Courtesy of Engine Builder
Well, we’ve officially seen it all in terms of engine swaps. On April 1 this year, we stumbled upon an Instagram post that detailed a “plan so outrageous, it had to be shared on April Fools’ day because no one would believe it.” That plan was to stuff a 6.0L Powerstroke under the hood of Nissan’s legendary GT-R and drive it in “The Race to the Clouds” – the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. That’s not all. The even loftier goal was to make the fastest diesel-powered run in Pikes Peak history.
Unfortunately, oil pressure issues led to the 2010 R35 GT-R ending the event earlier than desired. However, driver Cole Powelson did pilot the diesel Nissan through the first section in a time of 2:15.061, only around five seconds off the pace of the record set by Scott Birdsall and ninth fastest overall through the section in the Unlimited class.
We think that’s pretty impressive given the uniqueness and unusual pairing of the build, and the silver lining to the team’s setback is, Pikes Peak will always be there next year. In fact, the team is already planning out an attack.
The Powerstroke GT-R was a joint project between the likes of Lyfe Motorsport, which specializes in motorsports design, engineering, construction, operations, and professional racecar builds, and Riff Raff Diesel, a Powerstroke-focused manufacturing and retail business. The two came together when Lyfe Motorsport owner Cole Powelson had a unique idea for the race team’s pride and joy GT-R.
Lyfe originally purchased the car from Cobb Tuning who campaigned it as their time attack car in 2010. By 2013, Lyfe Motorsport became the first race team to win a North American endurance race in a non-factory-built GT-R. Then in 2015, the car would be retired for almost 6 years following a crash at Pikes Peak. In 2021, Powelson got the idea to restore the car to its former glory and call on Riff Raff Diesel for help with a powerplant.
