Tuning Guide What Do You Want To Achieve

Tuning Guide: What Do You Want to Achieve?

A plain-English guide for drivers, not engineers.

People often ask "what can I tune on the Remora 1, and what does it actually do?" This page answers that the other way round: start with the result you want, and this page tells you which setting to try.

You don't need to understand PWM, back-EMF, or timing theory to use this page. Just find your goal below.

⚠️ Before You Start

Only change one setting at a time. Test it, feel the difference, then move on. Changing several things at once makes it impossible to know what actually helped.
Make small changes. Nudge a value a little, test, nudge again. Big jumps are more likely to cause stuttering, stalling, or overheating.
If the motor ever stutters, "cogs," or gets hot — stop. Cut power immediately. Undo your last change and try a smaller step.
Disconnect the motor (or remove the wheels/gear) before saving settings with the WiFi Link. Saving requires briefly stopping the motor, and if a motor is attached this can send a damaging voltage spike back through the cable. See The WiFi Link for full details.
All of these changes are made using the WiFi Link — a small accessory that lets you talk to the Remora 1 from your phone, tablet or laptop. You only need one, and it works with every Remora 1 you own.

Quick Answer Table

I want to...	Try changing	Direction
Launch quicker off the line	`duty_spup`, `duty_rate`	increase, in small steps
Get maximum top speed / power	`duty_min`, `duty_max`	set both to 100
Fix stuttering / "cogging" on start	`timing`, `freq_min`/`freq_max`, `duty_spup`	increase, in small steps
Run a very high-K_v motor (>15,000K_v)	`timing`, `freq_min`/`freq_max`	increase
Get more control at low / part throttle	`duty_min`	decrease
Improve braking feel	`timing`	decrease slightly
Reduce heat in the motor or eCom	`freq_max`	increase
Fix a motor that runs backwards	`revdir` (or swap two wires)	flip

Full definitions and default values for every setting are on the Suggested Settings page — this page focuses on why and when you'd change them.

I want a quicker launch off the line

Two settings control how eagerly the motor takes off from a standing start:

duty_spup — how much power is allowed while the motor is still finding its rhythm, before it's fully up and running. The default gives it a moderate push. Raising it (try going up in steps of a few percent, up to about 20–25) gives the motor more punch off the line.
duty_rate — how fast power ramps up once you pull the trigger. Higher values reach full power sooner.

Be careful: too much of either can cause the motor to stall or overheat right at launch, because a motor that hasn't found its rhythm yet draws a lot of current. If the car stutters or hesitates off the line after you increase these, back off a step.

I want maximum top speed and power

Set duty_min and duty_max both to 100. This tells the Remora 1 to always deliver full power once the motor is running, rather than holding some back.

This is already the recommended setting for most drivers — see Suggested Settings for the full recommended list.

My motor stutters, cogs, or won't start smoothly

This is the most common issue, especially with high-K_v motors. Try these, one at a time, re-testing after each:

Raise timing in small steps (the default is 16, the max is 31). This is the single most effective fix — it helps the Remora 1 find and hold the motor's position.
Raise freq_min/freq_max — this smooths out the current delivered to the motor during startup.
Raise duty_spup slightly — gives the motor a touch more power to get moving.

Change these gradually and test after each one — see Increasing the Timing for a step-by-step approach.

If the motor keeps stuttering under power, stop immediately — a motor that isn't synchronizing will overheat fast, and so will the eCom.

I have a very high-K_v motor that won't sync

Motors above about 15,000–22,000K_v generate a very weak signal (back-EMF) that the Remora 1 uses to find the motor's position, which makes them harder to start. The fix is the same as above: raise timing first, then freq_min/freq_max and duty_spup if needed. Start gently — don't apply full power to a new high-K_v motor until you know it starts reliably.

I want more control at low throttle (e.g. through tight corners)

Lower duty_min. This is the amount of power delivered the instant you come off idle. A lower value gives you a gentler, more gradual increase in speed as you first squeeze the trigger, so you have finer control through technical sections — at the cost of a slightly less punchy feel low down. A higher value (up to 100) gives a more immediate, linear response as you open the trigger.

I want better braking

Braking on the Remora 1 mostly comes from the motor itself acting as a generator once you let off the throttle — this is the same for every setting. The one dial you have is:

Lower timing slightly. This trades away a small amount of top speed and torque for a bit more braking effect. It's a subtle effect — try it and see if you notice a difference on your track.

For a deeper look at how braking works (including drag brake and power-off braking), see the Braking page.

The motor or eCom is running hot

Raise freq_max (up to 96). Slot car motors have very low inductance, which means the power delivered to them isn't perfectly smooth — it has current spikes that generate heat. A higher switching frequency smooths this out, reducing heat in both the motor and the eCom, usually with no downside.

The motor runs backwards

Easiest fix: swap two of the three motor phase wires at the board.

If you'd rather not re-solder, flip revdir instead — see Changing the Motor Direction.

How do I actually change a setting?

Connect the WiFi Link to your Remora 1 and power it up.
Disconnect the motor, or remove the wheels/gear, if you can — this protects your WiFi Link while you save changes.
On your phone, tablet, or laptop, join the WiFi network ESCape32-WiFi-Link (no password) and open escape32.local in a browser.
On the first tab, find the setting you want to change and enter the new value.
Scroll down, move the slider right then left, then press Save.
Test on the track (or bench), and repeat with the next small adjustment.