end cures sensitivity and over-steering. Also, loosening the front screws on the carbon mellows the car out even more. If you think the front carbon piece doesn't move if you loosen it think again. There's a ton of movement. It's a great tuning option. I would suggest making sure the whole is big enough so the screw moves freely with the carbon top piece. Also, Kiyo informed me that I should experiment with using O-rings instead of the steel washers in the middle of the front end. This will make for a softer and dampened front end.

In short...I put two packs throw the car with my V2 starting point set up. It can only get better once I begin to play with more things. For one, the stock instructions have the TRF shock built with too much droop. Surprisingly, the car remained stable at the Tamiya "Kink" even with that much pod droop. Typically, you have to set the V2 with little pod droop to keep the car stable though the kink. Not so with the 101 so it seems, but more testing is needed.

Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying their new toy. I am. I'll post some pics soon to show how easy it was to get to 4.2mm ride height on the front without having to use shims on the upper arm. At the Tamiya Track lowering the car below 4.2 is not recommended.

Stay tuned..."