Carisma GT24/GT24B/GT24TR: How to make it the best 1/24 RC truck! Better than Mini-Z Buggy?

GT24B: https://carisma-shop.com/collections/... Music: Ultra by Savfk (   • Ultra by Savfk [CC-BY royalty free music -...  ) Carisma GT24: How to make it the best 1/24 RC truck! Today there aren't many 1/24 scale offroad options out there. You can either get the polished and composed Kyosho Mini-Z Buggy or the lesser known Carisma GT24. Out of the box, GT24 is powerful but a bit raw. However with some modifications, this Carisma GT24 can perform better than the Mini-Z. It can jump and land like this. Right now you can buy GT24 in two formats: the GT24B "buggy" in a kit, or the narrower GT24 "rally" cars which are ready-to-run. I have the Subaru rally car which looks amazing, but the narrow track width means tendency to traction roll. Our first step is widening the chassis. Undo the four screws under the front bulkhead and the steering links to detach the frontend completely. GT24 uses the traditional shaft-driven AWD layout so if you've worked on AWD cars before things will look familiar here. We are using the GT24TR truggy arms here, which are even wider than the buggy configuration. I ordered GT24TR front suspension arms and matching dogbones. In addition to widening the stance, the second major upgrade is installing oil shocks. I'm using the awesome but discontinued Losi LOSB1762 shocks. These shocks are shorter so I also picked up Matsucars shock towers. Once I got these parts together, installation was easy. Suspension action is smooth and supple. I put in Losi 22.5wt oil in the shocks. Here's what the completed frontend looks like. Next we do the same thing on the backend. Construction-wise it's nearly identical to the front. I got GT24TR rear suspension arms and matching dogbones. Here's what the completed backend looks like. Next is changing the steering links to the longer GT24TR version. The tie bar itself is the same as the stock one so no need to change it. Out the front and backend back on the chassis. Everything has come together nicely. These big Carisma truggy wheels and tires look pretty cool, but later on I will go with standard buggy rims and pin tires. Last we put on the wing mount and velcro strips to secure the lexan truggy body. Tada the truggy transformation is done! It's a completely different beast. Drop test: The long suspension arms and effective Losi oil shocks do their job well. I can do this all day. GT24 comes with a 5-wire servo. I replaced it with the Wltoys K989 metal gear servo fitted with a custom horn and pin. This means no servo saver for now. The third important mod is powering the 8000KV brushless motor with a better ESC to get more low end modulation. I put in a Hobbywing-based GL Racing micro ESC paired with a 2S GL lipo battery. I'm amazed by how easy it is to drive fast with the upgraded car. Low end throttle control is excellent. Carisma's factory 8000KV motor is solid and delivers endless acceleration behind this power system. Even the amateur servo setup gives responsive and sharp steering. The car accelerates and decelerates straight. Without a servo saver though, I must be careful not to hit the front wheels too hard. As expected, this truggy with its wide stance isn't traction rolling any time soon. Finally, let's check out how well this car jumps and lands! These Losi shocks are amazing. It's too bad they are difficult to find now. That said, I expect Carisma's own oil shock upgrades to work just as well. I'm very happy with performance improvements from these mods. I'd go as far to say it's now better than my MB-010VE brushless mini-z buggy aside from steering. Total cost $259: GT24B kit ($100), ESC ($45), servo ($10), truggy conversion parts ($40), shocks ($22), Matsucars shock towers ($15), lipo ($12), radiolink receiver ($15).