Why do you, loyal follower, search through 2NR each month to check out what cars we have featured? Don't say anything; just ponder that for a second. You have demanded more sick cars, demented builds and eye-popping looks. We have answered because you want to, no, need to read about these cars. They are inspiration, entertainment and blueprints for a future project all in one neatly wrapped box. Maybe you don't have the money or resources to build a car like this 1993 Mazda RX-7 R1. Maybe you just want to see what other people have done. Either way, you wonder how they built them.
But what if we told you this RX-7 was built right here in the United States and has raced competitively against cars with more than double the budget? Top six finishes in Formula D and D1 events were merely a precursor to qualifying for a D1 license representing the stars and the stripes at the GT Live U.S. vs. Japan event. Now you really want to know how he built it, don't you?OK, we'll tell you how it happened, but you've gotta earn it. Let's play a little game.
1. You are Jeff McCall of Rotary Power, the Gardena, Calif., shop behind this Mazda RX-7. You have previously owned an RX-2, -3, -4; and 1979 and 1994 RX-7s-pretty much anything that was a combination of a number and the letters "RX." A customer has two crashed third-generation FD3S RX-7s, which were bought at a public auction. In exchange for restoring one of the RX-7s, this customer gives you the other. It sits in the back of the shop, and then you decide to build a drift car. The wreck would make a perfect starting point for the project, but the catch is that you have only nine days to get the Mazda ready for its first event. Do you:a. Use the crashed RX-7 and build it from the ground up? Go to #6.b. Find a better-condition RX-7 and drop in a Nissan SR20DET engine? Go to #3.
2. Hiding the braking system is a set of 18-inch light gray Speed Star D5R rims. Your wheel choice looks perfect. The only problem is they're 9 inches in the front and 10 inches wide in the rear. For that wheel width, the tire size you have in mind is 235/40-18 in the front and 275/35-18 in the rear. What tire are you going to stretch over these rollers?a. Whatever is cheap, half-used and fits. Go to #4.b. Capitalize on Falken Tire's interest in drifting and use its Azenis ST-115 rubber. Go to #15.
3. Are you f**king kidding? 2NR and monster trucks are a better match than that blasphemous combo!
4. That may get you through at the grassroots drifting level, but not here in the D1 Grand Prix.
5. Close call, but it was a trick. Jam back to #11 if you want to finish.
6. With the RX-7's body being patched back together, a new rotary engine must be prepared to drop into it. A mixture of housings and rotors, turbo'd and naturally aspirated rotors, and second- and third- generation parts all mesh together to create a new two-rotor motor. How do you prepare the 13B rotary housing to handle sustained boost?a. Upgrade using 3mm ceramic apex seals with twin friction-coated springs, twin spring-steel side seals and triple coil-sprung corner seals. Then race-port the housing and water passages, narrow the rotors, polish and jet the eccentric shaft and balance everything. Go to #12.b. Sleeve the block, buy forged pistons and rods and port the cylinder head. Go to #8.
7. Breathing through a high-flow cat and custom 80mm exhaust, the RX-7 was tuned for its first event with a 20-minute session, which consisted of two fourth-gear pulls on the freeway. After proper tuning, the RX-7 laid down 434 hp and 360 lb-ft of torque at R&D Dyno. How do you keep the power going to the ground?a. Fit in a Cusco Hyper Single clutch and aluminum flywheel, spinning a KAAZ two-way limited-slip differential with 4.37:1 Mazdaspeed final drive. Go to #11.b. Keep the stock clutch, but cryo-treat the rear end and stock differential? Go to #13.
8. Don't know a lot about rotaries, huh? Game over.
9. Remind us not to let you tune our cars. Boom.
10. After returning from the body shop, the RX-7 recieved a Veilside wing and side mirrors, and front headlights that were used simply because the stock pop-up headlight motors couldn't fit around the dual 35-row Earl's oil coolers. Visually flowing and smooth, the distinctive American D1 RX-7 received its most defining grace, a kabuki mask theme created by Euphoric Designs that complements the paint perfectly. But with an exterior this good, what kind of interior should you sport?a. Save up and go nuts: Make carbon-fiber copies of every single thing you can rip off the car. Go to #14.b. Get down to business: only what the driver needs and nothing else. Go to #18.
11. R1 or not, the stock RX-7 suspension isn't going to cut it on the track. Do you:a. Get a set of 12kg/mm front and 10kg/mm rear Kei Office coil-overs with Racing Beat anti-sway bars? Go to #16.b. Use custom-valved coil-overs with top-secret spring rates, keeping the stock bars? Go to #5.
12. Now for the most important part, engine management. Do you:a. Use a simple fuel pressure regulator and hope for the best? Go to #9.b. Use a stand-alone Haltech ECU to control 750cc primary and 1300cc secondary RC Engineering injectors with MSD ignition and dyno-tune it yourself. Go to #7.
13. Almost, but you didn't quite get it right. Jump back to #7.
14. You've got our kind of attitude when it comes to modifications, but bigger isn't always necessary. Sorry.
15. Your driver, Hawaiian hot-shoe drifter Ross Petty, suffered a bit of damage on the previously installed Veilside body kit during the GT Live U.S. vs. Japan event. Petty leaves Hawaii shortly before events and returns quickly after. His usual sled is a Nissan 240SX, so coming to grips with this refined rotary beast is at the top of his list. Adjusting like a pro, Petty has begun to score better results and obtain more coverage for this RX-7. A broken body kit is not going to help the team's media exposure, though. Do you:a. Have Body by Buddha fit a BN widebody kit by C-Wings and cover it all with a factory Ferrari red tone? Go to #10.b. Zip tie and duct tape the Veilside pieces back on and just get on with it? Go to #4.
16. The RX-7 comes with superb four-piston front and single-piston rear factory brakes, but crappy-looking stock wheels. What's the call?a. Fit even bigger 15-inch brakes under monster polished wheels. Go to #14.b. Fit stock-sized 11.5-inch Project Mu brake rotors all around with Earl's braided stainless-steel brake lines and keep the stock Mazda calipers. Go to #2.
17. A GReddy single turbo kit, ripped off your own street car, donates its stainless tubular manifold and TD06SH-20G turbo, which has already been cast aside in exchange for a T3 turbo. You want even more power though. How do you get it?a. Swap the turbo rotary out for a Chevy V8 engine? Go to #3.b. Toss the T3 for a Garrett GT35R turbocharger and custom-mounted GReddy intercooler? Go to #12.
18. Aside from the Techtrix six-point roll cage, Sparco Pro 2000 seats and steering wheel, the driver has only a Veilside 60mm boost gauge, 52mm oil temp gauge and the road to keep him company. All the better too, because he'll be riding in probably the greatest budget-friendly, grassroots RX-7 ever.
With a budget stretched farther than our own paychecks, Rotary Power's RX-7 has undoubtedly gotten further than anybody thought an RX-7 could go without resources like A'PEXi or Mopar. Plus the car is driven on the street to and from the dyno facility-how great is that shit?