When the current , many enthusiasts collectively raged over the fact that the engine in the car came from BMW. I mean, how could BMW’s B58 inline-six be as strong and reliable, and offer as much power potential, as ?

Early in the A90's life cycle, racing legend Stephan Papadakis where he disassembled a stock B58 inline-six and evaluated its power and reliability potential in a racing application. The prognosis for the Bimmer engine was good. Now, fast forward a few years, Papadakis Racing is , pushing out around 1,200 horsepower.

So in the fullness of time, how has Papadakis’ B58 engine program changed, and how has the engine fared in the rigors of competition beyond its pure power potential? To find out, the folks from cornered Papadakis himself at SEMA and got him to dish on his experiences.

The most surprising thing to me is just how little they’ve had to change on the B58 to make it race-ready at four-digit horsepower, and how little continued development the engine has needed. For example, Papadakis uses the stock alloy block for competition, complete with the stock plasma-spray cylinder linings. He also uses use the same type of JE pistons and stock piston rings that they’ve been running since 2019. The biggest change has been to the cylinder head, which moved from a cast-in dual-outlet exhaust manifold to a more traditional six-port layout in 2021.

So, what does this mean for the beloved 2JZ? While that engine is legendary for a reason, technology hasn’t stopped advancing since it was killed off in 2007. New tech is a good thing, and this video shows that huge, almost unconscionable power is within your reach with surprisingly few modifications.