Nelson Racing Engines - Master of the High Power LS

NRE has built engines that power some of the fastest cars on the road today, and not only are they visual works of art, but serious performance weapons too. From naturally aspirated high revving engines, to twin turbo builds that push 2,000 horsepower, this company has done it all to an LS. Let’s look at what make Tom a master of this motor.

By Christopher Hurst - July 12, 2017

Twin Injectors

Fuel is a major component in tuning a vehicle and extracting more horsepower. As such, it would be great to have a higher octane race fuel come into the equation under boost, and that’s exactly what is done with his custom billet intake. Under normal running conditions the car operates on 91 premium pump gas. Rolling into the throttle, boost goes up, at which time secondary injectors switch to C16 race gas which has a high resistance to detonation.

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Water Cooled Intercooler

One of the things that really sets these NRE engines apart is the type of intercoolers they use with their forced induction. Everyone knows cooler air is denser, which means more fuel can injected, meaning more power. Nelson utilizes water to air intercoolers to extract the maximum performance from his builds. What makes it so trick? It’s integrated inside the intake plenum (seen here on the company’s custom X-ram intake).

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Piston Coatings

Nelson doesn't just use off the shelf pistons either. No, these pistons his engine packages are actually taken to a facility where they get special coatings to resist heat build up. All of this is designed to reduce heat, water temperature and oil temperature, so the motor runs cooler and make more power longer. Exactly what type of coating and how long the parts are treated is top secret stuff.

>>Join the conversation about Nelson Racing Engines - Master of the High Power LS right here in the LS1 Tech Forum!

Custom Turbos

Of course, with all of this custom stuff the turbos are no different. Compressor wheels are derived from billet, the center is again water cooled, and the exhaust housings are split for quicker spool times. These are not some cheap eBay knock offs here.

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The Numbers

All of these parts and plans, combined with CNC ported cylinder heads, produce obscenely high power figures. How does 1931 hp at 6600 rpm and 1609 ft-lbs 6200 rpm on a 454 cubic inch (7.4 liter) Small Block Chevy sound? The company throws these motors into everything from Sand Rails, to standing mile competition cars, so they aren't just quarter mile monsters. It all comes at a pretty hefty price, but the results are undeniable and very impressive.

>>Join the conversation about Nelson Racing Engines - Master of the High Power LS right here in the LS1 Tech Forum!

For help with service of your car, check out the how to section of LS1Tech.com

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