Mazda RX-8 by SpeedSource

The Mazda RX-8 has already received numerous accolades from the automotive press since its introduction three years ago. Most of the time, drivers and writers are enamored with the keen handling offered by the car's perfect 50/50 weight distribution. It's this even spread of weight that makes the car easy to drive fast and predictable when it's being pushed - even when a little bit too hard.

The perfect weight distribution is a boon on the street but it's even more beneficial on the racetrack; the great handling characteristics that perfect weight distribution helps impart is one of the reasons why the Mazda RX-8 seen here won back to back Grand-Am Cup championships. More impressively though, the No. 67 SpeedSource Engineering Mazda RX-8, with drivers Sylvain Tremblay and David Haskell behind the wheel, captured the ST Category title in its debut season in 2004 and then repeated the feat in 2005 in the face of even stiffer competition.

Of course, a great car is only half of the equation of any successful racing operation. The other fifty percent is a combination of proper preparation, teamwork, race strategy, and ultimately - the driver behind the wheel. SpeedSource Engineering had all these bases covered in their championship campaigns.

Established in 1995 by a man that has had racing in his blood since the day he won his first race at age 16, SpeedSource Engineering offers race-prepped cars and custom fabrication to any team in need.

It wasn't long before owner Sylvain Tremblay wanted back on the track. His opportunity came in the form of a Mazda RX-7 twin turbo (FD3S) prepped, of course, by his own SpeedSource Engineering. He quickly went on to nail two wins in the IMSA Endurance Championship and place 2nd in the driver championship. The RX-7s were finally retired after netting SpeedSource the team championship in 1998, and the company once again turned its attention to building race cars.

Fast-forward three years to 2001. SpeedSource added another successful chapter to its racing endeavors with a Porsche-based program comprised of Porsche Boxsters and 911s that delivers multiple championships. Despite their winning ways, Sylvain and SpeedSource never lost their affinity for racing fast and reliable rotary-powered Mazdas.

So, when the all-new Renesis-powered Mazda RX-8 was introduced in 2004, SpeedSource wasted little time in signing up as one of first professional Mazda RX-8-based teams. It came right from the factory with a 9000-rpm rotary engine and a remarkably stiff chassis that would need little modification before hitting the track. The obvious similarities between the SpeedSource RX-8 and a roadgoing RX-8 are evidence of the relatively easy process takes place to transform a factory-spec Mazda RX-8 to the Grand-Am competition-spec SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 highlighted in this month's Meet The Tuners feature.

First, the right RX-8 is necessary. To SpeedSource, that means a car without a sunroof and with a six-speed transmission. The sunroof that came on most RX-8's sold for street use adds extra weight exactly where it hurts the most - the highest point possible. And the six-speed transmission is a no-brainer for race use (if you can guess the one team that's tried an automatic in Grand Am, you get extra points).

The car is immediately stripped of all comfort and luxury features, along with anything else that isn't absolutely necessary to lap the race track. Kiss that six-disc goodbye along with all the cool rotor-themed details as well, because they'll be replaced with a rough carbon fiber board that houses essential switches and controls. Next, a roll cage with enough bracing to build two jungle gyms is welded into the car with additional bracing and supports. Finally, the relaxing factory air conditioning is replaced with a three-nozzle, 10lb. fire suppression system.

The RX-8's elaborate instrument panel is replaced with a simple Motec Digital Dash with built-in lap timer. Crowning the new, purpose built instrumentation are Motec's sequential shift lights. The heavy, airbag-equipped Mazda steering wheel is replaced with a suede unit courtesy of Sparco, which is a better match for racing gloves. The comfortable bucket seats are also ditched in favor of a singular Sparco EVO race seat, which is welded into place to match the driver's height and reinforced with a 3" x 4" steel plate back brace. While we're on the topic of Sparco, we should mention that it's their 3-inch, six-point racing harnesses that replace the stock seatbelts.

The cage is designed to work around the interior compartment - maximizing the driver's operating area while still providing a substantial safety cage to reduce the dangers of door to door competition. The intricate network of tubing even cuts a path through the space door panels would occupy in your RX-8; like everything else, the doors are lightened through stripping and cutting to a basic shell and skin structure. It's safe to say that the drivers of these cars are in a cozy little cocoon of safety when SpeedSource's work is done. After driver safety is addressed, the entire interior is painted to match the lightweight, one-stage paint found on the exterior of the car.

Outside, things may look roughly like your roadgoing RX-8, but looks are deceiving. A subtle MAZDASPEED fascia (the car uses same MAZDASPEED accessory pieces available to all RX-8 owners at Mazda dealerships) lowers the front air dam enough to provide more air into the hot engine bay. Out back, a MAZDASPEED wing and rear valance create downforce while matching MAZDASPEED sideskirts ensure lateral turbulence is kept to a minimum.

You'll probably also notice the aggressive stance of the racecar - it rides quite a bit lower than stock, thanks to a custom built suspension from Dynamic Suspension. Behind the Racing Hart wheels sit very capable factory stock brakes, equipped with competition-type Hawk brake pads.

Perhaps the most surprising fact to some race fans is that the engine is essentially stock, except being balanced and blueprinted. While Grand-Am rules don't allow extensive modification of the engine, the high-performance-from-the-factory nature of the Renesis rotary engine makes it an obvious track candidate. The short list of modifications in the engine bay includes a Motec engine management system, a SpeedSource cold air intake, and a racing radiator.

There are many other details in preparing a factory RX-8 into the championship-winning No. 67 car seen here, but the aforementioned changes represent the bulk of the process. Besides netting drivers Tremblay and Haskell the ST driver's championship in 2004 and 2005, the No. 67 SpeedSource RX-8, with support of several other identically prepared RX-8s campaigned by the team, delivered the Team championship to SpeedSource and the manufacturer's cup to Mazda in 2005 - more accolades to an already impressive list.

Mazda RX-7 by Calvin Wan

If the name Calvin Wan sounds familiar, it should. Calvin Wan is well known to the growing number of motorsports fans who have become drift fanatics. As a driver for Falken Tires’ professional drift team, he drifts the company’s GReddy twin-turbo’d Infiniti in the Formula D North American drifting championship and Falken Drift Showoff events – and even competes in international D1 Grand Prix drift competition on occasion. In July of 2005, Wan became the first driver to drift a Japanese nameplate into Formula D’s winner’s circle. But while his company car is an Infiniti, his personal weapon of choice is a Mazda RX-7.

In fact, Wan first appeared on the national map in a red, FD generation Mazda RX-7 at the 2003 D1 U.S. vs. Japan driver’s search – the first major drifting event in the U.S. He heavily damaged his RX-7 during qualifying, but still managed to impress a lot of people that day – including Falken Tires brass, who soon signed the Northern California resident to a team contract. While the new position thrust him into an international spotlight, it hasn’t changed Wan’s proclivity towards rotary powered sliders.

“I am very fond of Mazdas and the FD3S,” says Wan. “I believe it is one of the greatest sports cars ever built. I have been to many Sevenstock events at Mazda’s headquarters in Irvine, California. I am particularly interested in the new RX-7 that they are coming out with in the near future.”

There’s no better proof than the subject of our Meet The Tuners feature that you see here - Wan’s personal snow white FD3S Mazda RX-7, which replaces his red FD and has just finished its multi-year transformation from stocker to shocker. Starting its transformation from the depths of despair, Wan’s turbocharged and tuned RX-7 has relied on hand-me-downs and spares parts to attain its dressed-to-thrill looks and dizzying performance.

“I bought the chassis through Rotary Reliability and Racing in Southern California,” says Wan. “It was a beat-up parts car and I dreamed of turning it into a top level drift/time attack car. The lion’s share of credit goes to Henry Chung of Motorsport Dynamics - he handled all the mechanical wrenching, from the meticulous seam welding of the body to the installation of all the hard parts. Apexi USA supplied an old, discontinued AX75F82 turbo kit and the R-Magic Saito Roll Cage from their U.S. D1 drift car. The motor, drivetrain and suspension came off of my previous red D1 FD.”

The Apexi AX75-series turbos, still mainstays in the Apexi lineup, are designed for single turbo applications and rely on ARICK assisted ball bearing center sections to improve responsiveness and generous compressor A/Rs to deliver big power. The unit on Wan’s car with an 82-spec cold side is rated at 550 to 650 horsepower, which kicks the back around quite nicely when the boost hits. The rotary runs a very hip Rotary Extreme V-mount intercooler/radiator set-up that positions the chiller in a top-mount looking location forward of the engine. The radiator is laid out to make a V configuration and allow air from the nose to dissipate heat from both exchangers. The piping is a Rotary Extreme affair using a GReddy elbow as ‘point-A.’ Tuning is addressed with an Apex Power FC and AVC-R/ The Power FC is a piggyback ECU that allows tuning of ignition timing maps, fuel duty cycle, and air flow meter simulation among others. The AVC-R is Apexi’s tried-and-proven boost controller. The fuel system has been fortified with an Apexi BNR33 pump, Aeromotive regulator and upgraded 850cc primary and 1300cc secondary injectors expertly flow-matched by RC Engineering. Finally, the driveline has been taken to task with an Exedy clutch set, KAAZ two-way, clutch type differential, Mazdaspeed bushings and a RE Amemiya D1-spec shifter.

Footwork consists of Apexi N1 Pro coilovers, the all important Super Now steering adaptors that give more turn-in to keep pace with quick drift transitions, Rotary Extreme arms and ST Suspension roll bars. The Mazda rolls 18-inch Gram Lights aluminum and Falken Azenis RT-615 rubber. Up front, 18x9 wheels are joined by 235/40 tires while out back 18x10 rims and 275/35 tires are tortured as they are heavily hazed during serious sideways maneuvers.

Today the FD looks like no other parts car we can think of. Almaden Collision worked the magic in the body tuning department by massaging the panels and installing a jaw-dropping Final Konnexion body kit. The Mazda also sports aggressive Final Konnexion front and rear fascias and side skirts augmented by a Rotary Extreme rear wing and N1-spec carbon hood. Finishing touches include a Motorsport Dynamics front splitter, C-west canards and Feed headlight ducts.

“We got the chassis finished for SEMA 2004 and displayed at the Star Shield Armor booth," says Wan. “The car was fully completed and ran for the first time during the Inaugural San Jose Grand Prix Formula D Drifting Demonstration. Since then it is has been dual-purpose car for both time attack racing and drifting. It got second place in the Super Street Time Attack in the Drift Class and first place during the Nitro 2 Go – Rim of the World Drifting Invitational. It has been to numerous car shows - from HIN to Import Showoff to SF and San Jose International Auto Shows to the Exedy Globalparts Corporation booth in SEMA 2005.”

“More recently,” Wan continues, “I have been participating in a lot of events and shows with the car. I just finished participating in a cover story shootout comparison for Sport Compact Car magazine. The shootout went very well - my FD3S won most of the evaluations.”

“I am also signed up for the 2006 San Jose Grand Prix drift demo. I am helping promote the race during the Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift premier at a downtown San Jose theater. Then, during the actual Grand Prix, I will be pulling gs in the drifting demo during the full weekend of the race at the end of July. Me and that RX-7…we keep pretty busy.”

Wan’s RX-7 and its highly boosted rotary powerplant are a hard act to follow, but they serve as a great idea factory for aspiring FD enthusiasts out there…so go forth and ‘Zoom, Zoom’ to your own tune.