Drag Racing the 1,300 HP Nissan Altima

You probably know the Nissan Altima as a reliable and comfortable family sedan. It offers excellent fuel economy and an exciting VC Turbo.

However, the average Nissan Altima at your local Nissan lot is nothing like the modified one owned by Formula Drift champion Chris Forsberg.

Getting 1,300 Horsepower From the Altima

Forsberg’s modified Altima features a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6 engine that usually comes in the Nissan GT-R. A number of medications were made to this base engine to get up to 2,000 horsepower with proper tuning. In recent drag races with a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat and Subaru WRX STI, the modified Altima was running at 1,300 horsepower. Even though this particular Altima was mainly modified for drifting, it turns out that it doesn’t slack when going in a straight line either.

Nissan Altima Vs Dodge Charger SRT

The Dodge Charger in question also underwent several modifications for the purpose of being the fastest in a straight line. The biggest mod was removing the standard supercharger and replacing it with two turbochargers. This boosted the Charger’s horsepower up to 1,050. Probably the biggest difference between the Altima and the Charger is weight. The Nissan weighs in at about 3,170 pounds, and the Dodge weighs about 4,600, which is obviously a big difference of over 1,000 pounds.

Unsurprisingly, this weight difference let the Altima leap off the starting line at a much quicker clip than the Dodge. In order to make things a little tougher for the Altima, another competition was held in a rolling race from 60 mph. This race was closer, but the Altima still won.

Nissan Altima Vs Subaru WRX STI

The Altima in question also competed against a modified Subaru WRX STI that was made for Travis Pastrana and Gymkhana 11. The WRX was built and modified by Subaru Motorsports USA and Vermont SportsCar. One of the key mods here is a custom 2.3-liter boxer engine with a Subaru RallyCross crankshaft and billet engine block. Also on this engine is a twin timing belt system, a massive turbocharger, and billet heads. All these modifications work out to no less than 862 horsepower. Now, that’s obviously quite a bit less than the Forsberg Altima, but the WRX has the AWD advantage.

In a race between these two cars, the AWD gave the WRX a much better launch from a stand-still. Two races were held, and the WRX claimed both of them easily. Like the Charger vs. Altima competition, a rolling race was also held between the WRX and the Altima. That resulted in the Nissan’s superior horsepower carrying it past the Subaru for the win.

Along with cutting-edge engine modifications, Forsberg’s Altima used the technology of 3D printing to make the raised fender arches and the huge over-fenders on the rear of the car. The engine parts and chassis were also 3D scanned by Tekk Consulting to work out the design before it was assembled. This one-of-a-kind Altima is truly unique in every way.