As the first Korean-made car to break into the world of top-tier professional driving, our eyes have been keenly watching the progress of the Red Bull sponsored, Rhys Millen Racing Hyundai Genesis drift car.

In previous reports we said that the Genesis drifter would be powered by Hyundai’s newly-developed Lambda V6, which would be bored and stroked to a generous 4.1 litre capacity and crank out a sizable 410kW and 705Nm.

Now it transpires that the advertised spec is one big porky pie. Ladies and gents, it appears we’ve been had.

Thanks to delays in race-proofing Hyundai’s new bent-six, driver Rhys Millen and his team have instead had to plonk a VQ35DE 3.5-litre V6 from the Nissan 350Z between the Genesis’ suspension towers.

We’re not entirely sure what’s been done to the Nissan V6, but surprisingly Hyundai seems fairly non-plussed about the whole competitor’s-engine-in-our-hero-car SNAFU. Rhys Millen only intends to run the VQ35 until the Lambda V6 is ready, and Hyundai also admits it may be partially responsible for distracting Millen by making him attend promotional events.

With the Nissan engine under-hood, Millen got knocked out of contention in the first round at the Formula D season opener at Long Beach. Here’s hoping he has greater success when the Lambda V6 finally finds its way back into the Genesis.

[Autoblog]