We all love diesel conversions. Whether it’s small oddball diesel swaps or the bigger engines we all think of from the top-tier manufacturers. Putting a diesel where it’s not supposed to be has become a mainstream mod for many car and truck enthusiasts. About a year ago I stumbled across a build series from the Hoonigan crew that really captured my attention.
The goal of the build was to swap a diesel into a 5th generation Chevrolet Camaro with hopes of achieving 200mph in the standing mile. Through all the ups and downs of the build, the Hoonigan crew used several custom and one-off parts to achieve their goals. As you can imagine several things had to be cut and sectioned in order to make everything fit.
With all of this work in store, Hoonigan had plenty to keep them busy. In one of their recent videos they decided to finally unveil the finished product sporting a new wrap that incorporates many of the carbon fiber components fitted on the car. In true Hoonigan fashion, their own crew member Danger Dan, who was also largely responsible for building the car, was happy to show us how well this 1,000 horsepower diesel monster shreds tires.
For those looking for more down and dirty details over the car, it sports a PPE Duramax short-block incorporating the new Edelbrock Duramax cylinder heads. These cylinder heads increase head flow and are less prone to cracking due to a better casting process. The engine also sports a pair of compounded Precision turbos to make a cool 80psi of boost. The hotrod Duramax dynoed at 985-horsepower with a boost leak and 1,500 ft-lbs of torque, which it lays down through a custom Monster Transmission that the crew had spec’d for this project.
This isn’t your grandpa’s farm diesel. This Duramax means business.
On the chassis side of things, this monster of a car was converted to a solid rear axle with a massive Winters Performance Quick Change (for top speed friendly gear ratios) and a custom set of KW Suspension coilovers front and rear to help handle the extreme torque and weight of the Duramax. With all that power you’ve also got to be able to stop the thing, so they reached out to StopTech Brakes to source a custom set of brakes for this beast.
With safety a big priority for a car intended to do 200mph in the standing mile they wanted to make sure the chassis side of things was up to the task. So they outfitted the chassis with a super safe roll cage that ties into the subframe of the car as well as a full onboard fire suppression system and a parachute to help take some stress off of the brakes. When Danger Dan was building the car he wanted to make sure he was perfectly safe piloting the car so he used a racing seat out of an off-road racing truck to ensure he would be safe in any unfortunate circumstances.
It’s safe to say with 1000hp on tap it doesn’t matter how sticky the tires are this rowdy rig will burn them down.
With all of the main meat and potatoes of this build complete, it was time for a bit of bling. This 5th gen Camaro sports a set of custom Rotiform Wheels in polished finish, which complements the newly designed wrap perfectly. Because the Duramax fits substantially different into the chassis than any engines that were factory spec, Hoonigan called on their friend at Anderson Composites to build them a gorgeous all carbon fiber front clip which still had to be cut to allow for turbo piping clearance.
With this build nearing its end we wish the Hoonigans the best of luck pursuing their final goal with the car of 200mph in the standing mile. We think this Duramax diesel hotrod has what it takes and look forward to seeing what chassis tweaks and changes they make in the coming months to allow for this monumental task. For more things going on in the world of diesel stay tuned to Diesel Army.
