I love a good engine swap. There’s just something pleasurable about finding the unexpected waiting for you when you lift the hood, like unwrapping a Pop-Tart to discover a fresh slice of cake. In this particular case, playing the part of Pop-Tart wrapper is a classic and very orange Datsun 240Z, while the cake is a Nissan SR20 engine. It’s a popular swap, and for good reason – the Z looks incredible, it isn’t too heavy, and it’s RWD from the factory, while the SR20 is stout and well-suited to living with high levels of boost. Larry Chen’s ride is one fine example of all these characteristics, as evidenced in this episode of Daily Transmission from the fine folks over at Hoonigan headquarters.

Power from the boosted four sits at 300 ponies and 300 pound-feet of torque at the wheels, which isn’t bad for a car that weighs a little over 2,000 pounds. Providing the extra air is a Garrett GT28 turbo (a.k.a. the Disco Potato). The set-up was pulled from an old Formula Drift car, and it looks perfectly at home sitting in the Z’s engine bay. With the hood open, the boys get pretty nerdy, delving into the various little factoids and motivation behind the build. But things get really serious towards the end when the orange Z starts burning rubber, and, well, let’s just say look out for the cement.

References

Datsun 240Z

Read our full review on the Datsun 240Z.

Read more about the Datsun 240Z on this driven review.