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Garage Revolution RX-7 FD3S Confirmed for 2011 World Time Attack Challenge

Links to videos of this car are below

It has now been publicly announced that the Garage Revolution RX-7 will be coming to the 2011 World Time Attack Challenge in Sydney Australia.

At The Tuners Group we've known for a while now about this unofficially, but it has now been publicly announced so we can now publish this article about the car ...

The Garage Revolution RX-7 is right at the pointy end of time attack innovation. It is an extremely serious time attack car.

Numbers-wise:

• It reportedly weighs 960 kg


• It reportedly has an estimated 600 horsepower


• It got around Tsukuba in 53.673 seconds, which is just a tenth of a second shy of the Tsukuba lap record set by the HKS CT230R.

You can view a photo gallery of this incredible car here ...

http://www.importtuner.com/features/impp_0905_mazda_fd3s_rx7/photo_01.html

How fast might it potentially be at Eastern Creek ?

Eastern Creek International Raceway. Image Credit: Will Pittenger. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Note that all calculations and projections in this article are hypothetical projections and rough potential calculations only. Race engineers do these kinds of calculations all the time to try to get ballpark numbers, but of course real world results can vary. Also linear scaling has it's limitations of course, but since we don't have fine-grained detailed data about the car's performance, let's see what kinds of numbers linear scaling produces ...

To put the Garage Revolution RX-7's Tsukuba lap time into perspective against the Cyber Evo which won the 2010 World Time Attack Challenge, the Cyber Evo won the 2009 Tsukuba Super Lap Battle with a 0:54.925 second lap.

So with the Garage Revolution RX-7 having done a 53.673 second lap at Tsukuba, that is 1.252 seconds faster around Tsukuba than the Cyber Evo's time.

Doing some rough maths, based on those laptimes that would make the Garage Revolution RX-7 roughly 2.28% faster around Tsukuba than the Cyber Evo.

With the Cyber Evo's times of 54.925 seconds at Tsukuba and time of 1.30.587 at Eastern Creek at WTAC 2010, if you divide the Cyber Evo's Eastern Creek lap time by it's Tsukuba lap time, you end up with a figure you can use to calculate rough potential lap times for the Cyber Evo at Eastern Creek based on it's Tsukuba lap times ...

• 90.587 seconds divide by 54.925 seconds = 1.649285

Let's call that number of 1.649285 the "Tsukuba to Eastern Creek multiplication factor".

Basically speaking if you take the Tsukuba lap time and multiply it by the Tsukuba to Eastern Creek multiplication factor of 1.649285, you end up with an approximation of a potential lap time at Eastern Creek for the Cyber Evo (based on it's performance at those two events used for the calculation of the Tsukuba to Eastern Creek multiplication factor). ...

• 54.925 seconds x 1.6492853 = 90.5869 seconds = 1 min 30.5869 seconds

Bear in mind that it is only a hypothetical rough approximation of course since cars change spec at different events, are subject to different weather conditions etc.

Applying some "Tsukuba to Eastern Creek multiplication factors" to the Garage Revolution RX-7

So if you assume that the same factor of roughly 1.649 can be applied to the Garage Revolution RX-7, if you then take the Garage Revolution RX-7's lap time at Tsukuba of 53.673 seconds and multiply it by 1.649 you get a potential projected lap time at Eastern Creek of ...

• 53.673 x 1.649 = 88.506 seconds = 1 minute 28.506 seconds

If you take the Garage Revolution RX-7's lap time at Tsukuba of 53.673 seconds and multiply it by 1.6492853 (the Cyber Evo's multiplication factor out to 7 decimal places) you get a potential projected lap time at Eastern Creek of ...

• 53.673 x 1.6492853 = 88.522 seconds = 1 minute 28.522 seconds

Similarly, to use a slightly different calculation method, since the Garage Revolution RX-7's time was roughly 2.28% faster around Tsukuba than the Cyber Evo's time at Tsukuba, if you assume that the same 2.28% factor can be applied to both cars, when you take the Cyber Evo's winning time at WTAC 2010 of 1.30.587 and subtract 2.28%, you end up with ...

• 90.587 seconds x .9772 = 88.521 seconds = 1 minute 28.521 seconds

So based on the calculations and assumptions above, that gives a potential projected lap time for the Garage Revolution RX-7 at Eastern Creek of between 1 minute 28.506 and 1 minute 28.522.

That is between 2.066 seconds to 2.081 seconds faster than the Cyber Evo's winning time at the 2010 World Time Attack Challenge.

People's minds were boggled by a 1.30.587 at Eastern Creek. How might people get their heads around a 1.28.506 lap ?

Bear in mind of course that every car's relative performance at different tracks is different, since the Garage Revolution RX-7 has never run at Eastern Creek the exact multiplication factor between the Garage Revolution's times at Tsukuba and it's times at Eastern Creek are not known, and the Cyber Evo is 4WD with the Garage Revolution RX-7 being rear wheel drive, but the calculations are very interesting indeed.

Rear wing, wheelwell vents and rear diffuser on the Panspeed RX-7 at 2010 World Time Attack Challenge

To look at the Tsukuba lap time to Eastern Creek lap time for a rear wheel drive rotary engined car, let's look at the Panspeed RX-7's lap times at Tsukuba and Eastern Creek ...

At the 2009 Revspeed Super Lap at Tsukuba, the Panspeed RX-7 ran a 56.715 second lap.

At the 2010 World Time Attack Challenge at Eastern Creek the Panspeed RX-7 ran a 1:32.4540 (92.4540 seconds).

If you divide the Panspeed RX-7's Eastern Creek lap time by it's Tsukuba lap time, you end up with a figure you can use to calculate rough potential lap times for the Panspeed RX-7 at Eastern Creek ... based on it's 2009 Revspeed Super Lap Tsukuba lap time - a "Tsukuba to Eastern Creek multiplication factor" for the Panspeed RX-7 ...

• 92.4540 seconds divide by 56.715 seconds = 1.6301.507

Note that this multiplication factor of 1.6301.507 for the Panspeed RX-7 is very close indeed to the Cyber Evo's Tsukuba to Eastern Creek multiplication factor of 1.6492853.

But bear in mind that http://www.superstreetonline.com/eventcoverage/sstp_1004_rev_speed_time_attack_2009/index.html reads ...

---

"Panspeed RX-7 was another top contender, however due to transmission issues in the morning and working all throughout the day on it, they only managed a few laps before the car broke down again. They still managed a time of 56.715 seconds which is almost 1 second shy of their previous best."

---

Maxrev's coverage of RevSpeed Tsukuba 2007 here
http://www.maxrev.net/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56:revspeed-tsukuba-2007&catid=36:blog&Itemid=54 reads ...

---

"The battle for the fastest Turbo FR class was between the TopFuel S2000 and the Panspeed FD3S. PanSpeed took the title with a best lap of 55.603 seconds."

---

So to calculate a "Tsukuba to Eastern Creek multiplication factor" for the Panspeed RX-7 based on it's time at the 2007 Revspeed Tuskukuba 2007 of 55.603 seconds and the car's time at the 2010 World Time Attack Challenge at Eastern Creek of 92.4540 seconds, you would do ...

• 92.4540 seconds divide by 55.603 seconds = 1.662752

If you apply that "Tsukuba to Eastern Creek multiplication factor" of 1.662752 to the Garage Revolution RX-7's Tsukuba lap time of 53.673 seconds and assume that the same "Tsukuba to Eastern Creek multiplication factor" can be applied to the Garage Revolution RX-7 you get this Eastern Creek potential lap time projection for the Garage Revolution RX-7 ...

53.673 seconds x 1.662752 = 89.244 seconds = 1 minute 29.244 seconds

Applying the range of Tsukuba to Eastern Creek multiplication factors above and making the assumptions above, you end up with a range of potential lap time projections for the Garage Revolution RX-7 at Eastern Creek of between 1 minute 28.506 seconds and 1 minute 29.244 seconds ... incredibly quick.

But of course in the real world, what matters is how a given car performs over the two days of the event. Mechanical issues can happen to any car and a number of other factors can affect any car's performance on the day.

Back in December we wrote an article titled "Sierra Sierra Smashes Buttonwillow Track Record by 2.3 seconds. Is a 1.28.xx at the 2011 World Time Attack Challenge Possible ?" which you can find here ...

http://www.tunersgroup.com/TunerWire_Live/sierra_buttonwillow.html

That article explained why we thought a 1.28.xx was possible.

In that article we wrote ...

---

Given that Sierra Sierra's new lap record at Buttonwillow is 2.3 seconds faster than their March lap time, with a March lap time of 1:43.34, their new time is approximately 2.2% faster.

If you assume hypothetically that the same 2.2% improvement can be applied to Eastern Creek, then when you apply a 2.2% lap time improvement to Sierra Sierra's lap time at Eastern Creek at the 2010 World Time Attack Challenge, you end up with a projected potential lap time of just 1 min 29.86 seconds. (91.884 seconds x .978)

That is 2.02 seconds faster than Sierra Sierra ran at Eastern Creek in 2010, and 0.727 seconds faster than the Cyber Evo ran at that event. ...

So there are two key questions in all this:

1. How much more time can Sierra Sierra find between now and World Time Attack Challenge 2011 in August ? and

2. How much more time can the Cyber Evo find by August ?

---

Sierra Sierra during their final session on Saturday afternoon at WTAC 2010

Sierra Sierra Enterprises reacted to the news of the Garage Revolution RX-7's entry to World Time Attack Challenge 2011 by posting this on their Facebook page ("Christine" is what Sierra Sierra call their Evo) ...

---

"Now if we can just get Christine to lose 654lbs we might stand a chance.

We thought about hacking away at bits of her floorpan but then we realized our Glorious Leader would hack away bits of us if we did that.

Hmmm, quite the challenge."

---

Everyone can be very sure of one thing ... the Garage Revolution RX-7 is going to be a very very serious contender for the 2011 World Time Attack Challenge champions trophy.

Parts used on the Garage Revolution RX-7

The car runs a host of parts from manufacturers whose products we sell or distribute.

Import Tuner's article about the car says that the car runs:

• ARC V-mounted intercooler and radiator, oil cooler, differential cooler


• Momo steering wheel


• Project Mu six-piston calipers and 355mm two-piece rotors at the front with four-piston calipers and 332 mm two-piece rotors at the rear, and


• AP Racing air jack kit, brake bias selector, adjustable pedal box

... so it's great to see these high quality parts from manufacturers whose products we sell on the car.

The steering wheel looks like it may be a Momo Mod 78 which you can find here ...

http://www.tunersgroup.com/Online_Store/momo_mod_78.html

You can find info on the Project Mu 6 piston calipers and other Project Mu products here ...

http://www.tunersgroup.com/Products/project_mu.html

Info on our range of AP Racing products is here ...

http://www.tunersgroup.com/Press/AP_Racing_Announcement.html

An incredible adversary for the Australian cars

The car is going to be an incredible adversary for the Pro Class cars we sponsor like the Kakavas Racing Subaru WRX, Project S14A, and Mark Berry's Yokohama Advan R34.

Concept sketch of the S14A Project - click to enlarge. Image Credit: Claudio Capozzi

From an engineering perspective the Garage Revolution RX-7 is an engineer's dream car, from it's incredible attention to detail, beautiful aero package, innovative design, and it's incredible engine note - it's an incredible machine ...

We just wish it was flying an Australian flag.

But we see the Garage Revolution RX-7's entry to the event as an opportunity for the Pro Class cars we work with to compete against one of the most serious time attack cars on the planet, and to see how we measure up to the very best from Japan like the Cyber Evo and the Garage Revolution RX-7.

Competing against a car like this makes everyone raise their game, and that is what innovation is all about.

Bring on August !

More Info & Videos

You can learn about how the Garage Revolution RX-7 was built and view some incredible photos of it in Import Tuner Magazine's article "Crafting A Masterpiece" here ...

http://www.importtuner.com/features/impp_0905_mazda_fd3s_rx7/index.html

You can view a number of videos about this amazing car here ...

http://www.tunersgroup.com/Videos/revo_rx7.html

created on 2011-04-01 09:36:07 by TTG

updated on 2011-04-03 10:44:50