FIVE JDM POWERHOUSES

R26B

Easily the most famous of all on this list, the R26B quad-rotor remains the only Japanese power plant to win Le Mans, which it did in ’91. The four-rotor engine featured Mazda Factory Race (MFR) peripheral porting, and three spark plugs per housing instead of the production rotary engine’s two, with the third sitting in what is called the ‘late trailing’ position. It was also the first engine to employ twopiece ceramic apex seals, a spray-on ceramic coating for wear surfaces, and a continuously variable intake, which gave the Mazda its much-needed fuel efficiency, while also allowing it to produce as much as a reported 671kW, although, in race trim, it put out 522kW. We are yet to see a quad come close to these figures.

HKS V12

At the end of the turbo era in Formula 1 (F1), HKS was keen to showcase its skills on the world’s most prestigious stage. The company spent two years developing a clean-sheet V12 design, much like the Italian F1 giants. Dubbed the ‘300E’, the block had an unconventional 75 degrees for lower weight distribution, and featured five valves per cylinder, making for a total of 60 valves. HKS achieved 507kW at 13,500rpm on pump gas, which was only 22kW less than the Ferrari V12 of the time. Not bad for HKS’s first attempt, but, sadly, the motor would never make it to the grid due to economic reasons. One can only imagine what could have been if this is what was produced on only the company’s first attempt.

SUBARU 1235

During 1989, Subaru made a fleeting foray into F1 using a 3500cc flat-12, designed and developed by Motori Moderni. It was completely useless in F1, due to its lack of power — it made only around 410kW — and as it weighed over 100kg more than its counterparts. As Subaru pulled the pin as fast as it was entered, the engine’s potential never got to be seen — or did it? Motori Moderni actually went on to develop the engine into a stroked 3800cc variant to be run in the first Koenigsegg. That was until the designer and owner of Motori, Carlo Chiti, died. Koenigsegg reportedly still has the first two engines that it received just sitting there.

NISSAN DIG-T R

Weighing in at only 40kg but making a massive 298kW, this little bad boy packed a serious punch. Developed by Nissan to run in the ill-fated Delta Wing (Nissan was sued by the builders of Deltawings), the tiny three-cylinder revved to 7500rpm and had a small Garrett turbo strapped to the side. Details about the internals are thin on the ground, but a smart guess would be lots of boost and high compression mixed with very low internal friction. A road-going variant of this engine, stroked to 1300cc, exists in the current Duke.

MUGEN MF408S

Call it Honda’s 1UZ-FE, if you will — a 32-valve four-litre V8, the MF408 was developed for use in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) in the US, but it never made it into a road car. Mugen also ran the engine in the Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) GT300 class, and it made an appearance in the Legend Max concept (see page 46). Mugen is said to have gone four-litre as it believed that this was the most efficient way to make 600hp (447kW), which was the class standard in ALMS at the time. An all-alloy block with direct injection and capacitor discharge ignition (CDI), it revved to 10,000rpm and made a reported 519Nm of torque at 7500rpm.