I managed to get into the oOple Open Series 'B' final this weekend. It's probably one final up from where I would normally be with my standard 410. There's no doubt in my mind now - the DARC has converted a crap driver into a middling driver.
One odd thing - in one race I managed to pop my rear centre drive shaft. I didn't have any major collision when it happened. I have the longer V3 outdrive fitted and on the bench the shaft is at least 7mm inside the outdrive. I can't bend the chassis enough to recreate the problem and yet it must have flexed enough for it to happen. I checked that the rear gear box was fully positioned and even stripped it down thinking one of the crown pinion bearings may have collapsed allowing the shaft to move inwards. However, there was no problem there. I also checked all chassis/motor mount screws and nothing was loose. I'd be interested to see if anyone else has had a similar experience.