Who Needs FWD When You Have A 427 Cubic-Inch LSx?

When you picture a car you’d consider performing an LS swap on, the first one that comes to mind probably wouldn’t be this 2013 MazdaSpeed 3. But like all enthusiasts, we love seeing something new, unique, and of course, different.

We still drool over the more popular LS swapped cars. Swapped imports like this LS3 swapped 240SX or this LS1 swapped Mazda RX-8 for example, but it’s always nice to see something different. Whether it’s an import, a muscle car, or jet boat – we love seeing your swaps.

We think term “Sleeper” goes out the window once you spot those 275-wide slicks in the rear.

Today’s awesome find comes to us from LS1Tech.com forum user leashed. He owns the ’13 MazdaSpeed3 pictured above, and his shop has big plans for the little hatchback. From what we’ve gathered, the scope of this project is to build a race car for the owner’s business, Leash Electronics as well as to compete in the X275 races.

The wheelbase sits at 103-inches long, placing it just over two inches longer than a S197 Mustang.

The original goal was to swap a LSx bored to 427 cubic-inches into the Speed3, then turbocharge it using a single Garrett GT5518 88mm turbocharger. The owner also comments that the car wasn’t a salvage title, nor did it have a blown engine. It was a simply clean, low mileage car they wanted to utilize for the swap.

As of now, it looks like nothing has been set in stone for the car. Though the owner has considered possibly going with a twin-turbocharged LS setup, he’s also considering a roots-style supercharged LS engine as well. He comments that the project has unfortunately taken a backseat to some of the other shop projects at the moment, but will be returning in January of next year.

What would you like to see done to the car? If it was your project, what would you do, and why?