Fifth-Gen Camaro Takes on Nissan 240SX in Battle of LS-Powered Rides: Track Time Tuesday
In spite of its power disadvantage, this fifth-gen Camaro puts up a heck of a fight against a built 240SX.
The old saying “LS swap all the things” was perhaps once a silly notion, but it’s also one that’s become increasingly common in the automotive enthusiast world as GM’s venerable engine platform continues to gain favor. We’ve quite literally seen just about any kind of vehicle imaginable receive an LS swap of some sort, and we aren’t just talking about the kinds that drive on public roads, either. In the latest episode of Hoonigan’s This vs. That series, we aren’t treated to some unusual LS-powered vehicles, however, but rather, a pretty simple combination of a fifth-gen Camaro and an LS-swapped Nissan 240SX.
On one side, we have an early fifth-gen Camaro with an LS7 under-hood, a car that was built for Formula Drift – not drag racing. However, it still has plenty to offer in terms of straight-line performance thanks to its built powerplant, which generates around 600 horsepower with natural aspiration. Sending that power to the rear wheels via a GSR G-Force four-speed manual transmission and a Winters differential, it only has just over 2,600 pounds to move around, too.
On the other side of the road lies another intriguing LS-powered machine – a 1990 Nissan 240SX, which is now powered by GM’s LQ9 V8 that displaces 6.7 liters and makes an impressive 720 horsepower at the wheels. Armed with a 75mm Garrett turbocharger and feeding power to the road via a 4-speed manual gearbox, the small sports car tips the scales at a hair over 3,000 pounds, which means that this is an interesting exercise in power versus weight.
When the rubber hits the road, the results are indeed interesting, as it turns out. In the first race, both start out fairly evenly, but the 240SX driver soon finds himself fighting for traction as the car simply wants to go sideways. Regardless, it still manages to take home the win by a small margin. Things are a bit closer in round two, to the point where it’s difficult to figure out who won. However, the Nissan was ultimately declared the winner of this particular matchup, which is one of the closest we’ve seen yet.
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