“1000” – The Pushrod V8 Horsepower War in Formula Drift
1,000 horsepower is a big number. One that can seemingly be impossible to reach without losing engine reliability. Yet, it’s a number that’s becoming standard in Formula Drift. “Drifting” is a motorsport where cars are judged on their ability to slide around a track in tandem, and Formula D is highest level of that sport. Let’s take a look at four cars who are close to or at the magical mille cavalli!
We’re now seeing 700 horsepower and larger regularly thanks to very lax rules on engine development in Formula Drift. Many look towards the start of LS1s swapped into Nissan’s 240SX chassis that brought this on. Many more look at the cheap sprint car engines with big cubes and even bigger power numbers. No matter the reason, if you have less than 750 horsepower in Formula Drift you’re going to be at a disadvantage.
Alec Hohnadell,a rookie in the Enjuku Racing 240SX will come into his first pro round with 761 Horsepower thanks to a turbocharger.
Pat Goodin will be the pro teammate to Alec at Enjuku, will be putting down 790 Horsepower with a turbo at 9 psi.
Fan Favorite, Danny George, will be using a Mullenix LS-based block with a Scat Crank. He was able to knock out two Top 16 appearences in 2013 and is looking to do more in 2014 with his new car.
Carl Rydquest will be pulling some where close to 1000 horsepower…
But not sure where because the torque caused an error on the Road Race Engineering DynaPak Dyno.
We’ll look at 4 more drivers next week!