Mazda’s legendary rotary engine sports car is no slouch as standard, but highly tuned versions are nothing short of incredible. Here are some of the world’s fastest Mazda RX-7s.
When it comes to Japanese performance cars, there’s little more iconic and unique than the Mazda RX-7. Of course the most famous part of these cars is the fact they are powered by a Wankel rotary engine, but overall they just tick the boxes for a great performance car. Light, aerodynamic, great looking, and of course they have impressive handling. They stop well too, and they’re quick in a straight line.
At Fast Car we’re not about bog standard vehicles though, but luckily for us – and you – the RX-7 tuning scene is massive. In fact, there’s probably more modified RX-7s in existence than standard ones, and this feature is a selection of the fastest out there. From circuit racers to drag cars, from late ’70s 1st Gens right up to late ’90s FDs, here’s our pick of some of the fastest RX-7s on the planet.
The World’s Fastest Mazda RX-7s
Racing Beat Triple Turbo Triple Rotor FD RX-7
Let’s start off with the fastest one. Not the fastest accelerating, but the fastest proven top speed, and that’s a massive 242mph achieved by the Racing Beat FD RX-7 back in 1995 at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The car gains its power from a 900bhp+ triple turbocharged version of the 13G triple rotor race engine that Mazda used in their 1980s Le Mans cars! Racing Beat were hoping to hit the 300mph mark, but issues meant 242mph was the maximum they achieved.
While those issues during the 1995 attempt were relatively minor, it’s fair to say their 1993 attempt had much bigger issues; the car went airborne at well over 200mph and flipped on to its roof! Watch the crash, and the ’95 comeback record attempt here.
LOL13B
The fastest RX-7 road car on the planet, this is the Gas Racing-built FD RX-7 owned and driven in Australia by Mick Elkhouri. But due to its license plate, most people just refer to it as LOL13B. But is it powered by a 13B? No, in fact no rotary at all, as this FD is packing a Toyota 2JZ-GTE, running 60psi boost via a huge single turbo, and making an insane 2300 horsepower. At the time of writing the car has ran a 7.0sec quarter mile at over 200mph. The goal is a 6 second quarter mile, and we’re 100% sure they will hit it soon as they’ve only just began! Watch one of their most recent runs here.
Len Bacon’s FD RX-7
You’re unlikely to ever see another RX-7 that does such wild launches as this one. This is Len Bacon’s FD RX-7, a car that is as ‘original’ as you can get when it comes to the fastest RX-7s in the world. When we say original, we don’t mean standard parts, as this thing is making around 1000bhp and running a huge 86mm turbo. But in overall design, it’s still fairly recognizable as an FD. It’s still running a 13B rotary, standard bodywork, manual gearbox, and factory style independent rear suspension. This factory style layout is certainly not the optimal setup for drag racing though, making for a super sketchy ride on every hard launch, lifting the front end, squatting the rear down hard, and weaving its way all the way down the track!
Regardless, Len holds tight and makes it work, putting down a best so far of a 7.8sec quarter mile at 178mph! Despite having the most exciting looking runs you’ll ever see from an FD RX-7, it’s consistent too, running 7s over and over, and that’s difficult for any manually shifted car, never mind one as rowdy as this one! Watch this video to see it in action.
Quiles Racing FD RX-7
When it comes to the most powerful 13B rotaries on the planet, look to the small island of Puerto Rico. There are more 6 and 7 second 13B powered cars owned and built by Puerto Ricans than the rest of the world combined, and that includes the world’s fastest RX-7 in the quarter mile, the Quiles Racing FD.
Built like a ProMod you might be used to seeing on things like Street Outlaws, the one big difference is rather than a big block V8, this has a tiny 13B twin rotor engine, albeit made of billet aluminum and running a turbo almost as big as the engine itself!
The car makes at least 1400 horsepower at the wheels. Quiles have the stats to prove it too, as they’ve publicly shown a dyno graph of it making 1408 horsepower at 10,100rpm. In other words, this thing is a monster. Their current quarter-mile record is 6.335@217mph, but they achieved this many years ago and are sure it can go much faster. It’s scheduled to make a big comeback soon, and we look forward to seeing it! In the meantime, check out some of its previous runs.
Hokkaido Dream FD RX-7
While tuned RX-7s are most famous for their huge straight line speeds, RX-7s were designed from the outset to be great handling sports cars. Because of that, some of the fastest front engine rear wheel drive circuit racers in the world are RX-7s, and the fastest of them at the legendary Tsukuba circuit is the Hokkaido Dream FD.
Running a 13B rotary engine making almost 700bhp, it’s managed a blistering 53.4 second lap of Tsukuba on road legal tires, and thanks to its crazy bodywork, all done for weight reduction and aerodynamics reasons of course, it’s one of the wildest looking RX-7s you’ll ever see too. Here’s its run from 2020, during which it ‘only’ managed a 54.
Garage Revolution FD RX-7
While it’s currently in second place in the Tsukuba Time Attack record books behind the aforementioned Hokkaido Dream car, the Revolution RX-7 is probably the most famous RX-7 Time Attack car on the planet.
With a full carbon body, including wheel arch liners, under tray, and more, this car resembles a Super GT race car more than a modified production car, and rumor has it this chassis was originally a GT300 racer. But either way, it’s an incredible machine.
Making 650 horsepower at 1.5bar boost from its 13B rotary engine, it uses a mix of power, huge downforce, and 295 wide semi-slick tires to achieve ridiculously fast lap times. Back in 2010, it managed a 53.6 second lap of Tsukuba Circuit! Here’s some old VIDEO OPTION footage of it.
Abner Racing FB RX-7
Puerto Ricans have a love for tuned rotary engines and RX-7s more than anywhere in the world, dare we say it even more than Japan. A good example of this is the incredible number of show car quality first-generation RX-7s they have, all of which have factory looking bodywork right down to the black plastic trim, that just happen to also be some of the fastest RX-7s on the planet.
The fastest of all of these cars is the Abner Racing FB. While the huge rear tires and side exit exhaust may be a giveaway, the standard looks and fact that these things made less than 140bhp from the factory means, unless you already know about these legendary Puerto Rican monsters, they’re certainly sleepers. Nobody out of the loop would honestly imagine that this little brown Mazda could do 0-216mph in 6.5seconds!
Exactly what power this thing makes is up for debate, but even with the light weight that these things are, 216mph in 6.5seconds means upwards of 1500 horsepower at the wheels is assured, maybe much more. And its power plant? The humble 13B rotary, albeit heavily turbocharged and rumored to be fueled by a mix of methanol and nitromethane. Watch it in action, here.
The Master Piece
What do you get when you mix a standard looking FB RX-7, with a 1700 horsepower 2JZ engine, a 2 speed Powerglide transmission, a Fueltech ECU, and a bunch of crazy Puerto Rican drag racers? You get a masterpiece, well, you get The Master Piece, which is the name of this insanely fast first-gen RX-7. Running the quarter mile in 6.7seconds at 208mph, it gets the power to the ground via a Ford 9inch rear axle, Weld Racing beadlock rims, and huge Mickey Thompson drag tires. Watch it take on the drag strip in this video.
El Secreto
This black FC RX-7 is called El Secreto. I don’t think you need to be a fluent Spanish speaker to guess that means The Secret in English. But what is the secret of this car? Well, at first glance it looks like a standard FC RX-7 Turbo2, and it certainly is running the 13B Turbo engine like a factory Turbo2 does.
Maybe the secret is the fact that while it looks normal, it goes from 0-201mph in 6.7seconds? To put that in context, if you saw this car do that, you’d then have to wait another 10 seconds for a Bugatti Chiron that left the line at the same time to reach the same speed. That’s some secret…
Take a closer look at this mysterious FC here.
Shrek Racing FB RX-7
When you’ve got a bright green first-gen RX-7 and use a Shrek doll to block the turbo intake duct on the bonnet when the car’s not running, it’s no surprise you’ve named this thing Shrek. But what is a surprise to most is that this bizarre creation is one of the fastest RX-7s on the planet. Yet another 6.7sec quarter mile car, this monster uses the 13B rotary, along with the obligatory gigantic turbo, and has recently breached the magic 200mph mark in the quarter mile, with a new personal best of 201mph.
Watch this video to see how quick Shrek can really shift.
But there’s more!
This feature is literally the tip of the fast RX-7 iceberg, as there’s just SO many out there. When talking about drag cars, even the amount of standard looking first-gen Puerto Rican RX-7s that run in the high 6s or low 7s in the quarter mile at around 200mph is insane. If you want to see even more, head to YouTube and search for ‘El Humildon’, ‘El Intranquilo’ and ‘El Traidor’ to name just three, and you’ll soon find yourself deep in the ridiculously fast RX-7 rabbit hole…
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