diff --git a/assets/rotary_cartpole/robot.yaml b/assets/rotary_cartpole/robot.yaml
index 25b35d7..d18686a 100644
--- a/assets/rotary_cartpole/robot.yaml
+++ b/assets/rotary_cartpole/robot.yaml
@@ -6,11 +6,14 @@ urdf: rotary_cartpole.urdf
 actuators:
   - joint: motor_joint
     type: motor            # direct torque control
-    gear: 0.1           # torque multiplier (was 0.5 — too weak, caused bang-bang)
+    gear: 0.064            # stall torque @ 58.8% PWM: 0.108 × 150/255 = 0.064 N·m
     ctrl_range: [-1.0, 1.0]
-    damping: 0.02          # motor friction / back-EMF (was 0.1 — ate torque budget)
-    filter_tau: 0.18       # 1st-order filter ~180ms (models motor inertia)
+    damping: 0.003         # viscous back-EMF only (small)
+    filter_tau: 0.03       # mechanical time constant ~30ms (37mm gearmotor)
 
 joints:
+  motor_joint:
+    armature: 0.0001       # reflected rotor inertia: ~1e-7 × 30² = 9e-5 kg·m²
+    frictionloss: 0.03   # disabled — may slow MJX (constraint-based solver)
   pendulum_joint:
     damping: 0.0001        # bearing friction
diff --git a/src/core/robot.py b/src/core/robot.py
index 1e96cb9..e8ef93a 100644
--- a/src/core/robot.py
+++ b/src/core/robot.py
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ class ActuatorConfig:
 class JointConfig:
     """Per-joint overrides applied on top of the URDF values."""
     damping: float | None = None
+    armature: float | None = None      # reflected rotor inertia (kg·m²)
+    frictionloss: float | None = None  # Coulomb/dry friction torque (N·m)
 
 
 @dataclasses.dataclass
diff --git a/src/runners/mjx.py b/src/runners/mjx.py
index 11b3ca9..bf2dcce 100644
--- a/src/runners/mjx.py
+++ b/src/runners/mjx.py
@@ -132,14 +132,17 @@ class MJXRunner(BaseRunner[MJXRunnerConfig]):
         # ── Batched step (N substeps per call) ──────────────────────
         @jax.jit
         def step_fn(data):
+            # Software limit switch: clamp ctrl once before substeps.
+            # Armature + default joint limits prevent significant overshoot
+            # within the substep window, so per-substep clamping isn't needed.
+            pos = data.qpos[:, act_jnt_ids]
+            ctrl = data.ctrl
+            at_hi = act_limited & (pos >= act_hi) & (act_gs * ctrl > 0)
+            at_lo = act_limited & (pos <= act_lo) & (act_gs * ctrl < 0)
+            clamped = jnp.where(at_hi | at_lo, 0.0, ctrl)
+            data = data.replace(ctrl=clamped)
+
             def body(_, d):
-                # Software limit switch: zero ctrl pushing past joint limits
-                pos = d.qpos[:, act_jnt_ids]              # (num_envs, nu)
-                ctrl = d.ctrl
-                at_hi = act_limited & (pos >= act_hi) & (act_gs * ctrl > 0)
-                at_lo = act_limited & (pos <= act_lo) & (act_gs * ctrl < 0)
-                clamped = jnp.where(at_hi | at_lo, 0.0, ctrl)
-                d = d.replace(ctrl=clamped)
                 return jax.vmap(mjx.step, in_axes=(None, 0))(model, d)
 
             return jax.lax.fori_loop(0, substeps, body, data)
diff --git a/src/runners/mujoco.py b/src/runners/mujoco.py
index a555c3b..bc395c0 100644
--- a/src/runners/mujoco.py
+++ b/src/runners/mujoco.py
@@ -146,15 +146,25 @@ class MuJoCoRunner(BaseRunner[MuJoCoRunnerConfig]):
             # ── Apply joint overrides from robot.yaml ───────────────
             # Merge actuator damping + explicit joint overrides
             joint_damping = {a.joint: a.damping for a in robot.actuators}
+            joint_armature: dict[str, float] = {}
+            joint_frictionloss: dict[str, float] = {}
             for name, jcfg in robot.joints.items():
                 if jcfg.damping is not None:
                     joint_damping[name] = jcfg.damping
+                if jcfg.armature is not None:
+                    joint_armature[name] = jcfg.armature
+                if jcfg.frictionloss is not None:
+                    joint_frictionloss[name] = jcfg.frictionloss
 
             for body in root.iter("body"):
                 for jnt in body.findall("joint"):
                     name = jnt.get("name")
                     if name in joint_damping:
                         jnt.set("damping", str(joint_damping[name]))
+                    if name in joint_armature:
+                        jnt.set("armature", str(joint_armature[name]))
+                    if name in joint_frictionloss:
+                        jnt.set("frictionloss", str(joint_frictionloss[name]))
 
             # Disable self-collision on all geoms.
             # URDF mesh convex hulls often overlap at joints (especially
@@ -164,14 +174,10 @@ class MuJoCoRunner(BaseRunner[MuJoCoRunnerConfig]):
                 geom.set("contype", "0")
                 geom.set("conaffinity", "0")
 
-            # Harden joint limits: MuJoCo's default soft limits are too
-            # weak and allow overshoot.  Negative solref = hard constraint
-            # (direct stiffness/damping instead of impedance match).
-            for body in root.iter("body"):
-                for jnt in body.findall("joint"):
-                    if jnt.get("limited") == "true" or jnt.get("range"):
-                        jnt.set("solreflimit", "-100000 -10000")
-                        jnt.set("solimplimit", "0.99 0.999 0.001")
+            # Joint limits use MuJoCo's default solver settings.
+            # The software limit switch (zeroing ctrl at limits) + armature
+            # prevent overshoot without needing ultra-stiff solref that
+            # kills MJX GPU solver performance.
 
             # Step 4: Write modified MJCF and reload from file path
             # (from_xml_path resolves mesh paths relative to the file location)