eXcelerate RC Prodigy Formula 1
#841
Tech Adept
iTrader: (13)
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 114
From: North MS
Steering block offset, or trail, 1.5 or 3, is the number of millimeters the front wheels trail behind dead center of the kingpin. Less front axle trail frees up the car and reduces front traction, improving cornering speed. Less trail is particularly useful high traction black carpet.
#842
Tech Master
iTrader: (1)
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,462
From: Farmington Hills, Michigan
For the F1 car - We have -1.5 and -3 - These have 5mm axle for F1 tires.
Less trail will generally make the car more responsive off center - more direct/twitchy feel generally. Going further back like a -3 or -4 will smooth the car out off center but will generate more mid/exit steering. Our eXcelerate Prodigy line of cars have seemed to be quickest in most situations with -3 or -4 steering blocks in all classes with the exception of -1.5's in F1 for outdoor asphalt or some driving styles that like a little more response from the front end to find their corner entry. We also use them at times in WGT-R just due to the heavier/higher bodies and roll those cars. -1.5's vs -3 will keep the car more flat mid corner. Hopefully this helps.
#843
Tech Adept
iTrader: (2)
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 190
From: Florida
For the 1/12 car - We have 0, -1.5, -3 and -4. These have 3/16" axle for typical 1/12, Pro10 and WGT Tires.
For the F1 car - We have -1.5 and -3 - These have 5mm axle for F1 tires.
Less trail will generally make the car more responsive off center - more direct/twitchy feel generally. Going further back like a -3 or -4 will smooth the car out off center but will generate more mid/exit steering. Our eXcelerate Prodigy line of cars have seemed to be quickest in most situations with -3 or -4 steering blocks in all classes with the exception of -1.5's in F1 for outdoor asphalt or some driving styles that like a little more response from the front end to find their corner entry. We also use them at times in WGT-R just due to the heavier/higher bodies and roll those cars. -1.5's vs -3 will keep the car more flat mid corner. Hopefully this helps.
For the F1 car - We have -1.5 and -3 - These have 5mm axle for F1 tires.
Less trail will generally make the car more responsive off center - more direct/twitchy feel generally. Going further back like a -3 or -4 will smooth the car out off center but will generate more mid/exit steering. Our eXcelerate Prodigy line of cars have seemed to be quickest in most situations with -3 or -4 steering blocks in all classes with the exception of -1.5's in F1 for outdoor asphalt or some driving styles that like a little more response from the front end to find their corner entry. We also use them at times in WGT-R just due to the heavier/higher bodies and roll those cars. -1.5's vs -3 will keep the car more flat mid corner. Hopefully this helps.
#844
#845
Tech Adept
iTrader: (2)
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 190
From: Florida
Had a really great weekend with the F1 at 45th annual FSEARA race this weekend in Florida. I've had a few practice weekends with the car but this was the first real action against competition, very good F1 class here in FL. Was able to take overall P1 after a good battle in 10 min main.
Some observations:
Still a lot to learn on this car, but big first step forward.

Some observations:
- MC Hamilton is an awesome dude and knows this car. I was able to shoot him a few messages here and he gave me few pointers. Thanks so much!
- You need to spend time on the track running batteries through this thing. There are so many adjustments and you really need to experience the different combos. My final setup sheet is below but really I experimented so much that I this isn't necessarily where I would start for then next race. Put in the time, you will get the output. One of the few cars I've driven that was so responsive to small changes. I could MMs of difference.
- This car carries a ton of corner speed. It was easily .3/s faster than my F104 and 26 Xray before I even tuned a setup. It's what kept me going through the trials. I knew this would be faster overall once I figured things out.
- Tires were a struggle. We mostly use team powers or exotek tires here. Top guys all run exo's but they can be a bitch to glue and find the right balance. I def struggled with finding balance. The usual go to is Y rear and Red front, but I could not get the yellows to be stable at all. I ran my fastest laps this way and is what I would usually run, but the car would not have it. I would 360 spin if i let off the throttle too much on the apex of the sweep and sometimes getting too hard on throttle coming out of hairpin. I tried a number of things, but couldn't get it safe enough to trust in a race. Track temps were all over from 90-115F. 14 heats and F1 was the last so the track was greasy and grippy depending on where the shade and cloud cover was. The whole field struggled to find the right tire. I saw R/R, R/RR, Y/Y, Y/R. I went Y/RR for the main. It worked to my advantage as I could drive harder for the first 5 mins until those R came in on the other cars. I paid for it by pushing hard on exit in last 5 mins, but my entry was better and 2nd could never get the edge on me with entry and couldn't make the outside pass stick.
- Car is very sensitive to ride height changes, especially front.
- Went too thick on side dampener grease. I need to find a better/faster way to change that. I ran 3 cars and taking things apart to clean out the dampeners was too long. maybe i need to just get a few sets to run
- i started red springs in front, settled on green. i want to try reds again.
- only tried black v2 bumps. didnt have clear, oranges i think would numb the steering too much but didn't try. i'm still learning the adjustments here between the bump screw and the front plate screw. I don't have a good handle on flex plate adjustments yet. I got it stable and left it alone. There's tuning here to be had I think but it got to be too much all at once.
Still a lot to learn on this car, but big first step forward.

#848
#850
Running rake in the pivot, like .5 front,, 1.0 rear for example might help the exit steering situation as well.
#851
Get some excelerate asphalt tires and get a big smile on your face.
Last edited by TimPotter; 11-24-2025 at 09:58 AM.
#852
Tech Adept
iTrader: (2)
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 190
From: Florida

re: caster. seems counter intuitive to my feedback but because i couldn't get the right feel on exit, i decided to place a bet that with the track getting greasier and 10 mins of overheated tires that i was best served to double down on entry. that turned out to be the right bet cause 2nd couldnt get in better than me. i usually run 9 (or sometimes 12 on the tamiya) caster on my f1, but prodigy kingpins only go to 6. i could probably figure out how to use shims to do a caster split on the plate, but didn't have time to do that experiment. I think ultimately this is my exit issue - im used to the feel of much higher caster. if we ran a 4 or 5 min main i would have stayed at 6. we do 4 min qual and 10 min main so its always a bit of a gamble on gearing and tire temp to get a consistent run.
I hadn't thought about introducing rake in the pivot. that's a really excellent thing to try.
#853
When changing dampner grease, I split the car by removing both flex pivot screws, remove the dampner rods, spray motor spray in the in the front dampner holes, put a towel over the back so you dont get the exhaust all over. Then take a qtip with some cotton removed and run it down the barrel. Do it a couple times and the qtip comes out clean.
Get some excelerate asphalt tires and get a big smile on your face.
Get some excelerate asphalt tires and get a big smile on your face.
#854
Tech Adept
iTrader: (13)
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 114
From: North MS
Just got my gear diff in. Haven't looked real close at it, but are there some assembly instructions somewhere or is it pretty straight forward? Also, how much oil should be put in? I recall Josh talking about oil weights in one of the threads, or maybe Facebook, so I'll look around some more for that.
#855
Tech Adept
iTrader: (13)
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 114
From: North MS
Just got my gear diff in. Haven't looked real close at it, but are there some assembly instructions somewhere or is it pretty straight forward? Also, how much oil should be put in? I recall Josh talking about oil weights in one of the threads, or maybe Facebook, so I'll look around some more for that.



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