In about a month's time, the Pikes Peak
International Hill Climb will kick off and while electric racers have been
surging in popularity at the event, many are still going down the more
traditional route.
Take Australian shop Race Innovations and Targa
Tasmania driver Tony Quinn for example. Rather than opting for an electric
powertrain which won’t lose power at altitude, the tuner has acquired the
3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine of a Nissan GT-R and shoehorned it into a
Ford Focus.
In reality,
the car may resemble a Focus but the only parts it shares with the hatchback
are the pillars and windscreen. Everything else is custom including the
all-wheel drive system, race suspension, mid-engine layout and pretty much
every other square millimeter of this wild creation.
The hillclimber weighs just 985
kg and produces 999 kg of downforce at 200 km/h. The
GT-R engine has been modified to deliver 850 hp and 976 Nm of torque on 20 psi
of boost, meaning this car should be capable of some extraordinary things at
Pikes Peak.
