In America, we’re all about stuffing big cubic-inches under the hood of our hot rods to go fast, but that’s not the only way to make the magic happen. Taking a small-displacement engine, adding some forced induction, and revving it to the moon can also make serious power. Curran Brothers Racing is well versed in creating big power via small engines and this Mazda RX2 with one of their four-rotor engines is a nine-second buzz-saw at the track.
The 1971 RX2 came from the factory with a tiny 1.2-liter engine and no forced induction, but that’s just not any fun, so Brent Curran found a way to make this car sing. The stock engine was removed and in its place is a nasty 26b four-rotor engine that measures 2.6-liters that was shoehorned in under the hood. To create this beast Curran basically took two 13b Rotary engines and fused them together with a custom crank. This new motor makes over 900 horsepower through the torque converter at just 25 psi while using E85 for fuel.
Rotary-powered cars have a unique sound all their own in the drag racing world, and this four-rotor monster is no different. In this footage from 1320video you can hear this powerplant absolutely howl when the driver lays down a big burnout during testing. The car then ripped off a 9.39-second pass at over 148 mph with tons of power pulled off at the hit and blowing through the converter as it screamed down the track. Curran estimates this pocket-rocket should be able to run deep into the eight-second zone once they turn it up more!