A FD3S Mazda RX-7 & the Smell of 2-Stroke Mixture
I first met Petri Vars during the SpeedHooked x CDLC event in Finland.
After he parked the FD3S Mazda RX-7 I was intrigued and decided to ask him a few questions. Petri told me some of his adventures with this project. That backstory, combined with the fact that it looked so good, made me want to do a photoshoot right away.
We were both not locals, but the large empty space around the corner looked like a great place to park my car and point the camera. We got closer and realized that it was a firehouse.
We started shooting despite this fact, but soon a gate opened, and someone from the fire station came to speak to us. I thought we would be asked to leave, but it turned out that the man was checking the car outside.
As Petri and his friend chatted, I went back to my work.
Petri’s interest in tuning cars has been a lifelong passion, but this is his first major project. Before this build, he owned a Subaru Impreza WRX STI. However, the Mazda rotary’s appeal was too strong to ignore and he bought this 1993 model in stock condition in 2014.
The FD3S had been driven in this manner for a time, but a blown apex on Petri’s birthday forced it to be taken off the roads. It would have been easy to fix in any other part of the world, where Mazda RX-7s were popular. But in this area of Europe, there are very few rotary specialists. Petri, like any other car nut from Scandinavia, jumped right into the rebuild.
The RX-7 took two years to emerge from the garage. But when it finally did, it had a new street-port 13B. The factory twin turbos were replaced with a Turbonetics Turbonetics, the cooling and fuel systems upgraded, the engine bay was cleaned, and the interior of the car had also received a facelift. Petri was crossing his fingers during the summer 2017 test drive, but everything went well.
Petri had to get back on his tools because the summers in Scandinavia are very short. The bodywork was addressed, with any imperfections being fixed and a front bumper and side skirt fitted to the ’99 specification. He then had the RX-7 painted in a custom Toyota 343 based color. Carbon fiber bonnet and custom headlights were fitted to contrast the metallic red paint.
Petri, confident in the Mazda’s capabilities, brought it out again in summer 2018 with speed in mind. The car achieved 272km/h at the rev limiter after achieving 450hp on the dyno and 530Nm with the boost set to 1.4bar (20.05psi).
Petri has brought the car to the specifications you see now during the winter. The engine bay was polished and a Vauxhall electro-hydraulic steering pump was installed. The Work Meister 3-piece wheels (18×9.5 inches in front and 18×10 inches in rear) were imported from Japan and fully restored.
The interior looks much like a newer sports vehicle. The interior now looks like that of a much newer sports car. There are Sabelt Monte Carlo Seats with 6-point Willans Harnesses, a Nardi Personal Steering Wheel wrapped in suede, a flocked console and a 7″ screen connected to the tiny Raspberry Pi hidden in the glovebox. Petri had to create a circuit board in order to convert the speedometer signals from the ECU to the computer. Petri is an electrical automation expert by day and this would be a difficult task for most.
A rear seat cover was installed in place of the back seat. The rear seat cover is a little bit older, having been taken from the rotary-fan favorite ‘Crispeed RX-7 V8 Kila.’
Petri still has plans for his car, even though it is a finished build. A second engine (using an extra motor) is being built, and the RX-7 eventually will have air suspension and a brand new engine management system. He also wants to add a small spoiler and a rear diffuser, which he will take from Mazda’s Spirit R model.
It’s safe to say that he will continue to love the 2-stroke premix and stock body lines for many more years.