When it comes to motorsports, each discipline has different requirements for what makes a good engine package. For the sport of drifting, especially the Formula Drift series, the engine rules are pretty lax, and torque is the name of the game. A wide, flat torque curve — more like a plateau, if done right — makes for an incredibly competitive and easy-to-drive package. While it might seem like drifting is just banging off the rev limiter all the time, the amount of precise throttle modulation needed in competitive drifting, especially in the chase runs, is incredible.

With a peaky powerband, an RPM drop mid-run could spell disaster as you fall out of the power and struggle to maintain angle and wheel speed. A wide torque curve solves that, by having enough power at every RPM. In order to get that torque, DJ Stubstad teamed up with Prestige Motorsports to build a positive-displacement-supercharged LS engine. Luckily enough, our friend Jeff Huneycutt at The Horsepower Monster was there to cover the build.

The Foundation Built For Abuse

With the amount of abuse a drift engine goes through, it’s not a wise idea to skimp on the engine block. So, for this project, a Dart LS Next iron block was used. Not only for the strength of the block itself, but also for the beefy traditional-style billet steel four-bolt main caps. Sitting in the King XPC main bearings is a Manley 3.622-inch-stroke forged crankshaft. By sticking with the stock stroke, they achieve a more favorable rod ratio in chasing maximum longevity.

Speaking of the rods, they are forged 4340-steel Manley pieces. The H-beam design measures 6.125 inches, center to center, and are fitted with 7/16-inch ARP2000 rod bolts. Once again, King XPC rod bearings were used. Hanging off of the connecting rods are a set of forged DSS Racing which take full advantage of the block’s bore capacity at 4.125 inches in diameter. The skirts feature a 10cc dish and DSS’ famous X-groove skirt.

The foundation of the build is a Dart LS Next iron block and a Manley forged-steel cranshaft riding in King pMax Kote coated bearings.

The ring pack utilizes a 1.2mm steel ring on the top, a 1.2mm Napier middle ring, with a 3.0mm oil control ring pack. Because of the extreme environment — both RPM and boost-wise — the rings were gapped at .007 inch of gap per inch of bore. All in, the short-block measures 387.24 cubic inches or 6.346 liters of displacement.

In order to keep the engine properly lubricated under high lateral-g loads, with violent transitions left to right that are a hallmark of Formula Drift, a dry-sump oiling system is utilized on this engine. A shallow Moroso three-section dry sump pan is used to not only control the oil and allow it to be sucked out of the crankcase quickly and efficiently, but the shallow depth also allows for a lower mounting point in the car, helping to offset the center of gravity change caused by the heavy supercharger up top.

A High-RPM Top End

Topping off the short-block is a set of Brodix BR-series LS7-style-port aluminum heads with Prestige’s own CNC porting program applied, opening up the intake port volume to 275cc. The 69cc CNC’d combustion chambers are fitted with 2.165-inch titanium intake valves and 1.590-inch Inconel exhaust valves for a final static compression ratio of 9.85:1. The heads are secured to the block with ARP head studs and SCE multi-layered steel head gaskets

With high-RPM being an inherent part of drifting, the valvetrain for the engine needs to not only survive lots of wide-open-throttle and high-RPM modulation, it needs to thrive in it. That usually means one thing in an LS — a mechanical valvetrain. Starting with the camshaft, Prestige teamed up with COMP Cams on a custom spec cam, that has .673 inch of valve lift on the intake and .682 inch on the exhaust side. The bumpstick has 250 degrees of duration at .050 inch of lift on the intake, and 262 degrees on the exhaust, with a 113-degree lobe-separation angle.

Connecting the camshaft to the crank is something slightly unusual to see in an LS build — a double-roller timing chain. The extra thick chain offers much-increased strength, and with the standard gerotor oil pump not being used, only a small modification to a small portion of the front timing cover was needed to make everything fit.

Translating the cam’s rotational motion into linear motion are a set of BAM bushing-type solid-roller lifters. They are designed specifically for the LS Next block and are DLC coated for a slick, wear-resistant finish. Riding in the lifters are 3/8-inch-diameter 8.100-inch-long straight-wall pushrods. Jesel Sportsman-series shaft-mounted 1.7:1 aluminum rocker arms actuate the valves with a minimum of deflection. Controlling the valves are Manley valve springs featuring 270 pounds of pressure on the seat and a stout 750 pounds of pressure at peak camshaft lift. Manley titanium retainers keep weight down, while lash caps protect the stems of the titanium intake valves.

Adding Gobs Of Boost

When it comes to boost, all of it gives you tons of torque. The most popular power adder in Formula Drift is a turbocharger. However, when you are looking for a torque plateau flat enough to serve dinner on, nothing beats a positive-displacement supercharger. To top off this combination, the team turned to Harrop USA. Harrop has several kits available, but for this build, they opted for the big one. Utilizing the Eaton TVS2650 rotor pack, the kit churns out 2.65 liters per rotation of the high-helix rotors.

The Harrop kit, like most positive displacement supercharger kits do these days, has the intercooler integrated into the intake manifold plenum. However, unlike most other kits, the cores are situated vertically, to allow the overall height of the plenum to be reduced. To provide fuel to the beast, a set of FIC 1,000cc/min were fitted to the Harrop fuel rails. To top off the masterpiece, a set of custom Prestige Motorsports valve covers were attached. While they look gorgeous, their value comes in the integrated valve spring oilers to keep everything cool under extended extreme load.

On the dyno, the magic of this combination for Formula Drift becomes apparent. The engine will be a beast on the track with an 8,000-rpm rev limit. And looking at the graph, there are a whole lot of things to take in. First, the power peaks of 921 horsepower at 7400 rpm and 704 pound-feet of torque at 4,300 rpm. Next is the shape of the torque curve. From the beginning of the pull at 3,400 rpm to when the pull ended at 7,900 rpm, the torque never registered below 600 pound-feet. This engine will be an absolute weapon on the track for the 2025 Formula Drift PROSPEC season.

Look at that torque curve; 600 pound-feet from start to finish, with a peak of 704 pound-feet at 4,300 rpm. The 921 horsepower at 7,400 rpm is nothing to sneeze at, either.