Because we must now widebody all the things, TRA Kyoto has released a Rocket Bunny Pandem body kit for the FC3S Mazda RX-7. The company recently released a video rendering of the proposed kit on its Facebook page. While recent kits for rotary cars have been controversial, this one actually looks quite at home on the second-gen RX-7.
That’s because at certain angles, the kit resembles the IMSA GTO RX-7 race car. The squared-off fender flares almost look like the widened composite body of the IMSA car, if you squint, especially with large gold wheels filling them out.
For reference, here’s what an early version of the race car looks like. The wing is more of a pedestal type than a ducktail, but I suppose you have to respect the Pandem kit’s bosozoku roots.
The front is a departure from the race car, with four driving lights mounted in a slot grill that reminds us of a Supra more than anything else. Giant bolted flares are de rigueur, and the overall look is aggressive, which is the point. We look forward to seeing several examples at the SEMA show this fall. In the meantime, here are some screenshots from the video.
Images: TRA Kyoto
I’m not usually a fan of these kits so I was excepting the worst. It’s definitely not as bad as I thought! I’d still prefer a stock one but that doesn’t look bad at all.
When the car is broken or with missing part and is difficult to go back…hell yeah
Looks good, but my criticisms is if that rear spoiler is making things worse by creating more drag than real downforce.
And no one uses those design wings anymore, they’re of the suspended pedestal from the top, rather than the edges.
But it’s supposed to be boy racer, rather than race efficient…
The IMSA car was from 1991. It had a four rotor. Pretty high tech for the times.
the wing on the imsa car worked VERY well. better than the pedastal type which actually had serious issues. its a complete set. you may not like the look of parts of it but change anything and it stops working. the coke bottle waist wrapped the air from the side up over the back edge of the door and the whale tail wing got more air that was flowing straight than any other design. i ran this in wind tunnels and if you go back and look at the 911 imsa cars they did the same. the wing on a stand actually does not work very well with a coke bottle waist. these won championships for yrs. and still win the vintage races and its why they are banned from current classes. this type of set up works too well. cars were too fast. the do gooders slowed them and that is why wings on stands are used now
you don’t need a wind tunnel to test what i say. use tufts of yarn. the air takes the path of least resistance so instead of going out around the rear wheels it goes up over the area where the fender flare starts and then wraps around the side of the rear window,, then detaches and straight to the deflector. its not a wing. ! but the air is already going 30% faster than if it were just the speed of the car so when the air is deflected upward a equal action pushes downward NOT causing as much drag as an actual airfoil wing. that stupid idiots put on cars having no idea how it works with the airflow around the car. I have tested over 2 dozen cars with pedestal wings stuck on them. they screw up the handling and flow so bad that at high speed they are dangerous. its not about sticking on a wing. thats just how the air exits the flow. its the totality how it gets there that matters
The IMSA car was from 1991. It had a four rotor. Pretty high tech for the times.
Noooo, TRA need to leave cars alone.
dont buy the kit and leave you car of choice bodykitless then