The world of competitive drifting has taken off in the last decade, quickly rising to become one of the most popular forms of automotive competition in the US. In the beginning, organized drifting competitions featured turbocharged, 4-cylinder cars like the Nissan 240sx, but once competitors starting bringing big V8’s to the game, these tiny turboed cars just couldn’t keep up.

However, rather than outright ditch their Nissans for some domestic muscle cars, some drifters opted to take the best part of American muscle, the engine, and drop it into their agile ricers. The result is a lightweight and nimble racer that can pull off a pretty damn impressive burnout to boot, as seen in the above video.

There is something both glorious, and unsettling, about a Japanese import roaring to life with the sound of an American V8. You never, ever expect to hear something that small to be that loud. Of course, that mean roar comes with some serious torque, allowing this little Japanese import to toast the tires with nary a second thought. Hell, the initial launch almost makes it look like this V8 Nissan is going straight through the garage door.

That V8 engine is of course a LS1 motor, one of, if not the most popular swaps for Nissan 240s. The LS1 motor actually only weighs a bit more than the stock 4-cylinder engine, and it even helps improve weight balance – all reasons why V8-powered Nissans are so popular on the drift circuit…that, and those awesome burnouts.