Gridlife’s GLTC Is A Fitting Home For This K24 Powered EG Race Car
Eric Kutil’s Gridlife GLTC car shows that you can teach an old dog new tricks, and race in North America’s most entertaining new series.
Here at Honda-Tech, we love seeing our favorite brand of car out on the race course. Nothing keeps you more honest than a lap time. While it might seem intimidating at first, most participants find out that track days are actually quite fun. As well, they don’t hurt your car nearly as much as you’d think. Beyond that is actual racing, and we’ve taken notice of #GRIDLIFE’s GLTC program. It’s actually quite a simple concept; prepare any car you’d like, so long as it can conform to a set power-to-weight ratio. That’s where we get Eric Kutil‘s EG hatch.
Larry Chen, host of Hoonigan Autofocus has interest in the concept, so he stopped by Gridlife’s Midwest Fest. Here, he found Kutil’s car as a standout in the diverse field. “That’s honestly one of my favorite parts about watching this race. Because you have a Chevy Camaro, and a BMW 3-series, and then a Civic. It’s just so many different cars from all makes and models,” Chen states. Kutil agrees, adding, “We have all of these great drivers and great organizations that are coming together because we’re not elitist. We’re not like ‘Oh I only do SCCA,’ or ‘Oh, I only do NASA.’ It’s just a mixture of everybody and everyone loves to have a good race.” Kutil is humble, although his car has evolved to get the best out of the rules.
Originally an SCCA car, Kutil’s EG was powered by a B18. But swaps are allowed in GLTC, so naturally it is now K24 powered. But, because power and weight are paired, this K24 is nearly stock, and even runs a restrictor. Kutil is even proud that this block was only 800 dollars, as it perfectly fits the ethos of the GLTC format. In other words, you can’t really out-spend the competition, because it’ll get you nowhere.
Inside, things are kept simple, just like under the hood. A Haltech dash keeps the ivtals simply displayed and all electronics have been tucked away under the dash. Not just for simplicity, but also to keep the ECU dry during wet races. Otherwise, there’s no lightweight carbon this, or kevlar that, because the rules of GLTC dictate the car’s weight. “Weight is not a concern with this car, and since I have to add weight, I might as well just put a big battery in there…” Kutil adds.
After exponential growth even during the 2020 season, GLTC is at the point of being the biggest non-spec class in motorsport of any kind. Field’s of 70 cars or more push the limits of what the tracks can actually run safely, especially at the 2.14 miles of Gingerman Raceway.
Join the Honda-Tech forums now!
