This year has been memorable for rotary engines—please keep in mind we recently showcased a five-rotor and it was the first of its kind. Well, now it’s time to feast our ears on the world’s first billet six-rotor Wankel, which makes its Mazda RX-7 host sound like nothing else.
Over the past 12 months, two New Zealand-based operations have made headlines for their contributions to the rotary community, which were almost finished at the time. Last month Humphries Steel & Performance revealed their FD Mazda RX-7, a drift car animated by Pulse Performance Race Engineering’s (PPRE) six-rotor Wankel engine.
Speaking of the brap-brap people, the build was unveiled in October at Adam LZ’s World Tour, while Mad Mike’s recent Summer Bash 6—where he unveiled his five-rotor Madaz787D—welcomed a slightly updated iteration of the six-rotor RX-7, which we dare call the final form. Remember, kidz, work never stops with drift cars!
PPRE’s six-rotor N/A Wankel makes 880 hp at 10,500 rpm
This is PPRE’s third six-rotor engine, albeit the first featuring billet center plates. For the record, their first six-rotor remained in New Zealand, while the second engine went to China. The unit still relies on Mazda’s 13B specs (the factory heart of the RX-7 and RX-8): with each rotor housing packing 654cc, the six-rotor sits at 3.9L, which the Kiwi specialist calls a big block rotary (it’s certainly long). So we’ll call it the 39B then.
As you can expect, such a rare engine is no friend of your wallet. At the time of press, PPRE’s website offered the six-rotor for a non-negligible AUD 117,800 ($78,954).
And when you consider the 880 hp max output and 10,500 rpm redline of this N/A engine, you can see why that label stands. It’s worth noting Wankel engines have a much higher output density compared to piston units.
Working with a GHT Precision six-speed sequential transmission, the six-rotor doesn’t sound particularly harmonious, but it’s as vicious as they get, which can work wonders for keeping the crowd focused while the RX-7 drifts its way through the corners. Here’s an in-depth analysis—and a practical one at that—on what makes a car exhaust sound good.
Other goodies include the Haltech ECU, Wisefab wide-angle steering kit, Pandem/Rocket Bunny widebody, and many, many others that make this Mazda a sharp enemy of the rubber.
And, once you’re done savoring the slip angle stunts, you can skip to the 17:45 point of the clip below to see what happens when the six-rotor is simply tasked with destroying tires for no other purpose than entertainment. Spoiler alert: the single, regular-sized exhaust tip of the RX-7 is a massive understatement.
Images in the gallery via Kez W Photography