LS-Swapped Everything at Nitto Auto Enthusiast Day 2017
The LS V8 is still the king when it comes to engine swaps, Auto Enthusiast Day 2017 reaffirms it.
2017 marks the fourth year of the annual Auto Enthusiast Day by Nitto Tire. This past weekend a celebration of all things car culture went down at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California. However, what good is a car show if all of the cars are static? Fortunately, Nitto had the same thought, and brought out some ridiculous cars and trucks for a demonstration event.
An absolutely nuts Ultra4 King of Hammers off-road racer was there, and very ready to smoke tires and send it.
Nitto is involved in many levels of motorsport beyond Ultra4 racing, they also have a big presence in Formula Drift. So, it’s only natural that several of their sponsored Formula D drivers would come and rip it up at Auto Enthusiast Day. Some people think public enthusiasm for drifting has waned, but the packed crowd certainly seemed entertained.
Team Nitto actually brought a half-dozen cars, two per driver.
Vaughn Gittin Jr had his Formula Drift RTR Mustang, and nutty F-150 EcoBoost. Matt Powers had access to two 240SX. Alex Heilbrunn had two E46 BMW M3s. Naturally, LS-power was the common trend here, excluding Vaughn and his Ford-powered vehicles.
Interestingly, they were all very different. Let’s take for example Heilbrunn’s two BMWs. While both were clearly heavily modified for drifting, his actual Formula D car uses a blown LS to get him near the 900 horsepower mark. However, the all-black BMW he used in the days demos was an all-motor affair, more in line with a Pro-Am or maybe lower powered Pro 2 style build.
Matt Powers and his LS-swapped S14 240SX wowed the crowds.
With 360-degree entries and fearlessness when it came to getting close to the wall. What a crowd-pleaser. As awesome visually as the S14 is, it would have been great to see the black late-model S14 in action. We watched the team working on the engine in the morning, and those external wastegates shooting out of the hood sound insane.
Though, as cool as these things looked parked in the paddock, they really shine in motion. It was a fun weekend under the SoCal sun, and it was worth the sunburn to check out the action in person. If you want to hear the sound of our people and bow before the alter of the Small Block Chevy V8, then out check the video above.
