Like most of us at one time or another, Chris Higgs longed for the chance to tackle the motorsport arena to show what he's made of. Having previously competed in the Ballarat Winter Rally and some club sprints, Chris finally got his opportunity to compete in Targa Tasmania this year. After being a spectator at the event for three consecutive years, he'd learnt a lot about the event and what its demands were. So he wasn't going in blind.
Unlike the fortunate few who inherit money to splurge on whatever they desire, Chris had to work his way to success - and work bloody hard he did. Saving slabs of cash from his pay, he initially built up a awesome Ford Laser all-wheel-drive turbo (see "Try It On") with the sole intention of entering the event. But after the green 300hp Laser mobile was finished, the powers that be at Targa Taz said "no", due to a tangle of regulations that blurred the line between a hatchback and a 2-door coupe. At this stage, most of us would have packed it in and possibly waited to try our luck next year. Not Chris.
After receiving the official word from the Targa Big Wigs only 9 weeks before the event, he pulled out all stops and pieced together a vastly different vehicle - one that would actually make it to the starting line. His choice of weapon was none other than a 1972 Mazda RX3.
Why such a vastly different car? Chris says he had a complete shell immediately available, parts were easy to source and they're also race-proven. So that certainly justifies his choice. But what about it's RWD handling compared to the all-wheel-drive Laser? No problems; the RX is for sure more of an oversteerer, but the Laser could also be made to hang loose easily too, so the transition wasn't that great. And I guess it's always going to be a case of jump in and drive as close to the limit as possible.
Having purchased the bare RX3 shell, Chris then fully prepped it for race use. This meant the body was fully seam-welded to add more rigidity to the chassis, enabling the suspension to do all the movement.This welding was performed in lengths of around half-inch at 1-inch spacing, which has the advantage of being lighter than a straight, un-broken weld.
Chris fabricated his own 8-point mild steel roll cage to fit inside the cabin and boot area, and he says it's right up to current FIA specs. The external panels were left standard other than cutting the front guards and lipping the rears, both for increased tyre clearance. Of course, any cosmetic trimming or superfluous fat was taken out of the equation.
Chris says that with both himself, his navigator (Corey Pilkington) and a full tank of fuel, the car weighs in at a race-lean 1130kg. The car, minus occupants, weighs about 900kg. After it was completed, the car was sent off to Keswick Crash for a full straight orange paint lick.
Race-inspired suspension has been offered up to each corner of the RX3.
The pointy end has been equipped with adjustable platform Lovells struts with variable rate 130-260 pound/inch coil springs, along with adjustable top hats to give alignment flexibility. An anti-dive kit is bolted to the underside of the car and a solid 24mm swaybar keeps front end roll to a minimum.
The standard leaf sprung rear end gets 140 pound/inch springs, a slightly larger rear bar and geometry that was also tidied up to reduce axle tramp. Koni Sports shock absorbers are used at each corner and Nolathane is splashed everywhere. Wheel alignment angles include around 3 degrees of negative camber all 'round. For maximum grip with some scope for rainy conditions, 195/55 Falken Azenis rubbers are inflated onto the 15 x 7 Performance alloys.
Thanks to this combination of mods, the car has excellent balance and is quite easy to control. Chris says the ride isn't too harsh either, but it isn't uncommon to see it hiking a front wheel when powering out of tight corners. So if the car can blast out of corners and accelerate so strongly, what's slowing it down for the corners? A monster set of brakes for a 1000-odd kilo car, that's what!
The nose is anchored by a pair of fully-floating 13 inch Formula Holden racing discs clamped by Series 4 RX7 4-pot calipers. Up-spec Series 2 RX7 10 inch rear discs have also been adapted to suit the back end and the result, Chris says, is "unbelievable - 100% better". The Hawk pads currently being used are a little too hard and he'll be using softer ones next time around, but the overall braking power is plenty enough to keep the '3 out of trouble.
In another surprising move, Chris elected to opt for a naturally aspirated mill not a turbo to power him along those twisty Tasmanian roads. The main reason for this is lag-free torque and increased reliability - imagine having a turbo's intercooler hose blow off in the middle of a special stage! D'oh! The engine was built locally by the highly experienced Greg Mildren of Mildren Race Engineering. With an emphasis on useable torque, the late model 13B was assembled with machined rotors, modified bearings, competition carbon apex seals and a thorough "race spec" J-port to aid breathing.
To ensure the longevity of the engine, a hi-volume 110 psi oil pump was also fitted, together with an oil breather tank. Putting energy to the twin plugs per rotor is a Series 2/3 RX7 ignition system with a re-graphed dizzy, and NGK 9 plugs. Again for reliability reasons, a carby was adopted to take care of fuelling. A 48mm Weber with an extended fuel bowl (to provide extra fuelling capacity) was fitted on top of a custom modified cast alloy intake manifold and the whole thing was tuned on a chassis dyno for maximum power.
And what is its maximum power? Well 125kW at the wheels was recorded before the engine was really even run in, and Greg suspects it should be good for around 140/145 kilowatts. He also says it'll rev easily to 8500 without any problems whatsoever.
The flywheel is a super light unit that is designed to suit a Series 4 RX7 turbo gearbox - which is exactly what Chris fitted. This type of 'box is cheap to source and they also have well-suited ratios.
It is completely standard internally, except there has been a short-shifter added to eliminate wasted time. Transferring torque into the gearbox is a 4-puck ceramic (solid centre) clutch plate, which combines with a heavy-duty 8½ inch 1-tonne pressure plate. The upshot is there ain't any clutch slip.
To accept the Series 4 turbo 5-speed, a shortened RX4 tailshaft has been adapted to link up to a standard type differential. It isn't completely standard though, as a 4.4:1 welded centre ensures there is maximum traction in a straight dry line. Chris also commented that he preferred this type of locked diff because it's more predictable than a conventional LSD.
Chris, who works at Adelaide's Exhaust Technology, had no sweat in the exhaust fabrication department. Drawing upon their extensive experience with rotaries, the guys hung a system comprising long-length primary extractors, two "race resonators" and a single rear re-packable race muffler that measures three inches in diameter. The tip, however, is a sewer-pipe 5 inches in size in case you didn't notice!
Clambering past the roll cage and into the huggy Momo race seat is an exercise in flexibility. But when you turn the battery switch to "on" and flick the ignition and fuel switches, the loud resonating noise of the Holley fuel pump kicks in and lets you know you're in for a wild ride.
Push the start button and the rotary erupts in the usual J-port manner and rocks the car to a steady beat. You're faced with an array of carbon fibre encrusted VDO gauges comprising oil temperature, water temperature, oil pressure, battery voltage and fuel level. In addition to this, there is the Iceman LCD display system that gives a tachometer and an assortment of other practical functions.
For the sake of safety, a 4-point TRS harness straps Chris in and a 3-point RPM harness secures Corey. "Stuff him" jokes Chris in reference to his navigator's lower-spec belt! The aluminium door panels also give the interior that serious competition look, while eliminating any heavy trim pieces. A Terratrip rally computer and an intercom system also illustrate the seriousness of this car.
The last process in the car's prep was the sorting of the electrical system, which took place barely a few days prior to the big event. It wasn't until the weekend before that Chris actually got to drive the car for the first time! That means this entire race-ready car was built in a mammoth-effort 8 weeks! A big congratulations guys, we'd say.
A mere few hours of driving the car was all there was time for before both the car and the crew were on the boat and heading over to the shores of Tasmania. And that's where they upset more than a few competitors. Chris can recall one stage where he was able to hold around 7500rpm in 5th gear for a good distance - and that isn't going slow, that's for sure! But on the very first day, the car was hampered by a bad tank of fuel, which was causing starvation problems. The result was around 5 hours lost in total, but because the Targa is held over 2000km, it wasn't an unrecoverable loss - especially since everyone else was complaining about the same problem.
Then it was time for him to go for it. Even Perfect Prints who supplied a couple of these photos recalled Chris and the car as "that flying young gun in the rotary"!
Driving right up to the limit over the total of 5 days, Chris (at 21 years of age) managed to claw his way to an absolutely incredible 2nd overall position in his 5C class (for modified classics). In this class, he was beaten only by a mega-dollar Porsche.
But he swears he'll be back next year. With a different set of brake pads and a few other tweaks, who knows - outright contention? But this young guy's eyes are also fixed on getting into V8 Supercars, so look out Craig Lowndes!
A big thanks to everyone who helped out preparing the car, as well as all the sponsors. These are Porn Star(!), Lovells, Just Try Racing Development, Exhaust Technology, Wendy's Colonades, Mildren Race Engineering, Iceman, Custom Carbon Rattray Rallysport, AFR, Japanese Motorsports, Hills Industries and everyone else whose stickers adorn the car!
