Latest news with #SL-C
The Drive
28-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Drive
Massively Turbocharged Five-Rotor Sounds More Like an F1 V10 Than an F1 V10
The latest car news, reviews, and features. I don't know about you all, but I'm tired of every high-revving engine being compared to a Formula 1 V10. Like, I get it—YouTubers want clicks and we car people are suckers for that sweet 2000s nostalgia. But the truth is, most of the time, whatever garage-built project they're talking about doesn't sound like an F1 V10. This insane five-rotor with a 106-millimeter turbo, however, does. It's the work of David Mazzei, who started a company called Mazzei Formula. He specializes in nasty rotary engines, and before this, he crafted a four-rotor for an FD RX-7. This build, dubbed the Formula Five, uses a Superlite SL-C kit car as its base and goes wild from there. Mazzei started the project in 2021 when he acquired the SL-C. He wrote about his plans for the car in a forum post: 'Five-rotor, first one in the world. Crankshaft is currently off for balancing. We plan to run a billet engine, full peripheral port, and a modified G57 turbo to achieve around 1,500 [rear-wheel horsepower] and produce a V10 F1 sound. Rotary fires 1x per rev, four-stroke piston fires once every other rev. With the 72-degree lobe angle offsets, and an equal length five-into-one collector with merge angle and collector design mimicking the [Mazda] 787b four-rotor, we theorize it should sound identical to a V10 F1 at 18,000 [rpm] when running at 9,000 rpm. Major third harmonic, one being root tonic, and the third and octave above the root.' To me, that sounds like a guy who knows what he's talking about. Fast forward roughly four years, and Mazzei has made good on his promise. He uploaded a video earlier this week showing the Formula Five on the road with cameras inside the car and out. My favorite view has to be the rear-facing angle, focusing on the engine and the massive 106-millimeter turbo strapped to the back. It has an air-actuated Holinger MXT sequential transaxle that only makes the sound better as he clicks through the gears. And as for the 3.3-liter engine, it has a six-stage dry sump oiling system with a cable-driven, spur-geared fuel pump. Being honest with you guys, I didn't even know a dry sump system could have six stages, and I've never heard of a spur-geared fuel pump. I guess that means I need to spend more time in the pits. Watching this video makes me realize that I'll never be able to build something like this. And you know what? That's fine. I'm more than happy to leave the crazy projects to people like Mazzei with the smarts and—importantly—patience to make them happen. Man, what a sound. Got a tip or question for the author? Contact them directly: caleb@
The Drive
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Drive
This LS-Powered Kit Supercar For Sale Looks Straight Out of GTA 6
The latest car news, reviews, and features. One of my favorite parts about playing Grand Theft Auto is checking out the 'fictional' cars and trying to figure out what they're supposed to be. The stately Admiral is clearly inspired by the Mercedes-Benz W123, for example. Sometimes, it's the other way around: There's a little-known sports car called the Superlite SL-C that looks like something you'd unlock for beating a GTA mission, and one is currently for sale. Superlite describes the SL-C as 'the perfect supercar,' and it sounds like its engineers poured a lot of passion into the project. It's a kit car compatible with numerous engines, so you can pretty much dial in the amount of power that you want, and it was designed to be relatively easy to build at home. It features an aluminum chassis, a fiberglass body, aluminum suspension components, and a mid-engined design that unlocks a 46% front/54% rear weight distribution, though that figure varies depending on the engine that you stuff in the back. But the styling? It's fairly generic, which explains why it looks like it was beamed from the Rockstar Games design studio. It's almost like if a Maserati MC12 had a kid with a 24 Hours of Le Mans prototype. The example listed on Bring a Trailer wears a copper-colored wrap that makes it even more GTA -like. The background is perfect: It makes the listing's main image look like a screenshot from the game. I can picture myself driving the SL-C to that parking lot and stepping into the old RV behind it to grab a hidden package before going to the safehouse. Bring a Trailer I'll cut Superlite some slack. It's a small operation with limited resources, so it undoubtedly placed a bigger focus on handling than styling. And, there aren't 100 different ways to shape an aerodynamic supercar with a mid-mounted engine—that's why a lot of race cars look alike. At least the odds of finding two identical SL-Cs are low. It's a kit car, so it's ultimately what you make it. Power for the one on Bring a Trailer comes from a 6.0-liter LS V8 linked to a 996-generation 911 GT3's six-speed manual transmission, which has to be one hell of a combination. Bring a Trailer says the drivetrain used to be 100% Porsche: This SL-C was powered by the same 911's 3.6-liter flat-six until a few years ago. The V8 has been modified, and Superlite quotes a 2,400-pound weight, so I bet there's a lot of fun to be had behind the wheel. Bidding currently stands at $17,000 with about five days left in the auction. For context, this exact same car sold for $68,000 in September 2017, when it was still Porsche-powered. More recently, Bring a Trailer sold another SL-C powered by a 7.0-liter LS7 V8 engine for $63,000. Bring a Trailer Got tips? Send 'em to tips@
