#featurethis: Twin Turbo Hummer-powered Benz

Today’s #FeatureThis submission is a rather wild one, and not surprisingly it comes from Northern Europe where mental car builds are the norm rather than the exception. The car in question is a 1980s era Mercedes Benz 500SEC submitted by Speedhunters reader Kimmo Blom of Finland.

This what the SEC looked like when Kimmo’s friend Petri Lemmetty began the build – a solid and clean example of what was at one time Mercedes Benz’ flagship coupe.

In its current state, the SEC doesn’t look terribly different than it did before the build began, but beneath that classy bodywork it’s been transformed into a completely mental tire roasting beast.

Like most of the crazy builds from this part of the world, the goal was to have some fun at track events, so the big Benz was totally stripped down and rebuilt to what is essentially full race spec.

During the process of the build the car was converted from left hand drive to right hand drive, something which Kimmo says is the opposite of what’s typically done in Finland.

In order to make the old Mercedes chassis better suited to going to sideways on the track, the car was outfitted with both front and rear suspension from a MKIV Toyota Supra.

When it came time for a powerplant, a six liter GM LQ series V8 from a Hummer was decided upon. With plenty of horsepower and torque available it’s the perfect choice for the big body Benz.

But there’s no way a simple naturally aspirated V8 would cut it, right? The big Hummer motor is fed by a pair of Holset HX40 turbos with custom-made manifolds, piping, and intercooler.

As you can see from the dyno sheet, the car puts some very healthy power and torque numbers.

The car was originally running a Tremec TKO600 transmission, but that gave out during the dyno session was then replaced with a NASCAR style Jerico four-speed.

Let’s not forget the big Wilwood brakes at each corner either…

Here’s a clip of Petri testing the car out this summer. Naturally, the twin turbo V8 sounds brutally cool as the car slides around the track with total ease.

I’ve always thought about how cool it would be to take an older European luxury car and build into something crazy. In most places they can be bought cheap, they look cool, and their big engine bays can fit damn near anything you can think of. Petri’s SEC is a perfect example of this idea being fully executed.

Thanks for sharing!

If you have a cool car or build story that you think is worthy of being featured on Speedhunters, drop us a line at featurethis@dev.speedhunters.com . Please make sure to include your name and location, as well as some basic details and specs, along with at least 5-10 photographs. Photos should be no less than 800 pixels wide and in .JPG format.

Of course you can also join in by using the #FeatureThis hashtag on your favorite social media service and keep track of what’s happening in the #FeatureThis department by visiting http://featurethis.dev.speedhunters.com/ .

-Mike

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1

Insane

2

Typical finnish mopedcar.

3

Hummer eh? I thought I read that wrong. Respect for thinking outside the box.

4

Effin sick!
Now why the US has only peeps that do LS swap in S chassis? Take a note and start thinking with your own head :)

5

Wow, now that's quite unusual. Love the typical sound it makes !

6

Wowee!

7

I used to have an '89 5 series... why didn't I think of that?

8

Hummer engine...why? Because. That thing is badass

9

@JDMized Because the LS is likely cheap, very reliable, and plenty of aftermarket support... 
 
This is a cool build for sure, unique

10
David Fernandez

oh my god this is like pro drifting MERCEDEZ DANG

11

in the torque in lb-ft or nm?

12

@WillAnton because your not bat shit crazy??

13

shouldn't there be a cross-over point where TQ falls below HP?

14

@JDMized Because US drift teams are concerned with building competitive and reliable cars, not unique ones.

15

@JDMized you realize this motor is basically an LS right?

16

would love to see something like this in fd but it probably wouldn't pass tech for some stupid reason

17

what is he doing for a cooling system, remote pump? because the black crossover pipe it where the water pump should be,

18

@ClaytonPayton  
cam or heads, it's something being restrictive at high rpm, qhich doesn't really fit considering the two giant snails bolted on there=]

Author19

@BlackJacket Kimmo says the car is running an EWP115 electric water pump so I guess that explains it :)

Author20

@ChrisPBacon That figure is in nm, so roughly 1,075 ft lbs if my calculations are correct.

Author21

@WillAnton Every time I see an old BMW or Mercedes on Craigslist for dirt cheap I get so tempted!

22

@ClaytonPayton Not with the units that are used  - the torque is in N*m and power is in hp.

23

Whoa. Cool. Is he running electric steering? Looks like the pump is in front of the right side turbo.

24

@ClaytonPayton ahhhhhhh nice catch bigbcraig. did not notice that. 
was wondering how a twin holset setup could be starved for air in the top end lol

25

@ClaytonPayton but it still comes out to more tq than hp after converted unless the calcs are wrong. or they use a diff standard of what a horsepower is

26

@missile  @JDMized I am aware Sherlock :) Don't be so smartass! You know what I meant. Here in the US all I see is a bunch of kids copying each other....and EVERYONE has the same answer, "because it's cheap and reliable"; yet only 1% of them took it apart and rebuilt one.
I'd rather see more ppl thinking with their own head instead, much like the Norwegians.

27

@Hanma And that's sad! Sad that the majority is always trying to one-up each other.

28

This is an awesome build. Great workmanship. And twin turbos on any V8 is nothing short of catastrophic self enjoyment. However, this LQ series engine itself is a chevy "parts bin" iron small block vortec version not far from an LS series engine. It is just silly to parade it around as being Hummer Powered. In fact I think it takes away from how awesome the build really is. Then again, I am not from Finland, and if I was I would probably be calling it Hummer Powered out of the humor of the chassis I pulled the engine from. Yes, I am talking to myself, through the form of a SH comment. How much of this are you going to keep reading? really?

29

@JDMized  @Hanma SAD?????? God forbid anyone wants to WIN in a competition *gasp*  So......its only US teams that care about winning?
 
Ever heard of sponsors? They want you to win. They PAY you to win. But then again, you're just a hater that has nothing better to do than troll SH and cry about anything American. GO AWAY TROLL.

30

@ClaytonPayton Because RaceCar.

31

The long Scandinavian winters give birth to the most crazy builds :). What about turning a stretch limo in to a drifting beast....would it be possible?

32

This is no doubt one of the craziest Finnish Drift car. seen it once at Ahvenisto Racetrack in Finland and it's Awesome :D

33

@D1RGE EXE  @JDMized  @Hanma  sponsors want pure coverage as much as a win. If a car is unique, people will remember it, and most likely its sponsors. Until 2008 Falken ran a R34 Skyline in the 24h Nür. They never won, always finished somewhere in the Top 10/20, but had coverage because that car wasn't even available in continental Europe. It became known and respected simply as the "Falken Skyline", ended up in GT4 and so on. Now that Falken runs a 911 GT3 (like everyone else), a change explained as a marketing decision, nobody gives a shit about team Falken anymore. There are rumours tho that they will run a Nismo GTr GT3 next year tho, again a unique car for that series.

34

i liked the V8 TT but you dont need such big thing to drift only u could just put 2jz and done go and drift

35

Ever since I drove a friend's brand-new '93 R129 500SL at the Memphis track during one of my instructor warm-ups, I've wanted to build an R129 track car. One day...

36

Now this is an original build. LQ engine instead of a LS and twin turbo too.
I like this one.

37

@D1RGE EXE  Oh please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There are TONS of US kid that think they have what it takes to be successful. They do those LS swap FIRST in their S-chassis bucket, and attempt to break into the scene....MISERABLY. You know why? Because they watched TOO MANY times Initial D. Sponsor my friend come WAY down the road.
MOST....yes, MOST kids that drift want the spot light!!!!!
Tell them to go drift in a remote place where nobody gives a fvck....and sooner they loose the interest.
It's sad that these days MOST people want to up-one another instead of doing it for themselves.

39

ahhhh thats it. thanks man. So N*m instead of FT*lb should just shift the TQ graph downward, giving us the normal 5250 cross-over point.

40

I know this is a merc but do BMW do a equivalent model ? E39 7series coupe? If so that would be a cool build as well!

41

@Curlytop No.

42

@JDMized, Have you actually rebuilt a ls engine?!
It's what happens when you're on a budget build, being unique does have a high price ya know.
And the overall reason I stick with chevy is because they can take a beating on an off the track, when parts fail I wont search too far for replacements. Overall Chevy is just that badass!

43

Is it RHD due to special suspension/engine part clearance?

44

@SPEEDHUNTERS very sick

45

am I really the only one who was bamboozled into thinking this thing was sporting an old 6.2 diesel? I read the word Hummer associated with cars and I automatically picture an H1 HMMWV. lol

46

am I really the only one who was bamboozled into thinking this thing was sporting an old 6.2 diesel? I read the word Hummer associated with cars and I automatically picture an H1 HMMWV. lol

47
Bryn@Speedhunters

@swerv13 All of it swerv... I'm fairly sure the owner has a very well tuned sense of humour ;)

48
Bryn@Speedhunters

@swerv13 All of it swerv... I'm fairly sure the owner has a very well tuned sense of humour ;)

49
Bryn@Speedhunters

I heart this car. I really do.

50
Bryn@Speedhunters

I heart this car. I really do.

51

Cool build
 
for the kids debating about  this hummer engine. It's Gen III architecture.... Which is LS architecture... You see a composite intake, GM coils and referred to as an LS1 or LSx and think it came from a f or y-body... funny how someone calls it a truck engine and suddenly it's "cool" and "different" to you.
 
Go buy some green and purple shoes and a bright yellow hellasomething shirt, kiddo
 
- pretty sure all this coffee kicked in after "Cool build"

52

Absolutely Mental!!!

53

What a beast, INSANE BUILD!

54

@Curlytop
 Yes they do actually its the E24 bmw 6 series coupe and there is even the more modern bmw E31 8 series coupe

55

Drifting is gay, grip is better!

56

@AaronVenable the LQs are iron blocks while the LSx is aluminum, thats basically the only difference.

57

@AaronVenable the LQs are iron blocks while the LSx is aluminum, thats basically the only difference.

58

@AaronVenable the LQs are iron blocks while the LSx is aluminum, thats basically the only difference.

59

Yeah, getting the iron block version of an engine makes it so original. Extra weight is sooo cool!I'm not criticizing the build, rather, your willingness to go with the hivemend without knowing what the reality actually is.

60

One thind missing. SONAX livery! Haha.

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