Tutorial: Car

This tutorial explains how to import a voxel car with the dedicated Car importer and tune the generated EntityCarV2 and EntityCarV2Wheel settings until the car feels right in game.

Unlike the helicopter tutorial, a normal car does not need Vehicle Proxy, JsComponentProxy, or custom TypeScript just to drive. Use Convert Type -> Car. The importer creates the body, seats, door handle, center of mass, raycast wheels, and default car handling setup for you.

Step 1: Prepare the car .vox

Build the car as separate voxel objects in MagicaVoxel. The importer uses names and object sizes to decide which parts become the chassis and which parts become wheels.

Recommended naming:

• Use body, chassis, or main for the main car body.
• Put wheel in every wheel model name, such as wheel_fl, wheel_fr, wheel_rl, and wheel_rr.
• Optionally put steering in the steering wheel model name if you want the importer to assign the steering wheel visual.
• Keep each wheel as its own voxel object so the importer can create one EntityCarV2Wheel per wheel.

The largest non-wheel object is used as the body if no object name looks like a body. Wheel objects are detected only by the word wheel, so a wheel named tire_fl will import as a normal body part unless you rename it.

Step 2: Import with the car importer

Open Vox Assets Processor and import the .vox file:

1. Drag the car .vox file into the processor.
2. Set Convert Type to Car.
3. Click Convert.
4. Select the generated prefab or scene object.

The car importer creates the playable setup on the detected body object. It adds EntityCarV2, Rigidbody Proxy, a Seat, a DoorHandle, a CoM, and one EntityCarV2Wheel object for each detected wheel.

Step 3: Check the generated hierarchy

After import, confirm these basics before tuning:

• The main body object has EntityCarV2 and Rigidbody Proxy.
• EntityCarV2.Driver Seat points to the generated Seat.
• EntityCarV2.Center Of Mass points to CoM.
• EntityCarV2.Door Handle or Door Handles points to the generated door handle.
• EntityCarV2.Raycast Wheels contains all wheel objects.
• Each wheel object has EntityCarV2Wheel.
• Front wheels are usually Steerable.
• Driven wheels match the drivetrain you want: rear-wheel drive, front-wheel drive, or all-wheel drive.

If the car does not drive, first check that every visual wheel name contains wheel, the Raycast Wheels list is not empty, and the wheel hardpoints are above the wheel centers.

Step 4: Tune the car in play mode

Start with the generated defaults and make small changes. Car handling settings interact with each other, so change one or two related values, test a short drive, then continue.

Useful test loop:

1. Drive straight from a stop and check acceleration, braking, and top speed.
2. Turn at low speed and check whether the car feels too sluggish or too twitchy.
3. Turn at high speed and check whether it understeers, spins, or rolls over.
4. Brake while turning and check whether the car rotates into the corner or pushes straight.
5. Hit a curb or uneven ground and check whether the suspension bottoms out, bounces, or feels too stiff.
6. Damage or remove wheels if your mod needs destructible vehicles.

Tuning guide

Most cars only need a small set of fields changed after import. Tune the car body first, then adjust individual wheels only if the body-level settings cannot get the handling you want.

EntityCarV2: common body settings

Parameter	Lower value	Higher value
centerOfMass position	Move CoM lower for a planted car that rolls less and flips less.	Move CoM higher for more body roll, pitch, and stunt-like instability.
driveAcceleration	Softer launch and weaker hill climbing.	Faster launch, stronger throttle, and more wheelspin. This can make power drifting stronger.
brakeAcceleration	Longer stopping distance and weaker brake rotation.	Harder braking. In corners this can help the car rotate, but too much can make it skid.
maxForwardSpeed	Lower top speed.	Higher top speed if the car has enough power and grip.
defaultTireFriction	Less grip, earlier sliding, stronger drifting.	More grip, weaker drifting, better braking and cornering.
defaultPostPeakLateralGrip	Sharper breakaway after the car starts sliding; easier aggressive drift.	Smoother slides and easier recovery; drift feels weaker but more controllable.
driveBalance	More rear-wheel-drive behavior. Low values make throttle rotation and power drift stronger.	More front-wheel-drive behavior. High values pull the car forward and reduce throttle oversteer.
brakeBalance	More rear brake bias, easier brake-induced rotation, more spin risk.	More front brake bias, stronger stopping stability, but can push wide if too high.
handlingBias	More stable and understeery.	More rotation and oversteer. Raise this for drift or agile cars.
highSpeedSteeringLimit	Safer high-speed turning with a wider turn radius.	Tighter high-speed turning, but more snap spin and rollover risk.
yawAngularDamping	Freer yaw, easier spins, stronger drift angle.	More yaw stability, weaker drift, easier recovery.
antiRollAcceleration	More body roll and softer cornering feel.	Flatter, sharper cornering. Too high can feel stiff.

EntityCarV2: common suspension settings

These defaults affect wheels with useCarDefaults enabled.

Parameter	Lower value	Higher value
defaultSpringAcceleration	Softer suspension, more roll and brake dive, easier bottoming out.	Holds ride height harder, sharper response, can bounce if too high.
defaultDamperAcceleration	Floatier ride and more bouncing after bumps.	Settles faster, but too high can feel heavy or sticky.
defaultMaxSuspensionAcceleration	Softer impact limit, but the chassis may hit the ground.	Stronger bump recovery, but hard impacts can kick the car upward.

EntityCarV2Wheel: common wheel settings

Use wheel settings for layout, drivetrain, and special per-wheel tuning.

Parameter	Lower / off	Higher / on
isSteerable	Off for fixed wheels, usually rear wheels.	On for wheels that turn, usually front wheels.
isDriven	Off means the wheel free-rolls.	On means the wheel receives throttle and reverse force. Use rear driven wheels for stronger power drift, front driven wheels for pull, or all driven wheels for traction.
radius	Smaller wheel collision radius; the car rides lower and may scrape.	Larger wheel collision radius; the car rides higher and may look like it floats if too high.
restLength	Lower ride height and less suspension travel.	Higher ride height and more travel for rough ground.
useCarDefaults	Off lets this wheel override suspension and tire values.	On uses the car body's default values. Keep this on unless a specific wheel needs special handling.
tireFriction	With useCarDefaults off, this wheel slides earlier. Lower rear grip makes drift stronger; lower front grip makes understeer stronger.	With useCarDefaults off, this wheel grips harder. Higher rear grip makes drift weaker; higher front grip improves turn-in.

Common tuning recipes

Use these as starting points, then test in game.

Goal	Changes to try
Stronger drift car	Lower defaultTireFriction, lower defaultPostPeakLateralGrip, raise handlingBias, lower yawAngularDamping, use rear-wheel drive with low driveBalance.
Weaker drift / easier road car	Raise defaultTireFriction, raise defaultPostPeakLateralGrip, lower handlingBias, raise yawAngularDamping, keep driveBalance near 0.5.
More stable at high speed	Lower highSpeedSteeringLimit, lower handlingBias, raise yawAngularDamping, raise pitchRollAngularDamping.
Faster arcade car	Raise driveAcceleration and maxForwardSpeed, keep enableABS on, use distributeForcesAcrossWheels on.
Softer off-road car	Raise restLength, lower spring slightly, raise damper slightly, keep enough defaultMaxSuspensionAcceleration to prevent bottoming out.
Lower race car	Lower centerOfMass, lower restLength, raise antiRollAcceleration, raise pitchRollAngularDamping.

Step 5: Add the prefab to the manifest and test

After the car feels correct, add the generated prefab to manifest.asset and export the mod.

Testing checklist:

• The player can enter through the configured door handle.
• The driver sits in the correct seat.
• All wheels are present in Raycast Wheels.
• Front wheels steer in the expected direction.
• Driven wheels match the intended drivetrain.
• The car accelerates, brakes, and reverses correctly.
• The car can survive normal bumps without bouncing uncontrollably.
• Damage behavior matches your mod design.