Rhys Millen's drift car finally ready to run with Hyundai Power

A minor controversy broke out a few weeks back when it became known that Rhys Millen's new Hyundai Genesis Coupe Formula Drift car debuted at the Long Beach season opener with Nissan power under the hood. Normally this wouldn't be much of an issue in drifting where almost anything goes mechanically. The problem here is that Millen's team is not independent and supported directly by Hyundai. As we learned, late approval of the drift program meant that Millen's crew simply didn't have the time to finish preparing a new engine from Hyundai.

Rhys dropped us a line yesterday evening to let us know that some of the parts he was waiting on for the Lambda V6 engine have arrived including a new clutch and flywheel. To start with, the engine is running with mostly stock internals and its original 3.8-liter displacement. Over the weekend, the team ran the engine on the dyno and squeezed out 480 hp at 4,500 rpm and 570 lb-ft of torque at 3,800 rpm. They achieved those numbers with just 9 psi of boost from the turbo. The engine is now in the car and Millen will be competing with Hyundai power at Round 2 of the formula D championship at Road Atlanta this weekend.

[Source: Rhys Millen]