Mazda 3: 1400 HP from 4-Rotor RWD Engine

Car Put to Test at Pikes Peak Hill Climb

A subtle sportiness characterizes the Mazda 3 Hatchback, albeit we know a tuner can turn it into an awfully ferocious street racer. A perfect example is YouTuber Dino DC who encountered one such adaptation of this vehicle while holidaying in Osaka, Japan; where he personally met with its owner Mr. Taisuke Kawato.

“This isn’t just any other project,” said Mad Mike Whiddett, the New Zealand drifter behind the Mazda3. “It’s set to take on the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado this year.” The car is equipped with a rotary engine that can generate an impressive 1,400 horsepower – a whopping 200 hp more than when it was first unveiled last year.

Mad Mike's Twin Turbo 4-Rotor RWD Mazda 3 in Japan!

The renowned 42-year-old racer will undertake the daunting task of conquering Pikes Peak in a turbocharged hot hatch equipped with a Garrett G40 twin-turbo setup as well as a four-rotor rotary engine. To avoid potential reliability concerns such as overheating, Kawato-san revealed that the output of the engine is being limited to an impressive 1,000 horsepower.

The Mazda3 competition automobile was also adapted for rear-wheel drive (RWD), which enabled Mad Mike to easily demonstrate the drifting he was capable of. Not only that, it was fitted with slick Toyo tires, Volk Racing forged wheels, Radium Engineering fuelling system, and huge aerodynamic mods at its rear end.

Kawato-san exhibited the inside of the video here, including an extensive variety of race-prepared mod units with a Bride carbon dashing seat, a Haltech ECU framework and a move confine. As for the back seats, they were taken out to make ready for a radiator from Australian authority PWR.

Mad Mike isn’t the exclusive Mazda driver in competition. His liking for the Japanese marque has been evident this year, as he joins Team Magic with Red Bull and uses a RX-7 FD in the 2023 Formula Drift Japan season. The Kiwi racer perpetually displays that rotary engines from Mazda are still ever-present.

The heightened four-cylinder Rear Wheel Drive Mazda 3 is due to race at the 2023 Pikes Peak event on June 25. To honour his deceased colleague Ken Block, friend and colleague of Whiddett, his wife Lucy Block and daughter Lia Block will be taking part in the competition in a Sierra Echo EV and a Porsche 911-based Hoonipigasus, respectively.