While the LS engine has become the power plant of choice for serious pro drifters, and some competitors have found a degree of success with domestic vehicles lately, the sport, as imported from Japan, was all about 4 and 6 cylinder turbos in lightweight imports, being pushed to the limit to keep the tires boiling. You might say, though, that Conrad Grunewald was ahead of the curve when he made the jump from a turbo six Toyota to the C5 Corvette shown here, back in the day.
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[2]The C5, as seen in the video, has seen more than just the cosmetic work that makes it resemble the race-spec C5.R. With a supercharged 427 making an estimated 600 horsepower along with a slew of suspension work, Conrad admits the Vette is a bit hefty compared to some of the competition, sitting at 3200 pounds, but gets the job done well. Being the big, mean, loud American car that it is the drift officials deemed it necessary to tone down the exhaust a bit, and Grunewald’s team was forced to muffle their beast.
Before the ‘Vette, Grunewald’s weapon of choice was a high-powered Toyota Supra. In the video, Grunewald says that he will never switch back from the newly-found v8 torque. He stayed true to that statement with his current vehicle, a 700+ horsepower naturally aspirated LS7 5th gen Camaro that is even more effective.