It didn’t take me long since coming to New Zealand to realise that the old adage of “Kiwi Ingenuity” is absolutely not a far-fetched concept. And while we get to see some of it off-roading or in the odd track day, this is a story of when that idea makes its way up the world’s most famous hillclimb event.
At the 2026 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, Robin Shute’s SendyCar V1 finished second overall, first in the Unlimited – Super Unlimited class, and completed the climb in 8:29.497. The only car ahead of it was Romain Dumas in the Ford Super Mustang Mach-E EV, which won overall with an 8:18.202 run. That alone would be impressive enough, but the really tasty bit for us is sitting behind Shute’s head: a 2.3-litre turbocharged V8 produced by Prototipo, here in Auckland.
Yes, a Kiwi-built, motorcycle derived, turbocharged V8 helped produce one of the fastest runs up one of the world’s gnarliest “tracks”. This sentence gets cooler each time I read it. For context, Pikes Peak is not a casual Sunday hill road: the official course runs for 12.42 miles, or just under 20 kilometres, with 156 turns. It starts at 9,390 feet and finishes at the 14,115-foot summit of America’s Mountain, which means engines, aero, tyres, cooling systems, drivers and confidence all get progressively bullied by altitude as the run goes on. The SendyCar did not just do well “for a combustion car”. According to Race Engine Technology, it was the fastest ICE powered machine at Pikes Peak in 2026, and the engine also helped the car set a 167mph speed trap record. RACER also reported Shute’s 8:29.497 as a new rear-wheel-drive record on the mountain, surpassing the previous mark set by Simone Faggioli in 2018.
Okay, now back to that engine. The unit is known as the Prototipo Synergy 2330BT V8, and it is not exactly your traditional big, lazy V8. It uses BMW S1000RR motorcycle cylinder head architecture combined with a bespoke billet crankcase. The original naturally aspirated version first ran around 2015/16 and made 430bhp from 2.0 litres. For Pikes Peak duty, Shute and Prototipo developed a larger capacity turbocharged version.
Because the bore was already at its practical limit, the extra capacity came from increasing the stroke. Prototipo also made changes for durability, including improved piston cooling, larger main bearings and different valve materials, with stainless steel intake valves and Inconel exhaust valves to deal with higher operating temperatures. Boost comes from a single BorgWarner EFR 9280 turbocharger, while engine management is handled by a Cosworth Antares ECU.
Running 1.5 bar, or 22psi, of boost, the engine is rated at 900bhp, or 670kW, at 12,000rpm. Torque is listed at 580Nm between 8,000 and 10,000rpm, with boost levels managed to stay within gearbox durability limits. It weighs 95kg, which is only a few kilos more than the original naturally aspirated 2 litre engine. And even with these insane numbers, this is not a one-off miracle that appeared out of nowhere. Prototipo describes itself as a New Zealand company specialising in high performance engine, powertrain and complete vehicle solutions across automotive, motorcycle and marine sectors. Its Synergy engines have been race-proven across different disciplines since 2007, using modern motorcycle cylinder head technology to achieve high specific power outputs. Prototipo also states that Synergy engines have been tested at up to 347bhp per litre.
The Synergy story itself is also brilliant. HPAcademy’s Tuned In podcast previously covered Simon Longdill, the man behind the Synergy engines, noting that he originally built his own engine after finding the available options in his racing class lacking. The early Synergy V8 concept used motorcycle engine thinking, with HPA describing small capacity, ultra-high-revving V8s that went on to power a range of race cars, with the project eventually becoming a full time business.
That background matters because the Pikes Peak engine needs to run all those numbers while also facing tough challenges. The air thins out, the cooling demand changes, the aerodynamic load changes, and the driver still has to commit to blind corners with no “laps” to learn the circuit at each go. Turbocharging helps fight the altitude problem, but it also brings heat, packaging and reliability challenges. Making nearly 900bhp from a 2.3 litre engine is one thing, but fighting all facets of physics under full send is another. Making it weigh less than many production four poppers is just showing off.
This is a story about a company projecting Kiwi engineering through a car that took second overall at Pikes Peak, won its class, set a new RWD record, and did so with a tiny V8 like few others, so of course we’re excited to report on it. We will be keeping a very close eye on Prototipo, because this is exactly the kind of engineering story that deserves more attention: Pikes Peak may be half a world away from us, but knowing that I might just hear this engine being tested in their HQ in St Johns makes it all that much more special. Congrats, Prototipo!
Photos: https://www.instagram.com/powerbysynergy/
