The Top 5 Maddest Engine Swaps You'll Ever See

This is the big one. Following our top 5 fantasy engine swaps, and the five best engine swaps ever, it’s time to check out the downright maddest swapsies ever attempted. Good taste (and life expectancy) go out of the window as of now.

Hayabusa Smart

The Smart is a pretty good candidate for a fun-machine. It’s tiny, rear-drive, and doesn’t weigh much. This legendary video shows what happens when you team that with a Suzuki Hayabusa motorbike engine. Spoiler alert: donuts and big speed happen.

And here’s a bonus video for you: Hyperbusa Smart versus 493bhp Ferrari F430. Place your bets…

BMW Brutus Experimentalfahrzeug

Why swap an engine from a car when you can nab one from an old warplane? The BMW  Brutus has the same 493bhp as the Ferrari in the video above, but it develops it thanks to 46 litres of capacity, and twelve giant cylinders. But don't just take it from me...

V8 Mazda MX-5

You either love the MX-5 or hate it, but whichever side of the hairdresser debate you find yourself on, it's probably not the little Miata's engine that's the deal-breaker. Soft-top roof, small size and rear-drive chassis, sure, but the engines are pretty unremarkable. They do the job, but they're not all-time greats. Perfect for an engine swap then? As you'd expect, it's our American friends who're really hot on plumbing a V8 under the hood. Check out V8Miata.net if you're unconvinced.

Twin-VR6 VW Lupo

Now you feel free to call bullshit on this if you’re not convinced, but what you’re supposedly watching here is a VW Lupo city car with a VW VR6 motor under the bonnet, and another where the back seats and boot should be. Assuming they’re producing stock power, that’s a combined 400bhp and judging by its launch pace, all-wheel drive.

Yahama R1 go-kart

The arrive-and-drive go-karts you use on holiday usually pack about 20bhp from their four-stroke lawnmower engines, which is plenty to live your Lewis Hamilton fantasies without getting into real trouble. But you just can’t help some people.

So what we have here is a Yamaha R1 1000cc motorbike engine strapped to the back of this little frame. The bike it’s supposed to power weighs about 190kg. What do you suppose this kart weighs? 50kg? 65kg? Probably less than you, that’s for sure. It should be good for about 127bhp. So that’s Puma power, but with Hennessey Venom-beating power-to-weight. Here it is in action: