Photo: Topstage Composites on Facebook
There's one important lesson that time attack competitions teach us - if you want downforce to work on street car-based contraptions, you'd better be generous when sizing the aero elements.
Case in point, the Mazda RX-7 in the image gallery below, which comes all the way from Australia. We're talking about a machine built to compete in the World Time Attack Challenge, which is now entering the final stages of its development.
Developed by a carbon specialist called Topstage Composites, the FD-generation RX-7 has come a long, long way from the street machine we know. The entire development was handled in-house, using CFD (computerized fluid dynamics).
Being destined for the Pro class, the Mazda must use certain elements of the street car as a base. In fact, one of the pics below shows what happens when the all-carbon skin of the RX-7 is removed.
If you happen to be wondering whether that wing is too large, you're not the first. And since others have directed such questions towards the developers, they have taken the time to reply.
"Wing looks huge from perspective angle. Its not as big as other pro class cars. Every piece on this car is designed for best downforce:drag ratio," the company explained on its Facebook page.
The sheer idea of a carbon builder having to defend its wing for being too large is enough to grab our attention. As for the wing supports, these also use composites with a CNC machined core.
The RX-7 theme wasn't chosen by mistake, so the company plans to stick to the zoom-zoom theme. As a result, the engine bay will be occupied by a Wankel engine. And since we're talking serious matters here, a quad-rotor setup will provide enough velocity to make the most out of those oversized aero elements.
The only element required to make friends with the stopwatch is a driver who doesn't know what hesitation is. But that's another story for another time.
Developed by a carbon specialist called Topstage Composites, the FD-generation RX-7 has come a long, long way from the street machine we know. The entire development was handled in-house, using CFD (computerized fluid dynamics).
Being destined for the Pro class, the Mazda must use certain elements of the street car as a base. In fact, one of the pics below shows what happens when the all-carbon skin of the RX-7 is removed.
If you happen to be wondering whether that wing is too large, you're not the first. And since others have directed such questions towards the developers, they have taken the time to reply.
"Wing looks huge from perspective angle. Its not as big as other pro class cars. Every piece on this car is designed for best downforce:drag ratio," the company explained on its Facebook page.
The sheer idea of a carbon builder having to defend its wing for being too large is enough to grab our attention. As for the wing supports, these also use composites with a CNC machined core.
The RX-7 theme wasn't chosen by mistake, so the company plans to stick to the zoom-zoom theme. As a result, the engine bay will be occupied by a Wankel engine. And since we're talking serious matters here, a quad-rotor setup will provide enough velocity to make the most out of those oversized aero elements.
The only element required to make friends with the stopwatch is a driver who doesn't know what hesitation is. But that's another story for another time.
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