A Turbo Hayabusa-Powered Willys Jeep Is Enough to Make You Forget LS Swaps Forever
The Jeep will have a bit more punch than its stock output of 60 horsepower.
Has anyone else stopped caring about thousand-horsepower LS- and K-swaps? Sure, the result is great, but it's hardly revolutionary. Instead, in this jaded internet world, we need something nobody has done before. Something like...a Suzuki Hayabusa-swapped Willys Jeep.
The project of a fellow who goes by the name DJ on his YouTube channel Limitliss, this Willy-busa (forgive me) has been in the works for over a year, and with the exception of the cowl behind the hood, almost every component has been produced by hand. That goes for everything from its boxed steel frame and sheet metal body to all the piping and ducting on its Suzuki-sourced four-cylinder. In all, the 1.3-liter produces more than triple the stock 2.2-liter Go Devil's 60 horsepower in naturally aspirated form. With a modestly sized turbo on it, however, and all the forged internals, engine management, and intercooling needed to support it, this motor has the capacity for 800 horse—more than 13 times the factory output.
But while DJ could tune his bike-engined Jeep to power levels that'd make a McLaren 765LT tremble, he won't. His power goal is a relatively modest 400 horse which, while not as absurd, is enough to give his Jeep a power-to-weight ratio of over 570 horsepower per ton. That's still more than the aforementioned McLaren, for what it's worth.
Also, it'll handle better than a slingshot—both the type of dragster and Polaris' funky motor-trike. Pushrod suspension at all four corners keeps its weight inboard, and a rear-mounted Porsche sequential six-speed, somewhat balanced front-to-back.
Fundamentally, this build isn't all that different from something like a Caterham 620R. Unlike the Caterham, though, this is no purpose-built track car. DJ says he wants—weather permitting—to make this machine his daily, so it can't live under a tarp for some 300 days of the year. Sneaking this thing into Jeep meets, however, will have to wait until the build is complete, and DJ will let the world know when it is through his YouTube channel and Instagram page. Be sure to follow either if you want to be among the first to watch it smoke its tires... Or be blue-flagged past Porsches at track days.
Got a tip? Send us a note: tips@thedrive.com
