Photo: Nelson Racing Engines
The word sleeper in an automotive context gets thrown around quite a bit these days. With that in mind, a broad spectrum of custom cars and trucks fit under the sleeper umbrella. But what if you're looking for something on the more "extreme" side?
Well, whoever sent their 2017 GMC Sierra to Nelson Racing Engines in Chatsworth, California, was clearly aiming to wind up on that side of said spectrum. If you didn't know, the customer in question couldn't have found a better shop in all of Southern California to do the job. Among their accomplishments include building the engine for F-Bomb Camaro, the iconic eight-second quarter mile smashing daily driver of Hot Rod Magazine's EIC David Freidburger that stared in the Fast & Furious franchise, but also the powerplant for SSC Tuatara hypercar.
On the outside, this truck looks like any other GMT902 Sierra with some variation of the stock Vortec V8 engine ranging from 4.8 liters to 6.2. Even looking inside the truck's interior leads to almost no indications of the positively ludicrous power train this So-Cal tune shop shoved under the hood.
Most people who pass by this truck would just see it fade into some indescribable blur in the rough shape of a pickup truck, but not anything more. Oh, if only they know, the fools. Under the hood of this dull, mundane-looking work truck is a twin-turbocharged, 10.3-liter (632-cubic inch) V8 monster that jets 2,500 horsepower.
That's right. This plain jane-looking truck is jetting as much horsepower as a Second World War fighter plane while looking like it could be parked outside your local construction sight with a load of people in high visibility jackets eating cheap takeaway food inside. This considerable power is fed through a Rossler Turbo 400 automatic transmission to an in-house fabricated nine-inch rear axle to handle enough brute force to move mountains.
When the hood is popped, and the front clip is removed, this custom build's sheer beauty and awe-inspiring ingenuity reveal themselves fully. Dual 88-mm NRE Mirror Image turbochargers protrude below the engine block like a pair of cajones beckoning you to spool them up. But what's even more amazing to our minds is that all this power, all this custom engine fabrication, is still operating with the factory ECU, albeit tuned up the wazoo.
With so many sleepers and even a fair share of out-and-out customs, the interior is neglected while the exterior looks shiny and new. Although this particular interior isn't going to win any SEMA awards, we can at least appreciate that isn't hasn't been ripped apart and not bothered to be put back together again in the process of getting that beast of an engine to fit in the truck. Props to Tom Nelson and his team on another successful project. Oh yeah, and the owner's having them do two of them.
Check back soon for more from V8 Month here on autoevolution.
On the outside, this truck looks like any other GMT902 Sierra with some variation of the stock Vortec V8 engine ranging from 4.8 liters to 6.2. Even looking inside the truck's interior leads to almost no indications of the positively ludicrous power train this So-Cal tune shop shoved under the hood.
Most people who pass by this truck would just see it fade into some indescribable blur in the rough shape of a pickup truck, but not anything more. Oh, if only they know, the fools. Under the hood of this dull, mundane-looking work truck is a twin-turbocharged, 10.3-liter (632-cubic inch) V8 monster that jets 2,500 horsepower.
That's right. This plain jane-looking truck is jetting as much horsepower as a Second World War fighter plane while looking like it could be parked outside your local construction sight with a load of people in high visibility jackets eating cheap takeaway food inside. This considerable power is fed through a Rossler Turbo 400 automatic transmission to an in-house fabricated nine-inch rear axle to handle enough brute force to move mountains.
When the hood is popped, and the front clip is removed, this custom build's sheer beauty and awe-inspiring ingenuity reveal themselves fully. Dual 88-mm NRE Mirror Image turbochargers protrude below the engine block like a pair of cajones beckoning you to spool them up. But what's even more amazing to our minds is that all this power, all this custom engine fabrication, is still operating with the factory ECU, albeit tuned up the wazoo.
With so many sleepers and even a fair share of out-and-out customs, the interior is neglected while the exterior looks shiny and new. Although this particular interior isn't going to win any SEMA awards, we can at least appreciate that isn't hasn't been ripped apart and not bothered to be put back together again in the process of getting that beast of an engine to fit in the truck. Props to Tom Nelson and his team on another successful project. Oh yeah, and the owner's having them do two of them.
Check back soon for more from V8 Month here on autoevolution.
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