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“If there is one thing that divides the fans of the Demon Energy D1NZ National Drifting Championship more than any other, it’s the engine choice — V8, RB, JZ, SR, rotary? You can’t sit on the fence, so choose your side!”
Walk pit lane at any round of the Demon Energy D1NZ National Drifting Championship and you will not only be greeted by a wash of colourful liveries fighting for your attention — dig a little deeper into the engine bays of the beasts, and you will find a weird and wonderful array of solutions to the same exact problem. Following the worldwide trend/evolution over the past 13 seasons of our national series, power figures have continued to rise, now reaching extraordinary levels. This season, the average power for a Pro-spec car is 471kW, which is why drifting is touted as being the most powerful tin-top motorsport on the planet. Now we’re past the midway point of the season, we decided to take a closer look at the power plants of the front runners. What we found surprised us, as, unlike series overseas — which tend to see not much other than the mighty LS — back home in New Zealand, we do things a little differently and have a wide range of engine choices in our current top 10.
Current D1NZ Pro field engine percentages:
LS: 23.31%
RB: 43.29%
2J: 19.98%
Rotary: 6.66%
1J: 3.33%
VQ: 3.33%
Past DK championship winner stats:
RB — four times
V8 — three times
SR — four times
Total Pro championship power for 2017: 13,193kW
Average power output for 2017: 471kW
Tom Marshall — Nissan Silvia (S15)
ENGINE: Toyota 2JZ-GTE, 3000cc
BLOCK: Forged internals, 10.1:1 compression
HEAD: Ported head, Brian Crower oversized valves, 262-degree cams
INTAKE: Fenix intercooler
EXHAUST: Three-inch
TURBO: Holset HX40, BNR Engineering custom manifold
WASTEGATE: Turbosmart 60mm
BOV: TiAL 50mm
FUEL: Six 1600cc injectors, twin Bosch 044 pumps
IGNITION: MSD coils
ECU: Link G4+ Storm
COOLING: Fenix radiator
POWER: 540kW on 24psi
FUEL: E85
ENGINE BUILDER: Llama Engineering Ltd
TUNER: Ross at Dobsons Dyno Tuning (DDT)
Cole Armstrong — Nissan Skyline (G35)
ENGINE: Nissan RB32DET, 3200cc
BLOCK: RB30E block, Nitto stroker kit
HEAD: Ported RB26 head, custom cams
INTAKE: RIPS plenum
EXHAUST: Three-inch steel
TURBO: Garrett 3582R, Sinco manifold (2.5-inch runners)
WASTEGATE: TiAL60mm
BOV: TiAL 50mm
FUEL: Six 1600cc injectors
ECU: Link G4 Extreme
COOLING: Fenix radiator, Fenix oil cooler
POWER: 550kW on 24psi
FUEL: E85
ENGINE BUILDER: Ross at DDT
TUNER: Ross at DDT
David Steedman — Nissan Silvia (S14)
ENGINE: Nissan RB30DET, 3000cc
BLOCK: RB30E block, Manley rods, Mahle forged high-comp pistons, factory crank
HEAD: R33 RB25DET head, Kelford high-lift cams, Kelford springs
INTAKE: Custom frontfacing plenum, 80mm throttle body, frontmounted intercooler
EXHAUST: Custom 3.5-inch Mac’s Mufflers stainless side-exit
TURBO: BorgWarner EFR 8374, Mac’s Mufflers split-pulse manifold
WASTEGATE: Twin TiAL 38mm
BOV: 50mm
FUEL: Walbro 500hp intank lift pump, stainless Mac’s Mufflers surge tank, twin Bosch 044 pumps, Tomei high-flow fuel-pressure regulator (FPR), six 1600cc injectors
IGNITION: DSR coils, NGK spark plugs
ECU: Link G4+
COOLING: Alloy radiator, Volvo electric fan, 25-row oil cooler, power-steering cooler
POWER: 550kW on 20psi
FUEL: E85
ENGINE BUILDER: Machining by Regal Automotive, assembled by Dave
TUNER: EFI and Turbo
Nico Reid — Nissan Silvia (S15)
ENGINE: RB25DET, 2500cc
BLOCK: Forged pistons, forged rods, balanced internals, RB25 crank
HEAD: Custom cams, hydraulic lifters, valve springs
INTAKE: GReddy intake
EXHAUST: Three-inch
TURBO: GT3582R, Sinco manifold
WASTEGATE: Turbosmart 60mm
BOV: TiAL 50mm
FUEL: Twin Bosch 044 pumps, Carter lift pump, -6 fuel lines
IGNITION: MSD
ECU: Link G4
COOLING: Fenix radiator
POWER: 420kW on 20psi
FUEL: E85
ENGINE BUILDER: Ewan at Engine Rebuilders
TUNER: Ross at DDT
Darren Kelly — Nissan GT-R (R35)
ENGINE: Nissan RB30DET, 3000cc
BLOCK: RB30E block, flat-top pistons, Eagle forged rods, 1.1mm head gasket, Ross Performance / Aviaid three-stage dry-sump
HEAD: Ported and polished Nissan RB26DETT head, HKS 272/264 cams, HKS valve springs
INTAKE: Six-throttle-body manifold with custom plenum, Fenix intercooler
EXHAUST: Custom TTT three-inch stainless downpipe, dual three-inch straight-through pipes
TURBO: Garrett 3582R, HKS twin-scroll stainless manifold
WASTEGATE: Turbosmart 60mm
BOV: Turbosmart Race Port
FUEL: Radium Fuel Cell, twin Bosch 044 pumps, dual billet inline filters, HKS fuel rail, Turbosmart FPR, six Injector Dynamics ID2000 injectors, dual Aeromotive Teflon -8 feed lines, Aeromotive fittings
IGNITION: Splitfire coil-on-plug, Dual Link ignitors, NGK plugs
ECU: Link G4 Thunder
COOLING: Modified Fenix radiator, Davies Craig EWP115 electric water pump (EWP), Aeromotive -20 lines and fittings, TTT swirl pot, dual 355mm/14-inch Fenix fans, PWR oil cooler, water-sprayer system for radiator and intercooler
POWER: 556kW
FUEL: E85
ENGINE BUILDER: Engine Specialties
TUNER: GDS Automotive
Daniel Woolhouse — Holden Commodore (VF)
ENGINE: GM L98, 6000cc
BLOCK: Factory crankshaft, Eagle H-beam rods, forged Wiseco 9.7:1 pistons, customgrind roller camshaft, Comp Cams doublerow timing chain, ARP fasteners, Melling billet oil pump
HEAD: Ported heads, Comp Cams solidroller lifters, Comp Cams custom pushrods, Comp Cams roller rockers, stainless-steel valves, MLS head gaskets
INTAKE: Holley GM Modular Hi-Ram intake manifold, Holley 102mm throttle body, K&N air filter
EXHAUST: Custom Genie four-into-one headers, three-inch, Flowmaster four-inch muffler
TURBO: Vortech V1 centrifugal supercharger, 25-per-cent underdriven crank pulley
BOV: Vortech Mondo
FUEL: Aeroflow fuel pumps, FAST injectors
IGNITION: Factory GM coils
ECU: Link G4
COOLING: Fenix radiator, Aeroflow powersteering cooler
POWER: 730kW on 8psi
FUEL: E85
ENGINE BUILDER: Zane at Chequered Flag Automotive
TUNER: Glenn at GDS Automotive
Daynom Templeman — BMW 330i (E46)
ENGINE: Toyota 2JZ-GTE VVT-i, 3400 cc
BLOCK: Engine Specs machined block, Carrillo 8.5:1 pistons, Carrillo rods, BC crank, ACL bearings, ARP studs, deleted oil squirters, Accusump, swinging pickup, pivot-drive oil pump
HEAD: Engine Specs ported VVT-i head, BC cams, Ferro valves, Daynom Drift–spec valve springs and buckets
INTAKE: BNR Engineering intake plenum, 90mm NZKW throttle body, ITL bar and plate intercooler core, BNR Engineering end tanks, seven-inch K&N filter
EXHAUST: Four-inch downpipe, twin three-inch to four-inch side-exit
TURBO: Holset, BNR Engineering equal-length stainless manifold
WASTEGATE: Turbosmart 60mm Powergate
BOV: Turbosmart
FUEL: MagnaFuel main pump, twin Carter lift pumps, Fuel Safe cell, BNR Engineering surge tank, NZKW AN fittings and lines, six Injector Dynamics ID2200 injectors, Turbosmart FRP, MagnaFuel filter, FPP lift pump filters
IGNITION: DDT coils, MSD leads, NGK BKR70S plugs
ECU: Link Fury
COOLING: NZKW radiator, Meziere EWP
POWER: 671kW
FUEL: E85
ENGINE BUILDER: Ross at DDT
TUNER: Ross at DDT
Adam Davies — Nissan 18OSX
ENGINE: Mazda 13B semiperipheral-port (PP), 1300cc
BLOCK: Green Brothers semi-PP housings, 2mm unbreakable apex seals, clearanced rotors, CNC-machined water-jacket mods, balanced rotating assembly, Green Brothers oilsyste mods, dowelled block, baffled sump
INTAKE: Modified lower intake manifold for semi-PP, 2.5-inch intercooler piping, K&N Filter
EXHAUST: Mac’s Mufflers custom four-inch mild-steel, Manawatu Muffler Centre rotary
muffler
TURBO: BorgWarner EFR 9180, Mac’s Mufflers twinscroll schedule 40 manifold
WASTEGATE: Dual TiAL MV-R
BOV: Blitz
FUEL: 35-litre alloy tank, two-litre surge tank, Bosch 910 lift pump, twin Bosch 044 main pumps, Green Brothers fuel-rail kit, Sard FRP, Indy Blue 1680cc primary injectors, Siemens 2300cc secondary injectors
IGNITION: AEM smart coils, Green Brothers leads, NGK race plugs, ICE 16V ignition booster
ECU: Vi-Pec i44 ECU
COOLING: Industrial Radiators custom twin-pass radiator, custom front-mount intercooler, custom oil cooler, Davies Craig EWP80, custom plumbing
EXTRA: Mac’s Mufflers tube front, oil catch can
POWER: 500kW on 25psi
FUEL: E85
ENGINE BUILDER: Green Brothers Racing
TUNER: Green Brothers Racin
Drew Donovan — Nissan Silvia (S15)
ENGINE: GM LS, 7000cc
BLOCK: Manley stroker kit, bored and sleeved block, large-duration Comp Cams cam
HEAD: Ported L98 heads, Jesel valvetrain
INTAKE: Ported intake
EXHAUST: Custom headers, dual threeinch, cross pipe, quad two-inch
FUEL: Custom tank, Fuel Lab regulator, Bosch 044 pump
IGNITION: Factory
ECU: Link G4 Thunder
COOLING: Luxury Sports radiator and oil cooler
POWER: 400kW
FUEL: 95 octane
ENGINE BUILDER: EFI and Turbo
TUNER: EFI and Turbo
Jodie Verhulst — Toyota Supra (JZA80)
ENGINE: Toyota 2JZ-GTE, 3000cc
BLOCK: Factory
HEAD: Comp Cams valve springs
INTAKE: GReddy replica
EXHAUST: 3.5-inch
TURBO: Master Power 61mm (antisurge), custom steam pipe manifold
WASTEGATE: TiAL 44mm
FUEL: 40-litre tank, two-litre surge tank, Bosch 044 pump
IGINITION: Factory
ECU: Link G4 Thunder (wideband live-tuning)
COOLING: Fenix radiator, Fenix intercooler
POWER: 430kW on 22psi
FUEL: 98 octane
TUNER: EFI and Turbo
