A 400 Horsepower Engine You Need To Know About

How does 400 horsepower sound? How about 400 horsepower coming out of something that does NOT weigh 600 pounds? This engine is not a V8, nor is it a turbocharged V6. This engine, called the DIG-T R, is a 1.5 liter 3 cylinder turbocharged engine and weighs only 88 pounds! At just 19.7 inches tall by 15.7 inches long and 7.8 inches wide, the engine is small enough that it will fit inside of a carry-on luggage.

The 88 pound lightweight pumps out 400 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque and revs at a maximum 7500 RPM. The engine was designed to power the Nissan ZEOD RC (Zero Emissions On Demand Racing Car), a Deltawing shaped prototype car that competed in the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans. The racing car is electric but will tap into the gasoline powerplant once the batteries are depleted.

The ZEOD RC didn’t do very well in the race, through no fault of the engine, as a component in the transmission broke within 23 minutes of racing. We now wonder what the DIG-T R’s engineering team is up to, as this would be the perfect lightweight engine to place into a lightweight race car. Perhaps a collaboration between Nissan and Mazda is in good order, maybe a super lightweight Miata? Checkout the video below showing the engine being tested: