GL Racing GLR-GT

This is an 1:28 scale onroad pancar chassis from GL Racing which comes as a build-from-scratch kit.

Let's go over the basic specs first. The GLR-GT was released in February of 2021. The wheelbase is 98mm with a wide Mini-Z front track width and normal rear width. It can do 102mm with an optional part. It's got dampered double wishbone suspensions front, and a pivot balled rear mid-mount motor pod suspended by an unconventional tri-damper setup. More on that later. In stock form, it's made of good quality plastic, some carbon fiber, and some aluminum parts. Unlike Mini-Z, GLR-GT is an open platform so you can plug in your micro-scale electronics and 2s lipo.

My GLR-GT has had a few mods and upgrades, such as this GL brass chassis plate replacing the stock carbon fiber. On the front, it's running -1mm offset 11mm wide on PN KS Medium, and in the back 14mm extra wide on PN KSM Super Soft.

The front end is using GLA's wider adjustable shocks with hard long springs and medium shock grease. Front knuckles are -1 degree camber, though with this suspension geometry, 0 degree might work even better. Given the same tire setup, the GLR-GT generates more front traction than any of my other cars. The frontend geometry works!

I upgraded the stock GL servo with AGFRC A06CLS. It's stronger and recenters more reliably. The orange thing on the top is an Easylap transponder. The ESC is the stock GL Hobbywing-based unsensored 18A. It's not the most powerful but it's good enough and predictable. In the back is a Surpass Rocket 3500KV on a 10T pinion, paired with the stock 53T ball diff.

Okay, we have to talk about the GLR-GT odd tri-damper setup. GL modified the design significantly from the earlier GLR. This is definitely the most controversial aspect of the GLR-GT. I upgraded to the adjustable central shock, plus the GLA adjustable side shocks with soft springs. Unlike the traditional T-shaped tri-dampers found on the GLR, GLR-GT uses a pivoting system which compresses the side shocks when the motor pod twists from one side to the other. I think the idea was to centralize the mass to the central spine of the chassis to increase rotation. But in practice this design compromises on performance in some serious ways.

First of all, the pivoting system, borrowed from another GL chassis the GLF, is more complex than a standard T-shaped tri-damper. I needed to shim the pivot carefully to achieve a smooth action between a ball stud sliding against the plastic pivot. Secondly, the forces on the side dampers are more leveraged, so there's much less in-and-out shock movement for shock grease to produce more dampening effects. The reduced dampenability compared to the GLR means the GT is less stable at high speed cornering situations. I use a lot of heavy grease in these side shocks to compensate.

Many consider GLR-GT as inferior to the GLR because of the rear suspension geometry. It's not able to generate as much traction. It's twitchier to drive and more difficult to tune. It's a curious design choice by GL Racing as GLR-GT is better than GLR in some ways, but worse in others.

In the last several months, I've made a few videos of the GLR-GT running on RCP tracks, but nothing recent with the current setup. I tested it out quickly on office carpet here. The car was running at 10/53T "superstock" spec gear ratio and spec 3500KV motor. GLR-GT was quite comfortable at that power level. It's responsive. Steering was similarly responsive and precise given the upgraded A06CLS servo and GLR-GT frontend. This carpet was somewhat bumpy but the chassis managed it well. There's no problem going full throttle for straight line acceleration.

In the past, when I ran a higher KV motor and gear ratio, the car was quite a handful to drive. I definitely noticed the nervousness coming out of the rear end. For example, it was difficult to keep it straight at high speed, and power out of corners reliably. The side shocks needed frequent servicing to maintain a sufficient amount of dampening.

Overall, GLR-GT is fast, but is it good enough vs its competition today? Unfortunately, I can't recommend it with confidence even over the older GLR, let alone the latest Atomic MRZ Pro, Reflex Racing RX28, RTRC RTA, etc. I've driven both the GLR-GT and GLR. I wish GL made a chassis with GLR-GT's front end but with the GLR's rear end. That'd be the best of both worlds. If I had to pick one, for my skill level, GLR would be my choice. It's simply more forgiving to drive on a track. I do look forward to testing the RX505 conversion on the GT. It should make the GT much more forgiving to drive, but it really shouldn't need a fix from a third party.

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