How To Improve an Insane LS-Engined Track Car? Add a Huge Turbocharger?

Murilee Martin
by Murilee Martin

I was too busy examining considerably less powerful race cars last weekend at Michigan’s Gingerman Raceway to track down the owner of this fine machine and ask the many questions it inspired. Just one glance at the engine, however, tells us a terrifying/awe-inspiring power-to-weight story.

It appears to be a homebuilt, mid-engined creation with a straight-outta-the-junkyard GM LS V8 being force-fed nearly enough boost by a very large turbocharger. Yes! It was seriously quick around the track, of course, and it never once flew off into the woods while backwards and on fire.

Note the gratifying lack of prettification and Soviet-tractor-grade sturdy structure. How much do you suppose the parts for this monster cost? Probably much less than a Spec Miata… and there must be some states that would grant it license plates. One can only hope.


Murilee Martin
Murilee Martin

Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.

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  • Rrhyne56 Rrhyne56 on Apr 22, 2011

    Well suited for picking on posers in ricers.

  • Mechimike Mechimike on Apr 25, 2011

    No problem with allowing that on the roads here in SC...now of course registering it will be a whole extra matter...our DMV ranges from completely clueless to intentionally obstructionist.

  • Keith Most of the stanced VAGS with roof racks are nuisance drivers in my area. Very likely this one's been driven hard. And that silly roof rack is extra $'s, likely at full retail lol. Reminds me of the guys back in the late 20th century would put in their ads that the installed aftermarket stereo would be a negotiated extra. Were they going to go find and reinstall that old Delco if you didn't want the Kraco/Jenson set up they hacked in?
  • MaintenanceCosts Poorly packaged, oddly proportioned small CUV with an unrefined hybrid powertrain and a luxury-market price? Who wouldn't want it?
  • MaintenanceCosts Who knows whether it rides or handles acceptably or whether it chews up a set of tires in 5000 miles, but we definitely know it has a "mature stance."Sounds like JUST the kind of previous owner you'd want…
  • 28-Cars-Later Nissan will be very fortunate to not be in the Japanese equivalent of Chapter 11 reorganization over the next 36 months, "getting rolling" is a luxury (also, I see what you did there).
  • MaintenanceCosts RAM! RAM! RAM! ...... the child in the crosswalk that you can't see over the hood of this factory-lifted beast.
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