GRR

Video: Listen to a crazy Mazda RX-7 Group B car rev to 10,000rpm

18th February 2020
Laura Thomson

This is possibly the most conspicuous car on the circuit, but we’re guessing the driver likes it that way. For a Mazda RX-7 Evo Group B Works is hardly something that can go unnoticed, especially with its growling 300 horsepower Wankel 13B rotary engine.

Mazda’s little-known Group B car dates from the mid-1980s, when the manufacturer’s European rally team entered a number into various events, with a best podium finish in the 1985 Acropolis Rally.

Based on the first-generation RX-7 FB series (released in 1978), it is powered by that naturally aspirated 13B twin-rotor engine, which makes a huge 300hp at 8,500 rpm and 270Nm of torque at 7,500 rpm, revving all the way to a huge 10,000rpm.

This engine was fed by MRT-modified Weber 51A carburettors, which fed fuel directly into the rotor housing, while power was sent to the rear wheels (unusual at the time) via a five-speed manual gearbox.

This example is in a subtler spec than it would have been in period, with the full rack of rally lights removed, but still, it’s damned cool. Check it out in action during a track day at Circuito Tazio Nuvolari in Italy a couple of years ago, making every other car there look, and sound, positively boring.

Welcome to Goodwood Elevenses, a mid-morning helping of motoring-related amusement to help break up your day.

  • Mazda

  • RX-7

  • Group B

  • Video

  • Elevenses

BOOK NOW

2025 Motorsport tickets now on sale
Video Alt Text
mazda-rx-7-group-b-video-goodwood-17022020.jpg

Historic

Video: Listen to a crazy Mazda RX-7 Group B car rev to 10,000rpm

18th February 2020

group_b_retromobile15021775.jpg

Historic

Meet the forgotten Group B stars

16th February 2017

mazda-mxr-01-donnington-park-1982-fia-world-sportscar-championship-maurizio-sala-alex-caffi-sutton-images-motorsport-images-main-goodwood-03102019.jpg

Historic

The five greatest Mazda race cars of all time

03rd October 2019

mazda_rx_7_leadfoot_06062018.jpg

Historic

Video: How to storm up the Leadfoot Festival hill in a Mazda RX-7

06th June 2018

rotary-btcc-mazda-rx-7-goodwood-29072020.jpg

Goodwood SpeedWeek

Video: Rotary BTCC Mazda RX-7 buzzes at Goodwood

29th July 2020

f40-512tr-ruf-gt-r-nsx-rx-7-mr2-video-best-motoring-27012022.jpg

News

Video: F40 vs. 512TR vs. GT-R vs. RUF vs. NSX

27th January 2022

anorak-rarities-main.jpg

News

Spotting some of the UK’s rarest cars | Axon’s Automotive Anorak

01st December 2022

best-mazdas-ever-list-goodwood-10112021.jpg

News

The eight best Mazda road cars ever made

11th November 2021