1992 Mazda RX-792P
After continued success in the IMSA GTU and IMSA GTO races with sports cars, Mazda entered the GTP prototype category with the RX7-92P. It was the ultimate version of an RX-7 intended to take overall victories against the factory Nissans and Toyotas. Unfortunately, the project was shelved in 1993 after only one season of development with very limited results.
RX7-92P was an entirely new car that shared little from the 787B which won Le Mans and subsequently banned rotary engines in Europe. With an open door to IMSA GTP, Mazda USA, known as Mazda Motorsports, focused on the championship and began work in May of 1991 with a relatively small budget.
In an attempt to market the car and increase the Series 3 RX-7’s appeal, the new prototype was named after the road car and stylist/aerodynamicist Randy Wittine included several cues from the road car in the body. Little was able to translate to the race car which had distinctive cut-outs behind the front wheels.
Ex Group-44 designer Lee Dykstra drew up the chassis for the car which was an aluminum honeycomb monocoque with inboard suspension. A steel subframe supported the R26B rotary engine that sent over 600 bhp to the rear wheels.
Two cars were built for Mazda Motorsports using chassis from Crawford Composites and assistance from Fabcar. Price Cobb and Pete Halsmer raced the car with little success in the 1992 season against the Eagle Toyotas and factory Nissans. Many mechanical problems hindered the team as did a small budget. The best result was a second place achieved Watkins Glen.
In Detail
| tags | rx7, imsa, gtp |
| submitted by | admin |
| type | Racing Car |
| built at | USA |
| coachbuilder | Crawford Composites |
| production | 2 |
| engine | R26B 4-Rotar Wankel |
| position | Mid |
| aspiration | Natural |
| fuel feed | Electronic Injection |
| displacement | 2616 cc / 159.64 in³ |
| compression | 10.0:1 |
| power | 522.0 kw / 700 bhp @ 9000 rpm |
| specific output | 267.58 bhp per litre |
| bhp/weight | 843.37 bhp per tonne |
| torque | 608 nm / 448.4 ft lbs @ 6500 rpm |
| body / frame | Aluminum Honeycomb Monocoque |
| driven wheels | RWD |
| steering | Rack & Pinion |
| f suspension | Double Wishbones w/Inboard Spring-Damper Units |
| r suspension | Double Wishbones w/Inboard Spring-Damper Units |
| curb weight | 830 kg / 1830 lbs |
| wheelbase | 2667 mm / 105.0 in |
| length | 4800 mm / 189.0 in |
| width | 1981 mm / 78.0 in |
| height | 1016 mm / 40.0 in |
| transmission | March 5-Speed Manual |
