In between checking out all the TAS madness, I found this Mazda on the JDM Style Tuning Forum. It belongs to Chester Bajamundi from Australia. After a brief introduction he send me a rather long spec list that completely blew me away. Its real easy to order the best parts from Japan but gets a lot harder to make a car look cohesive and integrated. I feel that Chester did just that, every part looks to be well chosen and works very well as a whole.
Let's start at the exterior of the car. At the rear we can see a carbon diffuser made by Sanai Works that houses the 5zigen 80mm muffler. Furthermore we see a Mazdaspeed spoiler that complements the rear even more.
In the front we see another Mazdaspeed item, this time it's the frontbumper that flows together with the sideskirts, also made by Mazdaspeed. Another noticeable part is the carbon RE Amemiya hood and the headlight cover made by Fujita Engineering.
We can also see a small hint as to what modifications Chester has made to the engine. In the middle we see the Blitz front mount intercooler and on the left you can spot one of the oil coolers.
And now my favorite part of the car, or should I say parts? The wheels, they are a set of SSR Professors with a custom bronze finish. They measure a hefty 19×9.5 inch in the front and 19×11 inch in the rear. To achieve the perfect stance Chester pulled the rear fender about 10mm and rolled the front fenders. The car has been dropped on a custom suspension set made by Ohlins. The setup has been made with specifications that Panspeed has provided. Off course we all know Panspeed from their yellow Time Attack record breaker.
Behind the wheels we can see the blue anodized calipers that holds Endless brake pads in the front and rear.
Another nice view of the rear, the wheels sit snuggly under the rear arches. And as you can see there's plenty of dish to go with it.
When we look inside we are greeted by a steering wheel I have never seen before. It's made by Momo and it is called the Mod 02. When we take a closer look we can find a plethora of Mazdaspeed goodies like a carbon fiber gear knob, center console and so on. Chester can watch all the vitals of his engine via a couple of HKS meters including a boost gauge and a EVC 5 controller.
Even more goodies can be found in the back. To enhance the car stiffness Chester has chosen some nice Cusco parts. As a driver you want to be in full control so to replace the original seats is a logical choice- so out went the original seats and in went the Bride Gias seats.
How's that for an engine bay? The 13B rotor engine is complemented with a host of parts from various tuners. Some of the names that are on the spec list include RE Amemiya, HKS and Greddy. Most noticeable are the HKS filters and the polished piping. When you look close you can also spot the anodized pulleys made by Greddy.
For this year Chester told me has new plans. He is going single with an Trust T88 turbo in the near future.
To close of this story I have the obligatory stance photo, does it get your approval?
Thanks for the pictures Chester
-Jeroen Willemsen