THE Haltech Horsepower Heroes competition saw a fresh injection of grunt thanks to a change from the traditional roller (chassis) dyno to a Mainline hub dyno, and this brought out a bunch of killer big-power rides. The variety was huge over the three days that Adam Rogash and the MPW boys were running the show, from aspirated stock 60s Corollas to 2500hp Bubbadores.

Christine Marimon’s KE55 Corolla was one of two aspirated four-bangers to run on the dyno over the weekend. After the other car didn’t turn up on Sunday for the finals, two pulls and 49.7hp at the hubs were all that was required for Christine to take home the tinware for the class.

Frank Gonzalez from Allsparks brought along his customer’s FG ute to have play on the dyno. With a forged Barra, Haltech plug-and-play ECU and Garrett GTX45 turbo under the bonnet, the E85-swilling brute made 1112hp on 29psi to take out the Forced-Induction Six-Cylinder class.

Scott Forrester’s ARROW Gemini is a Horsepower Heroes legend, having made over 800hp at the treads in years past. This year though, a mystery miss in the engine developed during his qualifying runs on Saturday afternoon, forcing Scott to run the car on pump 98RON fuel with just 15psi in it, well down from the 45psi on methanol. The 279hp result was enough to take the win in Forced Induction Four-Cylinder, as he was the only blown four-banger to turn up on Sunday.

Brenden ‘Bubba’ Medlyn set the internet on fire when his VH Commodore made 2261hp at the hubs on Friday, top-qualifying for the Forced Induction Eight-Cylinder class. The 398ci Torque Power Holden motor runs a pair of 88mm turbos and methanol fuel, and Bubba pushed approximately 50psi into the combo on Sunday to win the class – and Horsepower Heroes overall – with an astounding 2483hp!

Gabe Walker admitted his FG ute is a budget build, but it packs a heap of snot, with the Barra running Stage 1 cams and a GTW3884, among some other minor mods. With E85 and 23psi on board, he finished off Sunday runner-up in Forced Induction Six-Cylinder thanks to 748hp at the hubs.

Mal Schoch brought his Barra-powered ’66 Lincoln Continental back to Summernats, though it was struggling in the heat. “We’ve had fuel boiling issues,” said the Melburnian. With 25psi in the GTX3582 turbo and E85 in the tank, the big barge made 605hp at the hubs.

Brett Armstrong’s PROHK Monaro took on all comers at Tuff Street, then backed it up by belting out the highest power figure for an aspirated eight-cylinder with 962hp at the hubs, taking the class win. The 615in Sunset alloy big-block runs 14.8:1 compression, while the super-tidy coupe has done 8.79@154mph full-weight.

Greg South’s HQ was back on the dyno again and pulled an impressive 1304hp in qualifying, pushing up to 26psi and 1350hp in the finals on Sunday to take third place in the Forced Induction Eight-Cylinder class. The eye-searing sedan runs a twin-turbo big-inch LS, which has been fully engineered for road use in New South Wales.

Brendan Cherry’s VL Calais struggled through the weekend to get a clean pass, made more difficult thanks to a lack of correct spare sparkplugs in Canberra. After qualifying with 1351hp, Frank from All Sparks tweaked the tune and the teal Commodore made 1469hp on Sunday to finish second in Forced Induction Eight-Cylinder.

Bobby Brown’s VY SS runs a 481ci tall-deck LS, now inflated with a Vortech YSi-B blower pushing 15psi. He’s limited with boost as the motor is still the 12:1-compression monster he used to win the NA Eight-Cylinder class at Horsepower Heroes two years in a row.

Dean Turner’s ’68 Chevelle impressed thanks to a Dart 540ci big-block wearing AFR heads and squeezing 11:1 compression. Making 499hp at the hubs, the Canadian Malibu has been built into a tidy Chevelle SS lookalike, which Dean found four years ago as a clean roller.

Tony Spasenoski has won a swag of NA Six-Cylinder trophies at Horsepower Heroes over the years, but he was at Summernats 32 without his trademark Charger. Instead, he ran a ’72 VH Town & Country ute rocking a 265ci Hemi six with a billet crank punching 285ci, making a best pass of 451hp on Saturday. He only managed 381hp in the finals on Sunday, but it was enough to take out the aspirated six-banger class.

Tougher than a week-old steak, Mick Darke’s LX Torana hatch runs a 555ci AFR-headed big-block with twin 1050 Dominator carbs, 10.5:1 compression and a sheet-metal intake. The vintage drag machine pulled 688hp at the hubs.

This unassuming HZ wagon belongs to Luke and surprised everyone with 420hp at the hubs. This came thanks to a COME Racing 383ci stroker iron lion, with VN heads from COME as well. The former daily driver will score a flash paintjob once Luke’s wife gets a new kitchen.

Vané Petkoski’s S550 Mustang might not scream its potential like a pro streeter, but the silver brute runs a built Coyote 5.0-litre, twin BorgWarner EFR9180 66mm turbos, a built trans, and a Holley Sniper intake. With 22psi it made 1154hp at the hubs, with Glenn Kelly from ESP Racing tuning it.

Justin Mitchell’s HQ sedan is a Street Machine Drag Challenge veteran, but the Sydneysider recently put a new four-inch exhaust on and found a bunch more boost from his turbo 5.3-litre iron LS combo. The budget build pulled a mammoth 608hp at the hubs.

You couldn’t miss Corey Hamilton’s pink BF ute in the dyno cell, with the forged Coyote running a 4.7-litre Kenne Bell blower, fibreglass doors and bonnet, Haltech Elite 2500 computer and E85 boost juice to make 1140hp at the hubs. It has run 8.3 seconds at 169mph over the quarter-mile.

Ryan Whitfield’s LX hatch has been mainly designed for circuit-racing action. It runs a World Industries 427ci small-block, Dart Oldsmobile NASCAR heads, a single four-barrel and revs to 8500rpm. Ignition problems restricted Ryan to 6000rpm, but the car still made 520hp at the hubs.

RESULTS

NATURALLY ASPIRATED FOUR-CYLINDER WINNER
Christine Marimon – 49hp

FORCED INDUCTION FOUR-CYLINDER WINNER
Scott Forrester – 279hp

NATURALLY ASPIRATED SIX-CYLINDER WINNER
Tony Spasenoski – 381hp

FORCED INDUCTION SIX-CYLINDER WINNER
Frank Gonzalez – 1112hp

NATURALLY ASPIRATED EIGHT-CYLINDER WINNER
Brett Armstrong – 962hp

FORCED INDUCTION EIGHT-CYLINDER WINNER
Brenden Medlyn – 2483hp

SUMMERNATS 32 HORSEPOWER HERO
Brenden Medlyn