Some things don't have to be too outrageous to grab your attention. Britney Spears went through puberty (or some kind of "upliftment?") and now sticks out like...well, sticks out, causing all of the male pubescent (and not so pubescent) population to go gaga. Can you believe it? A popular female singer who suddenly gets noticed twice-fold due to something as simple as growing up? Now take TJ O'Connor's '93 Mazda RX-7 as an example. In its own right, TJ's FD3S is pretty simple, right? Of course, but add a new body kit, a set of imported wheels, a few performance parts, and suddenly you're in a whole new ballpark.
The first order of business was to make the car look fresher than stock-easier said than done. A Shogun body kit and rear wing from VeilSide were added, giving off an appearance aggressive enough to make you double-glance from your rear view. Deptford Auto Body of Deptford, New Jersey, gets the credit for matching the paint to the rest of the stock body. A set of PIAA 980 dual sport driving lights replaces the stockers for extreme night vision.
To maximize the 1.3L motor's performance, a host of Blitz products were used to bring horsepower figures to an above-stock level. A Blitz drop-in air filter allows incoming fresh air to pass much more freely than the flimsy paper element, while a Blitz Nur Spec exhaust drops exhausted fumes faster than last night's corn on the cob. A Blitz Super Sound blow-off valve was also used to prevent compressor surge. By the time you read this, a few more Blitz goodies will have been added to TJ's RX-7, such as a downpipe, upgraded ECU, intake system, and front-mount intercooler.
Bringing the FD3S down at all four corners are a set of H&R 1.5-inch drop, lowering springs complemented by Tokico five-way adjustable gas shocks. A Cusco front strut bar keeps the front half of the chassis stiff while Eibach antisway bars do their duty by keeping the lower chassis tight. To take advantage of the suspension mods, a set of bronze Blitz Technospeed wheels wrapped by Nitto NT-555 tires, grip the pavement in an entirely different fashion.
The interior remains mostly stock with its only modifications being the Pettit Racing steering column gauge mount. Both a turbo timer and boost controller from Blitz reside in the glove compartment, ready to monitor boost levels. The factory Bose sound system suffices for present-day musical tastes, leaving plenty of room for a complete sound system down the road. And just in case TJ happens to get himself into a bind, a Motorola Startac digital 7760 cellular phone is on standby, ready to access.
With plenty of room for improvement on both performance and aesthetic levels, it seems like TJ is on the right path to completion. So far, the theme of keeping it simple has maintained its status and then some. Just because you add crazy stuff to your car doesn't mean it won't come out clean and simple. And in this case, TJ has done just that. Keeping it simple, keeping it simply red.