InnoV8 Race Engines founder Roger Higgins shows what the S5000 V8 engine is capable of on the dyno.

The 5.2-litre naturally-aspirated Ford Coyote V8 engine that powers the open-wheelers is tuned to generate 560 horsepower (418kW) to deliver S5000 speeds up to 300km/h.

Higgins was tasked by S5000 Development Manager Chris Lambden to develop the engine for the category, which now lay claim as the fastest circuit cars in the country. Watch Supercars driver James Golding lap Mount Panorama, Bathurst, in his S5000 here.

“His brief was to be economical as a formula, 5.0-litre, 8000rpm and that just fell straight into the lap of a Ford Coyote-based engine,” Higgins told Speedcafe.com.

“The target was 8000 to 10,000km on an engine before a rebuild.

“We started off with a 5.0-litre version in the prototype car.

“We had to redesign a few bits from the prototype and then it was decided to go for it.”

While various options were floated, organisers committed to the more motorsport-orientated engine.

“It gave us a good base and gave us options to develop, push-to-pass and more durability,” Higgins added.

“We had very little development time, so we sort of had to over-engineer and make it so that we’d go straight into production, which is what we’ve done.

“We had to deliver a working product straight away.”

While Higgins states the current regulations aren’t showing the cars’ full potential and there is room for additional development, he is pleased with where the powerplant is currently placed.

“The engine is pretty much where it needs to be,” he affirmed.

“If we’re allowed to add horsepower, we’re going to add horsepower.

“We’re still on 98 [RON] pump gas, we could go to a high-performance fuel.

“Personally, I’d love to have an eight-into-one exhaust, so you can hear that rpm because you don’t realise that they are actually running at 8000 rpm.

“There’s a lot of things we could do differently, but it’s all be done to try and keep it at a sensible cost.”