Additional note: This setup benefits from glued sidewalls and will still deliver good steering while on the forgiving side
ETS spec prep and test report
Tech report part 2: This time I rebuilt the car in ETS spec apart from the speedo – for which I chose the Team Cayote Crest Evo this time.
The new V2.0 software on it has two great new features which I wanted to fully understand. A separate deep-dive video on 'Auto Boost' and 'Brake compensation' and why they are fabulous, so I can explain the difference in driving feeling in more detail to you.
TL/DR – huge step forward in balance and performance with short wishbones, -1 camberplates in front and a special little flex trick in the rear. 😉
Therefore this write-up focusses on some option parts, setup and setting up and XRAY X4 '26 for ETS spec carpet racing. I went to the lovely non-permanent indoor track of Mac Mettenheim with a great layout and ETS carpet that has juuust the right amount of grip and consistency.
A note on droop:
I played with droop a lot since I got the new Droop and Up-Stop Gauge HUDY #107730.
For those who still use a regular gauge, I put the standard values down too.
Due to the way I run my rollcenter (0.5 under hub in the front, 1.0 in the rear) the front and rear values translate as follows: f 23.8 = 6.6 ; r 22.6 = 4.8
With this you should be able to make more sense of new values in setup sheets I hope?
Even just a .2 difference between runs makes a difference and it's a great fine-tuning option.
Short Wishbones:
Honestly, when I heard that we are going to have shorter wishbones as an option on the new car I was very very excited. If you are watching the 25 years of touring car series with Chris Grainger on RC Racing TV you'll notice that geometry is indeed important. And while I know that longer wishbones make for a bigger and more forgiving setup window and therefore overall behaviour, short wishbones just provide me with that little bit more bite my driving style benefits of. They improved everything for me and will stay on my car for sure. Big yes.
-1mm camberlink plates (kind of):
Another blast from the past, as geometry wise any car after the 415 used shorter rear camberlinks to generate rotation while maintaining good forward drive. Somehow this was lost to time. But since there are -1mm camberlink plates available now for the X4 '26 I decided to test that idea.
Using the -1 plates in the front only was probably the biggest positive step-change after the short wishbones today. Improved rotation with great balance through the turn, but not too stuck. So, no need to force the car as it would just turn exactly when you think it will. I absolutely recommend!
Because flex matters:
The perfect amount of gearbox flex. Another part I love is the new wave brace that comes in the kit. Not only does it provide a more precise front end flex tuning ability, but you can … creatively incorporate it elsewhere. Last year I have already started to test a little bit more rear gearbox flex to improve initial traction and forward drive. The wave brace is exactly what I needed to achieve a happy medium setting.
I cut the rear and third rib in the topdeck and then use the wave brace instead of the shims underneath the toe-link ballstuds. Here's why this is good: The wave brace will dissipate the load from the toe-links but also allows for relative flex of the gearbox bulkheads. By moving the waves down and as close to the ball as possible, you reduce momentum in your structure as the force lever is shortened. And that's the goal.
That's the reason I use the brace near the shock towers in the front too.
Easy to test yourself! See close-ups for details. Let me know what you think!
Rollcenter:
I also did test the lower rollcenter height and camberlink height while at it and ended up with the following: 1.5mm / 2mm lower rollcenter felt most connected without costing too much cornerspeed. 2.5mm on top of the hubs gave me that bit more load in the tires to get the squealing just right and provided good steering with the glued sidewall. If the car would be stuck too much, I'd go back down to 2.0mm on the hub to free it up a bit.
Overall the shimming as noted in the sheet seems to be a sweet spot.
Same is true for the hub height as 0.5 / 1.0 equates to what I used in the '25 car too.
Remember bumpsteer and toe-gain values also correlate to the rollcenter geometry.
 
Sidewall glue:
That one surprised me!
I didn't quite believe it at first and was initially a bit hesitant of glueing up the sidewalls as much as the other drivers, but found out later, that with the current batch of tires, a little glue does a the handling good! In the video I was still in the let's not overdo it phase, but since I didn't get to film the later runs that's the clip
Cayote speedo setting – brake compensation:
I had a special focus on brake settings today since the track had a few good braking zones. I used the Crest Evo speedo with the V2.0 software on it.
The new feature / option 'brake compensation' is great because it improves initial high-speed brake response without locking up the wheels once you actually turn in. So, you can brake later and harder without washing wide at the apex. Like in a real race car you reduce the brake force to free up a load window for turning in. Now the Crest Evo speedo does that for you. Standard setting is 5 (1-20), but I went up to 15 and with 15% min. and 90% max brake I managed to have a pretty much perfect brake and overall feeling.
Very happy indeed.
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