Tag: Cars

  • FIESTA ST RACE CAR: THE RIGHT STUFF

    This Mk6 Fiesta ST race car has the pristine appearance of a show-and-shine winner – but make no mistake, this super-light, super-powerful race car is incredibly serious. A fact proven by the way it just can’t stop winning races…

    Power, it’s often said, is a matter of perspective. Across the generations, different manufacturers have approached the question of power from alternative angles; tweed-clad chaps in draughty hangars in Norfolk would espouse the virtues of ‘simplifying, and adding lightness’ by paring back mass to optimise the power-to-weight ratio, while sweaty men with hammers over in Detroit were shoving as much horsepower as they physically could into bulky two-tonne barges. But what if you were to combine these two approaches to create a vibrant automotive culture clash? You’d find this effervescent Fiesta race car sitting squarely in the middle; distilled down to a bare-bones weight of just 900kg all-in, it’s not exactly troubling the scales. This would be more than enough to make vivid use of the stock ST’s power output of 148bhp, but this particular car’s snorting out more than double that; 315bhp in fact, giving it a power-to-weight ratio of around 350bhp-per-tonne – the same as you’d find in a 911 GT3 RS.

    Fiesta ST Race CarFiesta ST Race Car

    “This car was originally built in 2010-11 by Anderson Racing Engines,” explains its owner, Phil Caza. “It was raced only a handful of times before being put into storage.” Phil was the perfect person to pick up the mantle, having a strong personal history of haring about in hot Fords: “I’ve owned them all my life,” he says. “I had a Mk1 Escort Mexico, a Mk2 Escort RS2000 custom, I wish I still owned them… I’m just a big petrolhead.”

    So why a Mk6 Fiesta this time, after those old-school rear-drivers? Well, a large part of the decision-making process was informed by the ready availability of M-Sport parts for the platform, as Phil knew from the off that it would be a serious race car. Indeed, that’s what it was bought as, with further development work being subsequently carried out by AutoPro Motorsport.

    Fiesta ST Race CarFiesta ST Race Car

    The beating heart at the core of this racer is its jewel-like Anderson Racing engine, which doesn’t use forced induction to extract those galloping horses, but instead cranks it up the traditional way. The top end sports a fully worked race head with one-piece valves, Piper cams ground to Anderson’s unique specs, and a set of hungry Jenvey throttle bodies with a fat ITG foam filter. Below decks lurk forged Wossner pistons and steel rods, wedged crank and a comprehensively uprated fuelling system, including baffled tank with swirl pot and twin pumps. The motor sits on M-Sport mounts and barks through a Milltek race system; governed by an Omex 600 ECU, it was mapped for Sunoco race fuel by Chris at EFI Parts to produce its mighty and reliable numbers. “Chris really knows his craft when it comes to mapping cars, his attention to detail is second to none,” Phil assures us. The rev limiter’s currently set at 8,700rpm, although it’ll happily go to 9,200. This is a thoroughly impressive motor, built strong for maximum attack.

    Fiesta ST Race CarFiesta ST Race Car

    As part of the car’s evolution at AutoPro, Phil was keen to have a Quaife sequential transmission fitted and set up. “This was one of the biggest hurdles of the build,” he recalls. “This, along with the Geartronics flat-shift with load sensor and Geartronics gear indicator, had never been fully developed for this car to flat-shift the gearbox… but with the input of Mike at AutoPro and Chris at EFI Parts with the setup and mapping, this really brought the car alive. When you’re pulling 8,700rpm and you pull the lever to flat-shift, you really feel the power – and as you’re basically strapped to the rollcage, in the seat with full harness and neck brace, it’s a pretty visceral experience.”

    The thing sounds completely insane – and it looks it too, thanks to M-Sport’s rally influence. The S2000 (or Super 2000) Fiestas were built to FIA specs for the WRC, and their aerodynamic and competition-bred developments translate very well to circuit racing too, as you can see by the fact that Phil’s car now runs an S2000 roof scoop as well as a full-fat S2000 rear spoiler. Gorgeous items, undoubtedly, but crafted for function rather than form.

    Fiesta ST Race CarFiesta ST Race Car

    “I raced the car in 2017 at a handful of meetings, knowing it was competitive,” Phil continues, “and after the further development work at AutoPro I raced in the 2018 Sprint Championship, coming in 1st place in every race I entered, and 3rd overall in the Speed Championship.” That’s a pretty astonishing set of results, and it’s as much down to the car’s stellar spec sheet as it is Phil’s skill and finesse behind the wheel. Underpinning this hot-to-trot drivetrain we find AST 2-way suspension, a comprehensive polybushing with Powerflex Black Series goodies, and AP Racing 4-pot brakes. These work with a Tilton pedal box with AP cylinders, and the rest of the interior is really a who’s-who of high-end race car essentials: within the lightweight fibreglass dash is an AiM MXL2 dashlogger, fed by the ECU to provide all the vital readouts. The sturdy rollcage is a pukka M-Sport affair, and what’s really impressive is how fastidiously clean it all is. It’s easy for race cars to fall into a pure function-over-form lifestyle, as they’re built to do a job rather than just looking pretty, but Phil’s impressively achieving both here. From some angles it’s almost hard to believe that this car ever finds itself launched into the filthy hellstorm of circuit racing, as it’s clean enough to be a trophy-winning show car. But rest assured, it gets used very hard indeed. And there’s something very cool about seeing a Mk6 hunkered down over little 15in wheels with slicks, isn’t there?

    “I run these 19/57 Michelin slicks in the dry, or 185/580 Dunlop wets if need be,” he says. “Both tyres are mega; I can run the car flat in the rain, nothing touches this thing in the wet!”

    The Fiesta certainly has huge presence, as evidenced by the endless stream of dropped jaws as we shoot the car in the garages at Ford Fair. “Everywhere I go, this car gets respect,” Phil grins. “It’s clear from all the attention it’s getting here at Silverstone, this Fiesta will out-drive most cars on the circuit – and that includes GT-Rs, Porsches, these high-powered Focuses… and all from a naturally-aspirated engine that sounds like a Hayabusa. No turbo required here, N/A all the way!”

    Fiesta ST Race CarFiesta ST Race Car

    The winning element of this car is that it works holistically as a perfectly refined package. The focus of the project hasn’t been purely on power, or on weight, or on any one element, but to ensure that everything works efficiently with everything else. It’s impressively powerful and very light, and the chassis has been carefully developed to ensure that it perfectly suits the power and allows Phil to deploy it to devastating effect. The relentless 1st-place podium finishes are testament to this: the car’s been built right, with the right parts, by the right people. It’s this inherent rightness which makes it a winner.

    Tech Spec: Fiesta ST Race Car

    Engine:

    2.0-litre naturally-aspirated Anderson Racing engine, Wossner forged pistons, steel conrods, Jenvey throttle bodies with ITG foam filter, fully worked race head with one-piece valves, Piper Cams to Anderson Racing spec, wedged crankshaft, baffled fuel tank with 1-litre swirl pot, high- and low-pressure fuel pumps, large Mocal oil cooler with mini race fan, blue silicone race hoses, Airtec aluminium radiator, M-Sport engine mounts, Milltek big-bore 4-1 race manifold with race backbox (98db), Omex 600 ECU, mapping and flat-shift setup by Chris @ EFI Parts – mapped for Sunoco FR (E10) race fuel

    Power:

    315bhp

    Transmission:

    Quaife sequential transmission (Geartronics flat shift with load sensor/Geartronics gear indicator), AP race clutch pack, lightweight steel 7/14 flywheel

    Suspension:

    AST 2-way suspension, Powerflex Black Series bushes throughout

    Brakes:

    AP Racing 4-pot calipers, 295mm front discs, Mintex race pads, Tilton brake bias, Tilton pedal box with AP cylinders

    Wheels & Tyres:

    15in OZ Racing Ultraleggera wheels, 19/57 Michelin slicks or 185/580 Dunlop wets

    Exterior:

    Custom livery, M-Sport S2000 rear spoiler, M-Sport S2000 roof scoop, ACW Motorsport anti-scratch windows, modified air intakes

    Interior:

    M-Sport rollcage, AiM MXL2 dashlogger (with GPS timing, oil pressure etc – Omex 600 ECU feeds to dash for RPM, TPS, air temp, coolant temp etc), full race wiring loom – with fully functional lights and wipers, lightweight fibreglass dash, Recaro Apex bucket seat, OMP 6-point harness, M-Sport fibreglass front doorcards, OMP steering wheel, Touring Car quick-release steering boss, OMP aluminium fire extinguisher, Aliant lithium race battery

    Feature taken from Fast Ford magazine. Words: Dan Bevis. Photos: Matt Woods

    Source

  • INTERIOR MOTIVE: VW GOLF MK3.5 CABRIO

    This Mk3.5 cabrio has been a relentless four-year odyssey for apprentice trimmer Max Hawkes. And with an eye for detail and the passion and tenacity to see it all through, he’s achieved his dreams of a super-intricate show stopper…

    VW Cabrio 3.5 golfVW Cabrio 3.5 golf

    The pursuit of effortlessness is something that really characterises the modern world. A huge amount of effort goes into the act of making life simpler – just look at the radically reworked interior of Max Hawkes Mk3.5 Golf cabrio for proof. He can take his phone out of his pocket and leave it on his custom wireless charger, and it’ll automatically start working with the wireless CarPlay function on his cutting-edge Kenwood headunit. How clever is that? This act of casual simplicity is shored up by an incredible level of complexity and effort, and that serves as a symbol for the car as a whole. Classy, crisp, tastefully finished… what appears at first glance to simply be a nicely looked after 1990s Golf reveals ever-deeper layers of graft and sweat the more you look. What we’re observing here is four years of solid effort, the upshot being one of the most comprehensively modified VWs on the scene today.

    VW Cabrio 3.5 golfVW Cabrio 3.5 golf

    The story begins, somewhat unusually, with Max being gifted the car by his parents as something to practice his interior trimming skills on, and it’s fair to say he picked up that baton and ran with it. “They probably didn’t expect me to take four years to start trimming it though,” he laughs.

    VW Cabrio 3.5 golfVW Cabrio 3.5 golf

    VWs were in his blood from the start, having grown up around various classics that his dad was working on, and Max’s first car – a Lupo – provided a solid learning curve. Road-trips with mates to buy wheels, fitting coilovers on the drive, this is the stuff lifelong memories are made of. Around this time he started an apprenticeship at celebrated trimmers d:class Automotive, which was when the cabrio arrived on the scene. Then another Lupo appeared, and a ’65 Beetle, and a 6N Polo rally car… but all the while the Mk3.5 had been lurking in the background waiting for its time to shine.

    VW Cabrio 3.5 golfVW Cabrio 3.5 golf

    “My dad bought it from a painter he used to work with, where it was being used as a work van and family car, so the interior was absolutely destroyed,” Max recalls. “It was completely stock, a 2.0-litre Colour Concept in Jazz Blue. The carpets were soaking wet with hydraulic fluid from the roof, and it had a few mouldy surprises around the interior. We also found endless toys and Lego men dotted around – which have been decontaminated and kept safe! Yet, for a Mk3 of its age, it had very little rust so it proved to be a perfect base to work from.”

    VW Cabrio 3.5 golfVW Cabrio 3.5 golf

    And without further ado, Max got to work. Having run budget coilovers on all his previous projects, he was keen to try air-ride with this one, so job one was to fit a used Air Lift setup with 3P management, and this was quickly followed by addressing that questionable Jazz Blue finish. So he began to prep for paint and, since there’s no point doing things by halves, he also set about rolling the wings flat and filling in the indicator holes, relocating the repeaters and welding the aerial hole. The car received a smattering of USDM chic too, with the front bumper and rubstrip providing a transatlantic flavour along with the ‘twindicator’ headlights. (And if you’re wondering why they’re Mk4 headlights – the Mk3.5 cabrio was a facelift of the Mk3, which kept the same body but adopted the styling of the Mk4. Clear? Great).

    VW Cabrio 3.5 golfVW Cabrio 3.5 golf

    With these details taken care of, the shell was handed to a professional for a fresh new coat of Sahara Beige… and with the old 2.0 8-valve engine removed anyway, he figured he may as well swap in a 2.0 16-valve ABF. Why not, eh? The GTI-spec motor was treated to twin Weber 45s for an old-school twist, having been stripped, cleaned, serviced and painted. It sits in a beautifully smoothed bay, a custom manifold-back single-box exhaust helping it find its voice, and having had an astronomical quote to sort the wiring loom, Max opted to do it himself. “This was by far the longest and most confusing part of the entire project,” he says, “although it did lead to one of the funniest memories – accidentally having the horn wired to be permanently on every time the key was turned, making my girlfriend jump out of
    her skin!”

    VW Cabrio 3.5 golfVW Cabrio 3.5 golf

    While all this was going on, he’d been putting a lot of thought into wheels; Max knew he wanted something custom and deep-dished, and ultimately landed on the idea of Porsche cookie cutters. These were reimagined as 16-inch three-piece splits, with the arches reprofiled to house their broad and staggered girth. “DR Services helped with widening the rear arches,” he explains. “No cutting of the outer arch skin took place, they were panel-beaten out to be at least 1.5-inch wider than factory while keeping the original look – meaning most people probably wouldn’t even notice this has been done! The inner arch was also cut and reshaped to allow for clearance of the tyre in the arch when aired out.

    VW Cabrio 3.5 golfVW Cabrio 3.5 golf

    “Once the car was wired and water-tight, it was then the last push to go to a family friend’s business, JKM Motor Services,” he continues. “They did an outstanding job making the car run perfectly for the first time since we ripped out the old engine. It then went for its first MOT with the new engine, where it passed first time and was legally roadworthy! And then came the deadline: Players Classic 2019 at Goodwood, where I was on the stand for Kenwood. The final stage of this build was where my expertise lie – the interior build…”

    VW Cabrio 3.5 golfVW Cabrio 3.5 golf

    This is where things start to get really juicy. Such is the level of detail, Max reckons he put well over four-hundred hours into the retrim, which frankly just boggles our minds. First stripping everything out, he meticulously planned where to fit the sound-deadening and position every element of the comprehensive suite of Kenwood upgrades he was planning. “One of the biggest modifications was to fit a doubleDIN headunit into the singleDIN dash,” he explains. “I wanted this to look as original as possible, as if it was factory. With the help of John Mandeville, the entire centre section was modified and reshaped to accommodate the brand new, state of the art Kenwood headunit”.

    VW Cabrio 3.5 golfVW Cabrio 3.5 golf

    The DMX8019DABS Multimedia System is one of the most advanced releases we’ve ever seen, the new headunit is the pinnacle of Kenwood’s popular DMX range, and the one with a monster spec that you’ll inevitably end up drooling over in Halfords when it hits the shelves this month. What makes this slimline mechless system so special? Well forget the term ‘game-changer’ for a second and think ‘wireless Apple CarPlay’!

    VW Cabrio 3.5 golfVW Cabrio 3.5 golf

    That’s right, this box of tricks is the very first from Kenwood to use wifi to offer Apple CarPlay without the need for a hard cable connection. The future’s wireless and Max is already ahead of the game. “I also created a wireless charging facility in the base of the centre console, so that I could effectively charge my phone while maintaining connection to wireless CarPlay featured within the new stereo.” explains Max.

    VW Cabrio 3.5 golfVW Cabrio 3.5 golf

    The doorcards were then extensively modified, carpets replaced in a more old-school style, and then a thorough design laid out for the retrim: Max wanted all of the stitching to flow from one panel to the next, a cohesive aesthetic with each piece drawing the eye to the next. Brown leather was chosen, with contrasting cream twin-stitch to tie the interior and exterior colours together. It’s extremely cleverly done, with the stitching visually isolating the driver zone from the passengers, while the side sills run alongside to tie in the B-pillar and rollbar, finishing in the rear quarters and over the rear seat. The details are mind-blowing too – the fusebox cover has even been lasered with the original fuse order. The attention to detail is staggering.

    VW Cabrio 3.5 golfVW Cabrio 3.5 golf

    “Aside from the stitching, I used a CNC machine – courtesy of d:class – to perforate the speaker grilles on the doorcards and rear quarters,” he goes on. “The pattern consists of a range of varying-sized triangles, inspired by the Kenwood logo, which expand toward the speaker itself. The CNC machine also produced the centres of the seats; this was a hard part to design, as I needed to ensure that it remained simple and fit in with the rest of the theme of the car, while also showing the capabilities of the machine. A lot of people may not notice that the perforation in the seat base fades from front to back, and also has a body-colour beige within the holes. The embroidery in the seats is perhaps not so subtle, but is an ode to all the companies that have helped me along the way.”

    VW Cabrio 3.5 golfVW Cabrio 3.5 golf

    With the Players Classic fast approaching, Max decided to trim two of his custom wheels in matching leather, before trimming the original hoodbag to match. Everything on the car that could be refinished was, with our hero using a full six hides of brown leather. “My colleagues and boss helped massively, but nearly all of the retrimming was done by myself,” he says. “As a final flourish, I got my friend James Giddings to re-cover the BBS steering wheel – he said it was the hardest wheel he’d ever retrimmed in his entire career, a fact he pleasantly reminded me of every single day!”

    VW Cabrio 3.5 golfVW Cabrio 3.5 golf

    The finished product we see today is sumptuous, fabulous, impeccable, and it’s key to remember that it was really all about the build: this Golf has basically been Max’s whole life for the last four years. A group of close friends helped keep him sane and pitched in where they could, but around 90-percent of what’s been achieved was all Max’s own work, and it really is a phenomenal achievement. Four-hundred hours painstakingly retrimming the interior alone, as well as finding cunning places for all of those Kenwood speakers, and of course that super-clever head unit; then there’s the flawless bodywork, the custom wheels, the hot-to-trot carb-fed ABF… the level of work and creativity in this car is simply unbelievable. So when you see it at shows – which you will – bear this fact in mind: it takes a hell of a lot of stress to look this relaxed.

    VW Cabrio 3.5 golfVW Cabrio 3.5 golf

    TECH SPEC: VW GOLF MK3.5

    Styling:
    Full respray in VW Sahara Beige, smooth USDM front bumper, ‘twindicator’ USDM modded headlights, brand new front wings rolled completely flat – with aerial hole welded over and side indicators relocated to USDM front rubstrip, rear arches rolled and panel-beaten wider by 1.5-inch to keep OEM look, custom brown mohair roof with tinted rear window

    Tuning:
    2.0-litre 16v ABF, twin Weber 45 carbs with Pipercross filters, manifold-back exhaust system with single rear silencer and twin upswept tips, custom expansion tank, battery relocated under rear seat and swapped for 2x race batteries, ABS delete (replaced with bias valves), top mount covers retrimmed, heater matrix inlet trim cover, gas strut trimmed, scuttle panel wiper clearance smoothed and trimmed, custom Pipercross cabin filter, engine bay smoothed, scuttle panel removed with chassis legs and side panels welded in – painted Sahara Beige

    Chassis:
    7.5x16in (front) and 8.5x16in (rear) custom Porsche cookie cutter split-rims – one side painted brown, one side trimmed in leather, original Porsche centre caps painted/trimmed to match with laser-etched Porsche crests, Air Lift suspension with 3P management, rear beam relocation plates (to centralise wheels when aired out), new OE calipers and discs all round, chassis notch for driveshaft, front balljoint extenders (to allow car to sit lower), custom power-steering lines and bottle

    Interior:
    Dash centre modified to fit Kenwood doubleDIN wireless CarPlay headunit – heater controls and all switches moved to allow for larger unit, 12v socket relocated to glovebox, dash trimmed to owner’s design, dash speaker grilles trimmed with Kenwood speakers pattern (designed by owner), lower glovebox trimmed inside and out, fusebox lid trimmed with laser-engraved fuse list, BBS steering wheel retrimmed with custom hand-stitch style, all interior plastics (apart from dash driver zone) painted to match leather, centre console retrimmed including wireless phone charger, all stitching flowing into dash as one loop to highlight driver zone, front windscreen surround and sun visors trimmed, front and rear doorcards trimmed with owner’s custom-designed Kenwood speaker covers perforated and embroidered, front door pockets with leather inserts (for softer touch), window switches relocated from doors to centre console, speaker grilles modified with leather covers, full custom carpet set in brown twin-loop, retrimmed matching leather hoodbag, front and rear Recaro Colour Concept seats retrimmed with seat centres CNC machined perforated, stitched and embroidered by d:class automotive

    Audio:
    Kenwood DMX8019DABS wireless CarPlay headunit; Kenwood KFC X174 front door speakers, Kenwood KFC PS1095 rear quarters, Kenwood KFC dash tweeters, Kenwood X301 4-channel amp, Kenwood PSW8 under-seat subwoofer, Kenwood DRV N520 dash camera

    Thanks:
    “I would like to say thank you to James Horwood, Bryan Butler, Craig Searle, Drew Stanley, Harry Pitcher, Kieran Bicknell, Dan Guiery: for the hours that they have put into helping build this car! Another massive thank you needs to go to Keith @Kenwooduk, for giving me the kick I needed to get the car done in time for Players Classic. I couldn’t have finished in time for that deadline if I didn’t have John Mandeville, David Price, James Giddings, Laurence Burchall and Andy Young and others at D:Class helping out. The bodywork wouldn’t have been complete without Angus for painting, Dave Rush on metal work and Barry for last minute crises! The wiring wouldn’t have been completed without help of a lot of people, mainly John Newman who knows so much about Volkswagens it’s unbelievable. Thank you to UK Hide, Pipercross, JKM, Meguiar’s, and Laser Cut London for the services and products that they supplied. And finally thank you to my parents for buying the car for me to begin with, and also Zoe for dealing with me through the past four years!”

    Words Daniel Bevis Photography George F. Williams

    Source

  • 4 ROTOR MAZDA RX-7: 1500BHP BEAST

    David Mazzei has built the world’s wildest road-legal 4 rotor Mazda RX-7, but he certainly doesn’t try and take all the credit for this beast… Check out the dyno run further down to listen to this monster on full chat! 

    The modified car world is a massively varied place – it’s one of the reasons we all love it, and for every type of car out there there’s loads of different routes people take when it comes to upgrades. You could be building a road car, a race car, a show car, or concentrating your efforts and money on a certain area of the car: be it the engine, cosmetics, handling, or whatever. But what if you just want it to be, well, everything? In all honesty, most cars that try to be good at everything often end up a bit of a disaster. It’s like they don’t know what they want to be and end up not that great in any aspect. But there’s exceptions to every rule and this flippin’ insane 4 rotor Mazda RX-7 is one of them.

    4 Rotor Mazda RX-74 Rotor Mazda RX-7

    So what is this car? Well, it’s everything. It really is. It looks like a show car. Yet it’s used regularly both on the road and the track, and it’s not just used, but it’s used HARD.

    When we say it’s everything, it is from a spec point of view. I mean, what’s the ultimate rotary engine? A quad rotor RX-7 of course. Yep, it’s got that. What’s the wildest type of rotary engine porting? Peripheral ports. Yep, it’s got that. Has it got a turbo? Hell yes it has – a gigantic Garrett GTX55 capable of up to 2500bhp; it’s even got a gold plated compressor inlet! We could go on all day, but it really is top of the tree in every aspect.

    4 Rotor Mazda RX-74 Rotor Mazda RX-7

    The thing is to build the ultimate all-round monster of a car, whatever kind of car it is, is more than just spending money on the most expensive parts you can find; lots of people do this, and it usually ends up an under-performing mess. But the owner of this car, David Mazzei, knows this. This car has been under non-stop development and progress for years, and it’s still being developed to this very day, but David gets some of the best people in the business, as well as some very capable friends, to make sure this car really does achieve his goals: a road-going car that’s not only show quality, but capable of winning the Unlimited RWD class at Time Attack events.

    4 Rotor Mazda RX-7

    As we’re sure you know, RX-7s come with twin-rotor engines as standard, and David’s previous Mazda RX-7 had a triple rotor 20B engine which was running a huge 1200bhp+ capable turbo, but for this car he went a step further and chose a quad rotor, most commonly known as a 26B.

    While most people, including David, say that a big reason for wanting to go for a 4 rotor Mazda RX-7 is the incredible noise, a scream reminiscent of the engines in the Formula 1 V10 era, there’s a lot more reasons than that. Twice the rotors give twice the capacity and twice the airflow, which means, if all else was equal, twice the performance right across the rev range. And unlike adding significant extra capacity on most piston engines, this doesn’t really lower the safe rev limit on rotaries – this thing happily revs to 9500rpm all day long. While rotary engines flow well as standard, this quad rotor has been treated to the most extreme porting possible and that’s peripheral ports which, combined with the huge 98mm inducer GTX55 Gen2 turbo and many other tricks, make this engine create massive power levels at amazingly low boost. David’s 4 rotor Mazda RX-7 makes over 950bhp at the wheels – which is well over 1000bhp at the flywheel at just 20psi boost. In fact, it was likely well over 1000 at the wheels in reality, but the wheels were spinning on the dyno, making it read lower than the true numbers. While it hasn’t been dyno tested beyond 20psi, it’s likely capable of 1500bhp or more with the boost cranked up to 30psi+. While the big boost numbers are always the things to show off about, the fact the car makes around 800bhp at the wheels at just 1bar (14.5psi) boost is even more incredible; almost all of us have road cars that run that much boost or more on normal pump fuel, but do they make 800 screaming horses? In a word, no.

    Probably most surprising to anyone who has noticed the turbo, which is the size of a small planet, is the fact this car is super responsive and has a very wide powerband. This car makes over 500bhp for well over 4000rpm of its rev range. This is far more than almost all engines of a similar level of power!

    So was this incredible engine simply a case of ordering a 4 rotor engine and a gigantic turbo? Hell no. In fact, the issues he had with it originally are a great example of why getting the best out of a tuned car just isn’t as simple as that. And it’s also a reason why he’s so thankful to the specialists he’s got involved in this project.

    4 Rotor Mazda RX-74 Rotor Mazda RX-7

    The original quad rotor engine set-up he had built and imported for this car was a bit of a disaster: the external oil pump set-up was incorrect which starved the engine of oil, the peripheral ports weren’t sealed correctly so had internal coolant leaks, the manifold design was terrible, the rotors had balance and compression problems and his desired engine note, the high pitched wail of the Mazda 787B Le Mans car, wasn’t there either.

    Thankfully, rather than giving up or settling for second best, David was determined to keep his dream alive and get things done properly. Morgan Performance Fabrication created him a new turbo manifold closely based on the Mazda 787B Le Mans car design, which not only eliminated any restriction and prevented boost creep, but gave him the awesome noise he wanted too. Chips Motorsports and Eccentric Motorsports combined their skills to create an engine which was both powerful and reliable. And to top it off, rotary tuning legend Abel Ibarra took care of the dyno tuning, making this engine powerful, reliable, awesome sounding, and kicking out some insane flames from the front wing-exit exhaust!

    The above is literally the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this engine, and a look at the spec list confirms that, but the engine set-up is full of tricks, including a NASCAR-style shaft drive fuel pump mounted at the rear of the car, a large cooler for the fuel mounted in the rear bumper, and the small matter of eight huge injectors which can flow an insane 12.5ltr per minute when flat out!

    While we could talk about the engine all day, that wouldn’t be doing the rest of this car justice, as it’s a true all-rounder, and that includes its looks. The bodywork consists of a mix of RE Amemiya and Feed parts, as well as the legendary Scoot vented bonnet, and it has as much function as it does form, with functional downforce creating parts, ducting and vents to get the air to and from all the vital parts, and many components that are significantly lighter than the standard ones too.

    Work of art

    The wheels and tyres are another great function and form thing. The wheels are WORK Meister S1s; top quality JDM rims that are right at the top of the tree in the show car world. But they are also genuine motorsport wheels that were commonly used in Japanese GT Racing in the 1990s and ‘00s. For tyres, the car runs Maxxis VR1 road-legal track tyres for the street but for track use, it runs full racing slicks for maximum traction.

    The suspension set-up is all fully adjustable and rose jointed and uses top quality Fortune Auto coilovers. But the secret weapon behind getting this car to handle and corner as it should is the help and advice of another of David’s friends, professional racing driver Bryan Leonard. As much as we like to believe we’re great drivers, anyone who’s been out on track with a true professional racing driver knows they’re in a different league, and Bryan’s experience and understanding of the way the car behaves has been a massive help in setting up the car.

    4 Rotor Mazda RX-74 Rotor Mazda RX-7

    As anyone who’s built a big project knows, while skilled professionals are vital for some things, enthusiastic and helpful friends and family who aren’t afraid to get stuck in can make the difference between an unfinished project and a show stopper, and David’s wild 4 rotor is no exception. Grant Snyder is a long time friend and fellow rotor-head who’s spent countless hours helping set up and trouble shoot this car and David’s girlfriend massively helps with this car too. And we don’t mean the typical car polishing, spanner passing type of  help, but legit ‘oily hands fixing broken mechanical parts’ type of help!

    So this car’s clearly a flame throwing, ear bleeding, tyre smoking beast, but nobody can explain it better than the owner and driver; over to David…

    “It’s all about the feeling and the experience. The sound of the engine you can feel right through your body and through every part of the car; it’s intense. The noise from the turbo spooling, the blue flames from the screamer pipes you can see at night at full boost, and the massive backfires and flames from the side exit exhaust that can be so strong that they move the wing mirror. And the performance – well it’s not about using it all, it’s about using as much as you can before you become too afraid to keep your foot down!”

    So is this car finished? Of course not. Until David’s goal of winning Unlimited RWD in Time Attack is achieved then this is the one big thing to aim for. But even at this current spec it’s already gone through many transmission changes, and the car has a lot more improvements already in progress as you read this. With David’s great attitude and determination, and his great collection of friends and sponsors helping him along the way, this car will just keep getting better and better.

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    Tech Spec: 4 Rotor Mazda RX-7

    Tuning

    Quad rotor peripheral port engine built by Eccentric Motorsports, Chips Motorsports peripheral port coolant modification and O-ringed inserts, lightened/balanced/clearanced rotating assembly, Plazmaman peripheral port intake clamps with Viton O-rings, custom aluminium Garrett core water-to-air intercooled intake manifold, Plazmaman 100mm throttle body with progressive throttle cam, rear hatch mounted intercooler heat exchanger, Garrett Gen2 GTX5533R 98mm turbocharger, “T51R compressor inlet mod” with gold plated inlet, twin Turbosmart 50mm Pro-Lite wastegates, Morgan Performance Fabrication equal length exhaust manifold built to 787B specs, MpFab Titanium wastegate tubes & stainless side exit exhaust, DEI gold reflective thermal barrier tape, turbine heat blanket, 3port Mac valve boost solenoid, 4x Bosch 2100cc injectors and 4x Bosch 1000cc injectors, billet fuel rails, Weldon 10AN fuel pressure regulator, modified fuel tank, Weldon remote mounted mechanical fuel pump, Waterman NASCAR cable fuel pump drive, AEM water injection, flex fuel sensor, in-tank primer pump, Peterson R4 external high pressure oil pump, billet baffled sump, Moroso oil accumulator, Haltech Elite 2500 ECU, Guldstand Pro EFI wiring loom, AEM Smart Coil ignition system, 4 channel exhaust gas temperature unit, AEM wideband, AEM 12 position adjustable boost dial, 200Amp alternator with adjustable voltage regulator, XS Power battery, 16 volt charging system, CBR Racing custom radiator, SPAL 11in extreme CFM fans, Mezziere electric water pump, rotor housing spark plug cooling system for rear rotors, dual 30-row oil coolers, single 15-row bumper mounted oil cooler, 30-row rear mounted fuel cooler, rear bumper mounted/diffuser exit, 1 gallon intercooler ice tank and pump; Quaife QBE69G 6-speed sequential gearbox, Carbonetic 1.5 Way 32-pack carbon clutched LSD, Spec triple plate clutch, Driveshaft Shop axles, differential case girdle and bracing, 19-row differential and gearbox cooler with Tilton pump

    Chassis

    Fortune Auto 510 Series adjustable coilovers with 12kg/14kg springs, adjustable front camber arms, adjustable tie rods, manual steering race, poly rack bushes, uprated front ARB with adjustable links, rose jointed rear trailing arms, rose jointed rear toe arms

    Brakes

    Brembo Gran Turismo GT1 (Ferrari F50) 4 pot front brake system, drilled discs front and rear with stainless PTFE brake lines, Hawk DTC60/30 racing pads, spring-loaded 2.5in brake ducting, stainless steel front brake ducted backing plates, Chase Bays master cylinder and brake bias adjustment system

    Wheels and Tyres

    9.5x18in (front) and 11.5x18in (rear) WORK Meister S1 wheels, 255/35×18 (front) and 295/40×18 (rear) Maxxis VR1 road tyres, and 250/640×18 (front) and 300/680×18 Yokohama medium compound full race slick tyres

    Exterior

    Feed front and rear arches, modified Scoot vented bonnet, RE-Amemiya sleek headlights, adjustable chassis mount rear wing, Mazzei Formula front splitter, RE-Amemiya rear diffuser, Feed side skirts, Mazda 99 spec front bumper, polycarbonate rear screen, Aerocatch bonnet pins, Quicklatch rear hatch pins

    Interior

    Racepak/Haltech digital dash, Defi rev counter, boost pressure, and oil pressure gauges, carbon switch panels, battery kill switch, 6 point roll cage by Kirk Racing, 10lb AFFF Alcohol fire-suppression system, Halon secondary extinguisher, Sabelt 6-point racing harnesses, BRIDE bucket seats, SFI rollcage padding

    Feature taken from Fast Car magazine. Words: Stav. Photos: Mike Kuhn

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