Dragsters have been around as long as there’s been drag racing, and they’ve evolved from front engine slingshot dragsters to the high-tech, modern rockets of today. Virtually every track will have some type of class that the tube chassis kings of the quarter mile compete in, and dragster owners will cram anything from a big old blown V-8 motor down to a little naturally aspirated inline six between the pipes. Because unlike a doorslammer where you’ve got to make it work, a dragster chassis is a fresh palette thast will accept virtually anything between its framerails. In Australia, Ben Diggles and Jeff Watson have put together a seven second dragster that uses a Nissan FJ20 motor that embodies the concept of “anything goes” in a dragster.
Your standard Nissan FJ20 motor is a two-liter straight four cylinder engine. The motor uses a dual overhead cam design and was used in several production cars like the Silvia, Gazelle, and Sakura. A more performance based model that was 2.4 liters was used in Nissan’s rally car and was produced in a naturally aspirated version as well as a boosted one.
Ben Diggles and his Badger Racing team have been turning some heads in the Turbosmart Street Compact class. The team uses a M&W chassis to house the potent FJ20 engine and its turbo power adder. A Link ECU is used to help control the motor and keep things running right. The computer is tuned by crew chief Jeff Watson, who is no stranger to the FJ20 motor. His famous 500 HP Austin Sprite was running 8’s back in the 90’s. Ben and Jeff have been able to put their heads together and set some records, as the Badger Racing dragster is the quickest and fastest FJ20 dragster in the world, running a 7.02 at 190 MPH, and all using an engine that is 30 years old! Check out this video from Fullboost that shows the car doing work.