Video: Our Barra-swapped MX-5 goes eights!

There’s no better feeling than a bunch of hard work, time and money finally coming together on a project car, and in this episode of Carnage, that exact moment happens for Scotty as our Barra-powered Mazda MX-5 finally runs eights!

39

Regular viewers will already know that the Mazda has made us go the long way to get into that club. Not only does it have a fresh Barra with forged rods and pistons, but we also had to upgrade the turbo to a Pulsar G42, change to a Haltech Elite 2500 ECU, and even add a 100-shot of nitrous to help the big turbo-Barra combo build boost on the line.

39

In this episode, Scotty is back at Heathcote Park Raceway for a twilight test-and-tune, where the Mazda makes him work right until the end to get that elusive eight.

39

The first run was a no-go after a hot surface saw the Mazda wheelspin its way down most of the track. Scotty then wisely chose to wait until dark when the temp had dropped, and the HPR officials double-prepped the track to give everyone there the best chance to PB.

39

At first, the waiting game didn’t quite pay off, the car giving us blue balls with a pair of 9.1 passes. It also decided to throw us one last curveball with a dodgy transbrake circuit, but Scotty refused to give in.

39

At literally midnight, the Mazda lined up for its last pass, and it was basically eights or bust. At last the racing gods shone down on Scotty, though, with the Mazda hooking up and freight-training its way to a scorching new PB of 8.87@159mph – well and truly in the eight-second club!

39

It’s an awesome way to cap off a big year of racing and mods for the Mazda. We have to give another big shout-out to Maxx Performance for the fab and tuning work, Bill Hooton at Hooton’s Harnesses for setting up the Haltech, Dandy Engines for building a stout Barra, VPW Australia for supplying a bunch of parts, and Adam and his team at MPW Performance for helping Scotty out at the track on the night.