WHEN it comes to full-on race cars, in the Pro Turbo drag class there aren’t a lot of rules, so you can go nuts with your car and engine choice. Queenslander Nikki Hepburn races a three-quarter-chassis Toyota 86, which started life as a $30 grand rear-drive sports car powered by a Subaru 2.0-litre boxer engine.

The Boosted86 Racing team pretty much completely gutted the thing, re-did the chassis with a drag-spec nine-inch floater rear end and tube front, and got it ready for its new engine. If it was your car, what mill would you whack in the 86? Perhaps a 2JZ, or hop over to the dark side and go Nissan RB or GM LS? Well Nikki and her crew went with the Toyota 1FZ.

If you’ve never heard of the 1FZ, you’re not alone. It’s actually a 4.5-litre straight-six out of a Toyota Land Cruiser. In its most powerful production car application it made just 240hp, but we all know how bulletproof Cruisers are, so you can bet your cheese and biscuits this is one tough engine.

Nikki’s 1FZ has been destroked and fitted with a custom cylinder head, billet crankshaft and custom pistons and rods by JW Automotive. It’s then boosted by a Garrett Gen2 98mm turbo with boost control by Turbosmart gear, and engine management is controlled through a Link Thunder ECU. All up it makes a monstrous 2000rwhp, which is enough to rocket this 86 down the quarter-mile quicker than it takes a factory model to reach 100km/h.

At the Brisbane Jamboree Nikki qualified second in the Pro Turbo class with a 7.07@206mph, and the car performed flawlessly through Sunday’s racing rounds, with three wins all in the 7.0s at over 206mph, Nikki took out the class title. The PB for the car is 6.98@196mph, so clearly it has the legs to go even quicker.