Absolutely sick amounts of power for the street and track
There are some misguided folks out there who think that big displacement and technology are somehow mutually exclusive. And then there's Tom Nelson of Nelson Racing Engines. His Project F Bomb engine (a twin-turbo 408 cubic inch small-block Chevy that threw down an evil 1480 HP and 1440 lb-ft) recently graced the cover of Hot Rod magazine, and he has plenty of other fine examples showing his ability to build huge power via forced induction.
The video above shows what happens when 522 cubes of big-block Chevy are subjected to 10 PSI or so of boost and stuffed into a classic Pontiac LeMans. We're going to warn our readers that a bit of rowdy driving occurs past the half-way point, so if you're easy upset by hot-testing a rev limiter on public streets, it's probably best to skip to the next post. On the other hand, if you want to see what happens when 1000 HP is applied in 3rd gear at 20 MPH, by all means roll the clip and prepare to receive some goose bumps. Polite words fail to accurately describe such a diabolic creation. Note, too, just how mild mannered this thing is when driving at sane speeds.
Of course, the best feature about such a setup is its adjustability. It can be knocked down to a mere 1000 HP or so for taking trips to the grocery store on pump gas, and then cranked up towards 2000 HP on racing fuel - if, indeed, the rest of your car (and your guardian angel) can handle that sort of power.
[Source: Nelson Racing Engines; a hat tip to JV]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Colin 7:40PM (9/04/2006)
Wicked!
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Matt 12:22PM (8/24/2006)
Yeah, but what kind of mileage does it get?
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Drewboy 12:22PM (8/24/2006)
Wow. Just the noise coming from that car was enough to give me a shot of adrenaline. It would be fun to be a passenger in that car, are they accepting volunteer ride-along cameramen?
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DJA 12:25PM (8/24/2006)
That's a freak show. That much power is for those who have no mental safeties.
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The Git 12:38PM (8/24/2006)
1480 HP at only 10 lbs of boost.
Let this silence the ignorant fools who still claim a 4 cylinder Honda VTEC motor revving to 8K with several 10s of thousands spent to keep it together for short periods of time before it needs to be rebuilt and boosted to 30+ psi (and with accompanying aeons of turbo lag) is a replacement for displacement.
Now before anyone gets upset, don't get me wrong there are some impressive amounts of HP made by some of those small motors, but some folk seem to forget that V8s can also be force fed. And they'll still run on pump gas unlike a 2.5 liter 4 banger running nutty boost which needs race gas.
There is NO replacement for displacement.
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Dog's best friend 12:45PM (8/24/2006)
For me to ride in that car, I would have to be gagged and tied, that was downright scarey to watch.
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Jscro 12:51PM (8/24/2006)
All of the sudden, my turbo 4 cylinder seems most inadequate.
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'94 Impala SS 12:59PM (8/24/2006)
My god, some of you are nothing but WIMPS!!! Tied and gagged? WTF??? I would ask for the damn keys and let the goose bumps flow all over me driver this baby. This is better than sex here! Who gives a shit what kind of MPG it gets. The sound of the engine alone is worth every drop of ga$ that it burns. And you are right Gitty, this thing is a lot safer and practical than one of those rice burners with tacked on coffee cans and big stupid ass whale tails on them. I thin Autoblog needs to put a warning when posting stuff like this, "TO ALL WIMPS: DO NOT READ!!!"
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Matt 1:07PM (8/24/2006)
"This is better than sex here!"
What would the longterm viability of our society be if everyone felt like this!?
"Who gives a shit what kind of MPG it gets. The sound of the engine alone is worth every drop of ga$ that it burns."
I see that subtle humor was wasted here.
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Bob-o 1:07PM (8/24/2006)
Shiftlight on an slushbox? Teehee.
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FIDO 1:24PM (8/24/2006)
I'VE GOT WOOD!
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cheezedog420 1:29PM (8/24/2006)
Nice car... But besides drag racing, whats it good for?
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Lee Gibson 1:30PM (8/24/2006)
"This is better than sex here"
Then you're doing it wrong.
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Benji+2 1:37PM (8/24/2006)
"Nice car... But besides drag racing, whats it good for?"
For giving #11 wood, and as a sex substitute for #8. Hey, maybe #11 and #8 could... never mind.
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9000revs 1:38PM (8/24/2006)
That's cool. But, it probably handles like crap! Definitely great
fun in a drag race situation.
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PJ 1:40PM (8/24/2006)
I wouldn't debate the merits of safety and practicality in this vehicle...
But the *sound* of it! Big-block rumble and wastegate chatter in one vehicle... I got shivers.
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zaarin 2:00PM (8/24/2006)
Unfortunately, you can't use that kind of power anywhere but on the drag strip. Take it to any kind of road course and it's too dangerous, just as it is on the street. I'm not a drag racer, so that much power doesn't appeal to me.
That doesn't mean I'm not impressed, though. They're in my home town too, I know right where that is.
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Takeo 2:42PM (8/24/2006)
Haha ever stood next to an idling P-51? It sounds a lot like that car. I'm not into drag racing but even I feel fear when I hear that engine LOL.
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Nick 2:45PM (8/24/2006)
Seems like recently, I have been seeing a lot of the big V8's getting turbo'ed.
Certainly makes it tough to keep up with a puny 3.0 TT :D
That thing is mean! I love it. But as a daily driver, it's not very practice, gas milage alone would be a killer, I bet you can visually watch the gauge go down at WOT.
That's the nice thing about a 3.0 or 2.5, turn the boost down and you get good gas milage.
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John Treloff 2:47PM (8/24/2006)
Hey Eric, can I request that you make a good honest effort to include other vehicle makes outside of the GM realm when you post special interest/high performance articles like these? Autoblogs high-po coverage is very one-sided because you are clearly biased to GM vehicles.
We have been patient with you, watching you play around with your old chevies (hummer wheels on your truck, mods on your impala, etc) but some of us like Ford, Dodge, and imports, too! We get bored always seeing nothing but the latest LT-45 Z65 Offroad LS95 SS TH300 ZR-5 GN45 700R8 etc...etc...etc...!
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