OUR Carnage MX5.7 isn’t the only little twin-turbo LS-powered Mazda that Adam Rogash from MPW has been tuning, with Frank Biondo’s Mazda Capella hitting the dyno recently. Previous to this brand-new combo, Frank’s Capella ran 8.60 with a fairly standard alloy LS1 and twin Turbonetics turbos.

However, that combo gave up the ghost when Frank did a big wheelstand at Calder Park, which (unbeknownst to Frank until he pulled up at the end of the track) put a big crack in the sump on the way down. The loss of oil caused a spun bearing.

Obviously Frank had to build the next motor bigger and better, so he went with an iron LS block, taken out to 400ci and stuffed with all the good gear. The old turbos were replaced by new Garrett GT35s perched on custom exhaust manifolds rather than flipped VE items, and overall Frank put a bit more time and effort into building it to a high standard, with stunning detail to the engine itself. It has a pretty trick water-to-air intercooler set-up, too, which keeps the intake air temps cold.

Frank has aims of dipping into the seven-second zone with the new set-up, so wanted to see around 1000rwhp on the dyno, which should be plenty to see the 3200lb lightweight get along at a decent rate. With just a handful of dyno pulls, Adam and Frank cracked the 1000hp mark on low boost, and at that stage they were starting to see wheelspin. More boost will have to wait for the track.