Yes, you may have seen this car before, but never quite like this. It's been nearly five years since this RX-7 last competed, managing to dip into the elusive 55-second bracket at Japan's favorite circuit for the revered Tsukuba Super Lap. But even after this long of a hiatus, everyone's favorite pink-and-white RX-7 is back, ready to prove its worth on the international level. If you'll flip to our coverage of Australia's World Time Attack Finals (WTAF) on page 54 of our October '10 issue, you'll notice it spewing fireballs to the tune of 1:33.505 lap times around Eastern Creek International Raceway. That was its first international endeavor, and amidst competing machines from the likes of Panspeed, Tomei/Cusco, Cyber, and Sierra-Sierra (along with countless others), it finished an impressive Fifth. Not bad for a shakedown session.
Four years is a long time in the world of tuning. Product development has never been so intensive and choices so vast as companies do their best to stay afloat in a recovering economy. This has edged car builders forward, all but forcing them to push the performance envelope and come up with faster cars. With their 55-second RX-7 so far ahead of the curve five years ago, R Magic believes that fine-tuning the platform is all that's needed to stay ahead of their rivals. Regardless, it was back to the drawing board for the 2010 season. Underhood, the car's side-ported 13B was rebuilt and given a new blower from Australia-based GCG, based on the same T04Z model as is supplied to HKS. The compressor was specifically matched to guarantee not only higher top-end power, but also a more responsive and progressive boost curve at lower rpm.
This quest for response also dictated the new intercooler setup, which combines a higher-flowing core from ARC with custom-made end tanks that allow it to be fitted horizontally in front of the engine, allowing for shorter intake plumbing for better response, and for a V-mount configuration with the radiator that makes best use of cool, ambient airflow. An externally vented Sard blow-off valve has been positioned closely to the throttle, more to this effect. The T04Z expels spent gasses through a custom twin titanium exhaust system, straight all the way until both pipes exit with a slight up-tilt at the rear of the car.
To balance the weight of the driver, R Magic positioned a custom Sard/Bosch fuel system to the passenger side of the interior, where a racing fuel tank takes center stage. High-voltage R Magic spark cables and a grounding kit can be found underhood, making sure the strongest and cleanest sparks are created in the combustion chambers, while an A'pexi Power FC and HKS F-Con V Pro work together at handling the engine's parameters-parameters that can be read by the driver via an AiM MXL digital gauge unit and four A'pexi dials laid out on the center section of a lightweight custom dash. A Neko Corporation A/F640 helps the driver keep an eye on air/fuel mixtures, while the Ultra gear-shift indicator displays which of the six straight-cut gears the Hewland six-speed sequential transmission is locked into-channeling close to 600 hp to the ground is no easy feat! Fortunately, a tuned ATS carbon two-way limited-slip differential and triple-plate carbon clutch are up to the task every bit as much as that Super GT 'box.
Chassis tuning is of equal concern to the minds of R Magic-this RX-7 has been substantially strengthened with extensive bracing around suspension mounting points as well as seam-welded to increase its overall rigidity. Everything that was not needed has been stripped away and the entire interior was left bare except for the intricately welded and braced rollcage. Specially valved Ohlins DFV dampers were matched to super-stiff Eibach springs, and fitted to the custom R Magic adjustable links. Endless supplied a full braking changeover, consisting of six-piston calipers at the front and four-piston units at the rear, with large slotted and floating discs with track-specific pads all around.