Giovanni 'G' Inturrisi decided to go the all-out grunt route with his silver Series 6 Mazda RX7 while acknowledging that he will - given time and finances - later up the ante with a trick interior and fresh paint.
In the mean time he's sticking with one of the most powerful late model 'seven's in the business. Thing is, he and his partner in crime, Simon Ioannou, haven't resorted to hi-tech gizmos, radical intercoolers or wild engine internals. Actually, chances are that when you read what it has done to it, you'll walk away shaking your head.
Simon runs a small Melbourne-based high performance workshop titled ProMaz and I have to tell you, he's got the runs on the board. His own ride, for example, is a radical 20B-powered RX4 that doubles as one of the cleanest street cruisers in the land and yet it has the capacity to cut low 10-second quarters with veritable ease. There's stacks of others, too, so building a 500 plus horsepower 13B for a Series 6 RX7 was not going to pose any difficulties.
"You know what I reckon is the best thing about owning a tough S6?" G enthused. "It's coming up to a set of lights against a WRX or VL Turbo and blowing them into the weeds. See, nobody thinks a S6 has the ability to go hard, so when they line me up they reckon I'm a soft target. But I have the last laugh!"
It'd be fair to suggest that G's RX-7 has been nine years in the making as it's taken him almost that long to own his dream machine. A street-come-drag-racer from way back, G kicked off his straight-line career thanks to some tutelage from his father Paul who dragged a then young 'G' off to local quarter mile meetings - if you'll excuse the pun. Anyway, the logical progression for this young mechanic was to dip his toe in the water with a Holden Torana of the LH kind. Powered by a strong 350 Chev, G was pretty happy - or so he thought!
"I was at a New Year's Eve party when I ran into a guy who owned a white RX4 I'd seen at the drags. I knew it was fast and when I got to talking with him about the car, I realised that I'd been spending money hand over fist on a V8 when for a lot less I could have a car just as quick - but for vastly less cost."
Enthused by his newfound knowledge, G spent more time with the owner of the RX4 (Simon) before working beside him and ultimately working for him at ProMaz. G's since moved on, while continuing to maintain a top relationship with Simon. The result is what you see here. Mind you, it had to start somewhere, and June 2000 was 'B' day - for buy. Yep, he lashed out on a one owner 1992 model Series Six. "I really loved the car and at first was satisfied with its performance, the looks and handling. So I decided to drive it in stock trim for a while before I started to get silly by dropping burn-outs and racing whenever I had the chance."
Sure enough, the thrashing took its toll in the form of an engine blow-up. "While all this was going on, I started building a 323 drag car, however it had to take a back seat while Simon and I set about building a 10-second package for the road car." Some changes and additions had already taken place, like chrome 18 x 8 and 18 x 9 AME rims wrapped in 235/40 and 265/35 Falken GRB RS tyres. The interior also benefited with a Momo gear knob, and Centreline Suspension had worked their magic bolting in radically lowered springs and Koni adjustables.
The boys rebuilt the original engine, Simon equipping the 'shell' with new bearings, front and rear seals, factory apex, corner and side seals, deburred the rotors and added an additional eight dowels, taking the total to 12. Porting, it seems, is where it's at with a rotary engine. And this is where Simon excels. Over the years he's played with a myriad of 'turbo race port' configurations and in the process has discovered a package that appears to work to perfection.
The port configuration allows a suitable induction package to benefit amazingly well.
Chosen bolt ons include an original - albeit port-matched and modified (removal of the secondary butterfly valve) - inlet manifold, ProMaz cast exhaust manifold, Garrett TO4E turbo with ProMaz induction taper, Turbonetics 42mm external wastegate and a full three inch mandrel exhaust system with hi-flow cat and Magnaflow stainless muffler. Engine management is taken care of by a Microtech MTX8 computer and ignition is enhanced with four Bosch coils and NGK leads. Ancillaries include a ProMaz boost regulator and a new oil pump, however the stock intercooler package is retained.
See what I mean! It's a fairly basic package and yet on the dyno it delivers a potent 403 horsepower to the rear wheels (as measured on the lossy Dyno Dynamics machine) at 8200 rpm on 21 pounds of boost.
Coping with the power is a heavy-duty brass button ProMaz clutch fronting a stock five-speed transmission. Further back is the original rear end with 4.4 Mazda gears and an LSD set. Happy with the factory dash, G has only had to 'option' the interior with AutoMeter boost and air/fuel ratio gauges.
A quarter mile attack was only a couple of weeks away at the time of writing, with Simon and G confident a high 10 will be achieved. In other words, it's no wonder that the WRX and VL Turbo brigade only ever see the Mazda's five-inch tailpipe!
Obligatory Thanks:
Dad for the chequebook, mum, Simon and his lady Julie for being there! The car is now for sale: call Giovanni on 0409-238 253
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