> DRAG CHATTER

BUILT FORD TOUGH

HOW is this for value for money? Drag Challenge K&N DYO regular John Kerr has just pulled the Windsor out of his famous ’64 Mercury Comet for a freshen-up. The motor has been in there for seven years, which doesn’t sound impressive unless you know that John has put 40,000 miles on the car in that time and run damn-near 1000 passes down drag strips all over the country! The plan? “It is getting a set of rings, bearings, roller lifters and valve springs. Then it is going back together for another seven years!”

SASSY LASSY

VICTORIAN racer Mark Sass builds and tunes some of the toughest street and burnout cars around, and his own toy is no slouch either! Mark made his first assault on Drag Challenge back in 2016, behind the wheel of his VT Commodore dubbed LSXWAR. Back then, the car was powered by a Vortech V7-equipped, 402ci iron-block LS combo.

Mark broke into the eights at the event, but immediately began plotting something bigger and better. The result? A 427ci Dart-based LS combo, teamed with a monster 112mm Vortech V28 driven off the crank. The car is set up without an intercooler and runs on E85.

We filmed a crazy video of the car on the 4000hp Mainline hub dyno at Herrod Performance, which you can check out on whichcar.com.au/streetmachine. The VT spat out a very healthy 1234rwhp. The noise and vibrations generated were something else!

Shortly thereafter, Mark put the combo to the test at Swan Hill and reeled off a promising 8.77@160mph. “It has heaps more in it, but it was a good start,” he says. “We had a bit of a fright when the parachute failed to open and I ended up in the sand trap.” Running on 325 radials, the VT will be one to watch in Turbosmart Outlaw Blown.