Tag Archives: Mazda

How a Rotary Engine Works and the Mazda 787B at Le Mans

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I promise to make a post about the RX-8 I bought for the EV conversion soon. Until then the quick and dirty details are that I towed it home and it runs perfectly, so I’ve been driving it around and enjoying my first rotary powered car. It drives absolutely amazing which has piqued my interest in rotaries in general. This video has been the best explanation of how one works that I’ve found on YouTube:

 

When you’re talking rotaries, it doesn’t get much better than the Mazda 787B. It has a 4 rotor engine with variable length intakes mounted midship. The 787B was the first and still the only Japanese car to win the 24 hours of Le Mans. This video was taken  at last year’s 24 hours of Le Mans to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the victory. Mazda got one of the original drivers to take the 787B around a full lap of the Circuit de la Sarthe.


Source: YouTube users max27890 and rittboy8u

Monster Miata

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Motor Trend stopped by the Monster Miata shop to chat with Martin Wilson about what has made is company so successful. Long story short, they build what is essentially a modern day Shelby Cobra. Take a lightweight rear drive roadster and stuff a Ford V8 into the front of it. The only difference is Wilson’s team has decided to start with a Japanese roadster instead of a British one. Monster Miata offers a kit that includes everything from engine mounts, revised suspension and a Ford 7.5 inch rear end to Monsterize your Miata. Turns out they’re also working on an LSx kit. Can’t wait to see that one.


Source: Motor Trend on YouTube

RX-7 vs. RX-8 Tsukuba Battle – Best Motoring

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The Best Motoring crew rounded up what looks to be all of the rotary engine tuners in Japan for a 5 lap battle around Tsukuba. What’s interesting is that RX-7’s took the top place finishes, but RX-8’s set the fastest lap times. The begs the question of whether or not the RX-8 will establish a reputation for racing as legendary as the FD RX-7. The RX-8 seems to have better suspension design, but the RX-7 is smaller and lighter. It definitely makes for exciting battles like this one. Now that I’m an RX-8 owner (more details to follow), I can understand why rotor heads are so fanatical about these cars.


Source: YouTube user ZzetZzetGT

Battles at 10,000 rpm – Best Motoring

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The Best Motoring crew sets out to find the ultimate naturally aspirated car the only way they know how: a track battle. These guys do car reviews similar to shows like Top Gear, but the big difference is they like to interact with aftermarket tuners such as Spoon, J’s Racing and Powerhouse Amuse. They do a lot of wheel to wheel track racing and touge road racing to compare cars and discuss tuning philosophies. For this particular comparison, they try to find the best of tuned naturally aspirated cars. They talk about the benefits of NA tuning versus turbochargers and then they see whose car is fastest around Tsukuba. The lineup runs from a B18 CRX to a couple of NSX’s, a 350Z and 20b 3-rotor FD RX-7 by RE Amemiya.


Source: GT Channel on YouTube