A Mazda MX-5 with an LSX is nothing to impress the internet with these days. However, many an RX-8 with a German heart transplant will be more to your taste.
To understand just how old the RX-8 is, remember that it was reviewed by Jeremy Clarkson during Series 3 of Top Gear. After Mazda had been forced to stop making it, fans pleaded with them to return the Wankel to its rightful place. But it was to no avail due to the inefficiency and reliability issues.
If you ask the internet what any sportscar needs, the answer is typically "a big V8". Well internet, you're getting exactly what you asked.
A fellow by the name of Nikos Tselos is spending most of his free time trying to stuff a "55 AMG" supercharged V8 engine into the shell of a blue RX-8. This Greep chap seems to have a passion for drifting and own a SEAT 124 DLS. So the result should be designed for going sideways. But no matter the outcome, he has our respect for stuffing the square cube into the round hole.
We've been told by Nikos that the heart of the beast comes from the 2003 SL 55 AMG and is a 5.5-liter supercharged V8 good for 510 hp. That's at least twice as much power as the Mazda MX-8m not to mention over three times the displacement.
Irony would have it that Mercedes nowadays gives you the same numbers using only a 3-liter V6. But for the Mazda, it's a power bump of about 60% and will certainly unstick the tires easily.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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