Ask anyone in the automotive publishing business and you'll hear the same response: it's hard to get a black car to jump off the page. The rules of automotive journalism often dictate that a car must be painted in some sort of crazy hue just shy of infrared in order for it to even get a second look. It's not that there aren't a lot of hot black cars out there; it's more of a circulation thing. You know, a car has to catch the eye of the reader, blah, blah, blah. When we heard there was an RX-7 in Texas that was making other 7s look like, well, crap, we just had to take a look. But then we heard it was black. Questions went out. How will it look on film? Do these jeans make my butt look big? Who's buying lunch? We were in a quandary (Wow...Jimmy?-RB).
Then the pictures and specs came back. All we could do was sit in John's office, throwing the magic green ball around. Nads started to speak in tongues; Roel was translating; it was pandemonium. Well, maybe it wasn't exactly like that, but we'd like to think it was. Just looking at this black ride induces all types of lewd thoughts, the kind so dirty, you just want to pull out a fresh sheet of college rule notebook paper and scribe your innermost thoughts to the editors of Penthouse Forum. You know, the stuff Ro-Ro rambles incessantly about. But that's besides the point. We're talking cars here, and this FD is where all of the evil starts. It seems to sneak up on you while standing still. You can't help but turn around and say, "Whoa, did that thing just move?" The RE Amemiya headlights peek out at you from the rounded nose like stars in the night sky. Originally the car had been fitted with a fiberglass resin widebody, but during an eight-month period, all-metal replacement parts were worked into place, as well as a C-West body kit. After the doors were matched to the fenders and rear quarters, the whole car was treated to several light-absorbing coats of Mazda factory Black to complete the Darth Vader look. Eibach springs and KYB AGX shocks help lower the altitude of this stealth fighter, which has landing gear in the form of 19-inch Kinesis wheels with color-matched black centers. Whipping down the street, this car has all the subtlety of a B-117a bomber, and with all the power this thing has on tap, it would probably out-fly one if it had wings.
Under the bonnet is where things happen-and happen quickly. It's also the only place other than the chrome graphics on the body where you'll see very much shiny stuff. The Mazda 1.3L rotary is notorious for making power from its small displacement, but as we all know, enough is never enough. The guys at ProTech Performance felt the factory turbo just wasn't going to cut it for snapping the necks of unsuspecting passengers, so a GReddy 20G hair dryer was massaged into place. The GReddy intercooler and piping can be easily seen through the front bumper, but you better look now because with 402 hp at the wheels, this is the only opportunity you'll have to see this car from the front. As this car passes you like a shadow, you can hear the GReddy blow-off valve whistling its happy tune. After that, the loud braaaapp of the GReddy SP exhaust is all you'll hear as the taillights disappear into the night. Keeping everything under the hood in line is a GReddy boost controller and wastegate that helps keep the pressure regulated.