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You know the DeLorean DMC-12. Everybody knows it, thanks to a certain movie franchise. And because of that franchise, many people think DeLoreans are fast. In reality, the rear-mounted V6 engine only made 130 horsepower. It wasn’t dangerously slow, but given the car’s sleek shape, its performance didn’t come close to matching its sporty looks.
This particular DeLorean solves that problem most satisfyingly, especially if you’re a Honda fan. Owned by John Thompson and featured in a new YouTube video from HondaPro Jason, the six-pot is replaced by a K24 Honda four-cylinder. That alone would be an improvement over the original 2.8-liter engine, but this 2.4-liter four also gets a turbocharger and it’s tuned to run on E85 fuel. According to the video, this DeLorean now has 400 hp when running pump gas. Switch to E85 and that increases to 450 hp.
Moreover, the engine swap didn’t add gobs of weight to the back of the car. Lest we forget, the DeLorean is a proper rear-engined vehicle with the mill positioned largely behind the axle. As such, a six-speed manual transmission from a Porsche 911 is used to get that power to the ground. The suspension is upgraded with coilovers and poly bushings, and the powertrain sits neatly in the bay thanks to custom mounts for the engine and transmission.
It looks remarkably clean under the engine cover, and actually, the video claims it was largely a bolt-in process with minimal changes to the car. The DeLorean’s original air conditioning system was even retained in the process, and based on the reactions we see in the video during a test drive, it’s a very entertaining machine behind the wheel. Uncontrolled laughter accompanies the rush of boost from the turbo as the revs climb, though the driver does confess the car feels “sketchy” at speed.
In a world of LS and 2JZ swaps, a boosted K24 could be a primo choice for building a properly fun DeLorean. At the very least, it’s quick and sounds good to boot. There’s nothing wrong with that.
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