Thanks guys, the weather's been decent the last two days so the car's done a few batts worth of laps on the track and been run by different guys. So far everyone thinks it's a blast to drive. The consensus at the track has always been "4WD is easier to start with than 2WD" but the guys who've tried the FF buggy think this is the easiest buggy to drive yet. One racer commented that even a 4WD will spin out on certain surfaces because the rear wheels are still "pushing" the car, but for a FF this doesn't happen.
So far the car has been the easiest to drive consistently around the track in a variety of conditions and I think that's it's huge advantage. Since there's no worry about the rear breaking loose, one just needs to concentrate on getting the line right to carry the most speed through the turns.
One other pleasant surprise is... the car cleared the triples today a couple of times! I initially thought that the wheelspin was causing problems for the car getting up to speed for the triples but now I'm pretty sure it just needs a bit more motor.
It's currently running with a 10.5T but I'm going to try a 8.5T to see how it goes.