If you walk up to anyone at a drag strip and ask them for their version of the most simple equation for getting down the 1320 in the fastest way possible, they’ll most likely tell you something along the lines of, “add power, subtract weight.” Seems like that’s what LS1Tech member “skinnies” had in mind when he decided to swap a Chevy truck motor his Mazda RX-7.

When the Wankel just wasn’t adequate enough to get the job done, the owner of this RX-7 decided that it was time for some LS lovin’.  He didn’t just go for a good old 5.3 junkyard motor and call it good – he also slapped on a 76mm turbo to get the air flowing in just the right way. Not only did this get the car down the strip in a timely fashion, but the excellent power to weight ratio was good enough to set the record for the fastest shortblock LS, going 8.65 @ 167.9. To the best of our knowledge, that number is still good enough to hold the record.

Since the record setting pass, the car has been sold to a friend of the owner. The eight-second setup, however, didn’t go with his lightweight RX-7 it. The small block has now found its way into the ultimate sleeper, a sub 10 second Ford LTD. The owner is currently in the process of building a Mustang as well to push that 8.65 mark even lower and eliminate all the haters that come with owning a big tire, light car.