Mazda RX-8 supercharged?!!
A special RX-8 was spotted by Road & Track's Sam Mitani. He saw this hopped up RX-8 on the road and heard a special whine coming from the engine bay. Hmmmm, what could be whining...could it be a supercharger?
Sure enough, it turned out to be a project car made by some Mazda engineers. It has very cleanly modified body panels that make the car look a lot meaner and faster. Yet it's so clean that it doesn't look like an aftermarket job. There's a functional hood scoop that feeds air into the intercooler that feeds the supercharger.
In addition to body parts and the supercharger, there are also suspension improvements. The project car was rolling on 19" wheels, with 245/35ZR-19 tires in the front and wide 275/30ZR-19 tires in the rear.
The lack of torque has obviously been addressed by the supercharger. This has got to be a fun car to drive, on the road and on track. It should be particularly nicer to drive around town with the added midrange torque and power, thanks to the supercharger. Let's just hope Mazda ends up making this baby...
estimated specs:
power: 250 bhp @ 8500 rpm
torque: 165 lb-ft @ 5500 rpm
redline: 9000 rpm
0-60 mph: 5.5 seconds
1/4 mile: 14.0 seconds @ 100.0 mph
For more information refer to the article at Road & Track.
Published on February 12, 2005
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