Here’s a mill we have never seen on the dyno before. The engine is a 3.5L GM Indy V8 that was used in the series about 10 years ago. The engine was being tuned by Shane Tecklenburg in this video and if you don’t know who Shane is, you should. On any given day of the week, Tecklenburg can be found at some point around the globe tuning and tweaking on a customer’s engine. That’s what he does and he is one of the best in the world at it. From projects like this Indy engine to turning the screws on Andy Frosts’s fire breathing Red Victor, Tecklenburg is one of the dudes who had forgotten more about how this race engine stuff works than we’ll ever know in our lifetime. But enough gushing about the guy holding the camera and making the tuning changes on the dyno for this engine and onto the engine itself.
Designed to operate in the 10,000 RPM range, the engine you’ll see on the dyno is a pretty interesting piece. Intended to really thump GM’s big competitor in the series at that time who was Nissan, the engine is a flyweight at 240lbs. All aluminum in construction, it is a dual overhead cam design with four valves per cylinder. The bore is 3.66″ and the stroke is a pretty tiny 2.53″ which sounds like a great recipe for high RPM horsepower. The compression ratio is a steep 15:1 and part of the unique sound of the engine is due to the 180-degree “flat” crank. At low RPM is doesn’t sound like a V8 but by the time that sucker is wound up to the top of the pull (around 9,600 RPM) is has a nice scream and wail.
We’re guessing that this engine is heading back into a period correct IndyCar chassis for vintage racing or something along those lines. Since these engines are really only happy way up in the stratosphere it doesn’t seem like something that would make much sense bolted into a street car, unless it was a Miata or something. That we would sign off on in a heartbeat. How much peak power does the little 210ci, naturally aspirated aluminum wonder make? Watch the video and see for yourselves!
PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE A SHANE TECKLENBURG TUNED FORMER INDYCAR ENGINE SPIN UP TO NEAR 10,000 RPM ON THE DYNO –
