South Africa is known for its scenic vistas and gorgeous scenery, along with some of the best wines to grace the dining table. It is also known for the Franschhoek Pass, 75 kms outside of Cape Town.
This windy 19.9 km mountain road was built in 1822, over the original Olliphant’s Pad, a trail used by elephants when they needed to calve. But for New Zelander “Mad” Mike Whiddet, it represented a challenge for him and his car, the “Badbul”, a drift car about as mad as its owner.
Originally a 2004 Mazda RX-8 SP3, the Badbul sports a Mazda 20B three-rotor Wankel engine with a Garrett GTX-45 turbocharger. Producing 812 hp, the Radbul gets the power to ground with a HKS six-sped sequential gearbox with engine management by a Pulse Performance Engineering Haltech ECU.
Carbon-fibre clads Radbul, with Selbon carbon-fiber doors, bonnet and boot. BN Sport provides the vented hood, and Sard GT the rear wing, topped off with a Hybrid Lab wide-body kit.
Travelling at speeds of up to 248 km/h on the twisty mountain road, Mad Mike called the Franschhoek Pass his scariest project. “The drive itself is just crazy. There’s not much space to error,” he said.
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- Mike Whiddett poses for a portrait on Franschhoek Pass, Cape Town, South Africa on September 19, 2016.
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Nice
South Africa is known for its scenic vistas & gorgeous scenery but the RX-8 is known for its powerful rotary engine which happen to be a petrol guzzler.
For its HP, its not petrol guzzler but engine oil guzzler. Pls read more on rotary engine.
Have you even driven a RX7/8 before commenting ??