It's a mad world: Meet the Supra-LeMans
The engine swap remains to this day to be one of the most involved, yet rewarding, performance upgrades available to the motivated pistonhead. And while most heart replacements involve swapping a bigger motor into a smaller vehicle, the exceptions to that rule are usually much more interesting.
Case-in-point: the Supra-LeMans.
Ralf Becker procured a 1972 Pontiac LeMans in his home country of Germany, and instead of taking a more traditional path to power, he decided that the Mark III Supra's turbo'd 3-liter inline-six would be a better candidate.
It's still in a work in progress, which Becker plans on unveiling during the "Power Big Meet" in Sweden this July. You can read an email he sent to our friends over at Hemmings here and check out the gallery of his project at Chromjuwelen.com.
[Source: Hemmings Auto Blog]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mike 12:51PM (5/24/2007)
Hmmm. Thats just wrong.
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Lee 1:08PM (5/24/2007)
Reminds me of that movie Tokyo Drift where they did something equally as geh to a 68 fastback Mustang. I would like to see that thing go up against one of those chevy V8 powered 280z's.
My money would be on the Datsun.
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Justin 1:20PM (5/24/2007)
meh a muscle car isn't a muscle car until it sounds like one. V8 sound = muscle car IMO.
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John P. 1:44PM (5/24/2007)
Yeah, Lee, that's what I thought of immediately. The Tokyo Drift Mustang engine hack. Funny thing is though, the real Mustang used during real driving actually had a Roush V8.
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mikomi 1:53PM (5/24/2007)
I must admit it is interested for the fact that he is going with a Supra engine. Kudos for trying to do something different. But if he can get great results from this unlikely mating, awesome. Otherwise like Thomas Edison might say it, I now know one more way that does not work.
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Peter 2:09PM (5/24/2007)
Very cool, but if the owner is going for big power, I'm surprised they went with the 7M. Highest power I've seen in a 7M is high 700s, with the majority of tuned ones falling from 280 to the 400s. Still, kudos to him for trying.
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Big Mike Wood 2:33PM (5/24/2007)
This angers the car gods...
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Calebe 3:09PM (5/24/2007)
What was the last year for the Pontiac OHC six? As long as it is fast, its cool. You don't need a V8 to go fast.
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Liquidfire3240 3:16PM (5/24/2007)
Blow Head Gasket!! (coming from a 7M owner)
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Stéphane Dumas 3:26PM (5/24/2007)
Calebe, the last year for the Pontiac OHC Six was 1970 for the Firebird (dropped when the 2nd-gen Firebird sold as "1970½" arrived) and the LeMans/Tempest both with the "Sprint" package http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Straight-6_engine
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uncle john 4:19PM (5/24/2007)
This is just WRONG
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PBCrunch 4:43PM (5/24/2007)
Some of the later MkIII Supras got 1JZ-GTEs, just not in America. This car might be getting one of those, not a 7M-GTE.
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bryan 6:17PM (5/24/2007)
it's not a 1JZ-GTE, because the 1JZ is 2.5 litres, not 3, and a twin turbo. Why he didn't put in a 2JZ-GTE I dunno...
Sean Morris 9:43PM (5/24/2007)
This is another one of those swaps to piss a few people off. The 2JZ is a good engine. Strong. The Mustang... I know the car well, I did the wiring and turbo on it. It was faster than any of the V-8 Mustangs. None of the V-8 cars had Roush engines in them , although there was at least one "claimed" 500hp engine. There were 5 Mustangs in total for the movie. The RB26 Mustang was a show piece, not intended to be driven, although it was drifted in a few scenes , and it was tested by Hot Rod , Edmunds, and Sport Compact Car magazine.
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John P. 12:40PM (5/25/2007)
Sean,
I read the article myself. The mustang with the nissan motor was too weak to drift not enough hp or torque, so they opted to put a roush V8 in it for actual driving.
Either the article is FOS, or you are. I suspect you are.
Sean Morris 12:59PM (5/25/2007)
RB26 car
13.4 @ 109 in the quarter mile . 0-60 in 5.4 seconds - on 19 inch street tires. Thats at wastegate spring pressure - minimum boost, and the rev limiter was only set to 7300 rpms. I didn't want the movie people to have too much power. I had no idea they were doing this test for Edmunds, because I would have turned it up and really embarrassed the V-8 cars.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkZCzvK5Dms
V-8 car
14.6@96 mph in the quarter . 0-60 in 6.6 seconds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKgjBMJZ-ac
You tell me what 96 mph to 109 mph means in cars that weigh the same ? Which car is making more power ?
Sport Compact Car July 2006 ran a dyno chart of the RB car 340 rwhp / 264 lb-ft of torque.