Originally Posted by carbon man

it is funny how the cars got called "Bathurst Spec",
In Australia in 1992 they ran the first production class 12 hour race at a street circuit at Bathurst,(a couple hours west of Sydney) and Mazda Australia's RX7 won.
The 12 hour race continued to be run for the next 2 years at Bathurst and Mazda Australia won both of those as well. Mazda Japan were very impressed with these results they called some of thier models Bathurst Spec, even though the cars were not the same as the Australian cars.

After the 3 years at Bathurst the 12 hour race was then moved to Eastern Creek in Sydney for one more year and Mazda won again, and there has not been another 12 hour race in Australia.
Mazda Australia built a special RX7 called an RX7-SP to compete against the Porsche 911RSCS for the Eastern Creek 12 Hour race and Mazda Australia released a limited number of these RX7-SP's to the public.

Originally Posted by samiralfey

Well. my friend has a Bathurst R and at least the meters are white compared to the usual black. Also a boost meter is included and carbon fibre panels(option perhaps).

Originally Posted by kuning

That would be series 8 version (2000/2001 ?) of "Bathurst R" .Comes with a sticker on the B pillar just next to the door handle "BATHURST with R logo in the middle of the word Bathurst", CF stick-on covers, gearknob and handbrake handle, different velour pattern on the seats. Also had special Yellow colour. Not CYM but rather like the mazda6 yellow.

I might still be wrong...

Originally Posted by DaiOni

It was a Mazda project, but they used a variety of aftermarket sources for some of the goodies. As above, the driving motive behind the project was homologation (specifically, to get an edge in the Bathurst 12hr endurance races).

from rx7.net.nz -

"The list of exact changes made to convert a standard Australian-spec twin-turbo RX-7 to 'SP' specs numbers 60. Most notable is the front nose cone which has a greatly increased air intake (necessitating the extra strength of the carbon fibre) and rear spoiler; both made from carbon fibre, they produce noticeably more downforce with the obvious lighter-than-plastic weight advantage. 'We tested the rear spoiler in three different guises out here (Eastern Creek),' informed Garry Waldon: no spoiler at all, the factory spoiler and the high mount version - which won favour. 'The small standard spoiler proved it was faster around Eastern Creek than no spoiler at all but the high-mount was around six-to-seven-tenths quicker again.' The notorious Turn One sweeper is where the rear spoiler benefits most, raising the car's corner speed 5km/h 'You can really feel the increased downforce around here," added Waldon who hustled through the sweeper during the race consistently over 200 km/h.
More carbon fibre is used under the lightweight and vented aluminum bonnet: the Mazda-motif air-box with ram-air ducting and pipework and, most notably visible from under the rear, the huge carbon-fibre fuel tank which boosts fuel capacity (and the distance between fuel stops) from 76 to 110 litres. The SP also gets stainless steel heat-shielding between the fuel tank and the revised from the turbo free-flowing exhaust system.
Fuel tank capacity, in the 12 Hour, proved to be a contributing factor to the SP's success with longer track sessions. Horsley's wild card was his well-publicized 'cool fuel'. Stored in large alloy tanks at the track, the 100 octane unleaded was chilled with dry ice to a temperature of around 5 deg C. When the 110 or so litres of fuel was dumped in at each stop, the almost freezing fuel lowered combustion temperatures noticeably for the entire session - a vital parameter with heat-stressed rotaries and turbos ensuring thermal loading was kept as low as possible.
Mazda's other trump card was its brake pad consumption. Normally the forte of the smaller and lighter cars, the Mazda SP's larger diameter and thickness rotor and larger four-spot front calipers miraculously made it through the 12 hours of punishment on one single set of Endless brake pads. According to Horsley, at the end of the race the pads were removed and "still had 'enough' meat on them". Improving the power-to-weight ratio was a prime concern with the SP. Weight was further reduced with a pair of Recaro's SP-A seats weighing in at 2.5 kg each!
Its kilowatt output went from 176kW for the standard RX-7, to 204kW for the SP, and around 240kW for the race car. The big additions came from the exhaust system and the three times more efficient than standard air-to-air intercooler - turbo modification extended to only minor seal changes. The road car puts out a whopping 357Nm of torque (versus the standard car's 294) and it's immediately noticeable on the road. The days of rotaries having no torque are long gone - fifth gear at 60km/h pulls similarly to an average family sedan in second.
To take full advantage of the improved power output, the diff ratio was changed from a 4.1 to a 4.3 aiding acceleration while still stretching the car's top speed I 0 km/h beyond the standard car to 260 km/h.
Power windows and mirrors, electrically-operated sunroof, cruise control, CD player, ABS, driver's side airbag and optional air conditioning.
All things, Mazda proudly proclaims, the Porsche 91 1 RS CS is missing and all things (apart from the air-bag and A/C) were taken along for the 12 hour ride. The Porsches also miss out on a rear seat, carpet and hoodlining, although at 1270kg, it would need to. The RX-7 SP tips the scales at 1218kg, another 92kg lighter than the standard model.
Wheel size on the SP has been increased one-inch in diameter to 17 front and rear while the tyres have also grown to 235/45 front and 255/40 rear - not to mention the proudly-Australian kangaroo centre caps.
Sales of the 25 SPs spiked in the few days after the 12 Hour, with all 25 being snapped up quick smart, prompting Mazda to produce another 10."

So 35 in total. There was also an sp2 prototype made in 98 or 99 - but it never made the showroom (though someone re-assembled it - and it's on the road in oz).

I thought the brakes were the same as the updated RZ (could well be wrong - but I'm pretty sure the rotor dia. is the same).

The most popular SP parts you see these days are the intake (very nice - but useless with a fmic or v-mount), the ic, and the bonnet(s).

Also, the exhaust parts are available through SMB, who were part of the project(s). A search on this site should bring up their URL.

Mazda japan had a very similar prototype called the M2 - http://asmic.com/collect/re_co_06.htm
Which also came out in 95. There's rumoured to be 2 in existence. They were supposedly an extension of the RZ - a more serious version for those who wanted to track their FDs.

Originally Posted by DaiOni

Please don't perpetuate misinformation. Go back and have another look at the book.

The car you are referring to is the australian race FD (the 'SP') which had different turbos.

The original poster is talking about a (JDM) bathurst model FD. It was called the bathurst to recognize the achievements of the SP.

Originally Posted by DaiOni

Please don't perpetuate misinformation. Go back and have another look at the book.

The car you are referring to is the australian race FD (the 'SP') which had different turbos.

The original poster is talking about a (JDM) bathurst model FD. It was called the bathurst to recognize the achievements of the SP.

Originally Posted by DaiOni

....and RB FDs _never_ had upgraded turbos - they are base spec.