Total MX-5 – July 2019

44 | TOTAL MX-5 |^ Summer 2019

[ TURBO MK4 ]

a mk4, a 5400-mile example that he paid

$22,000 for. ‘The car was like new,’ he

beams. ‘I was super-excited to finally

have one of my own.’ In a cool ceramic

metallic off-white hue with bright red

Brembo calipers and gloss black multi-

spoke BBS wheels, the car was already a

looker straight from the factory, but you

can’t keep company with the kind of

guys that Tommy does without a little of

that modifying magic rubbing off on you.

‘I’d been driving the mk4 for a few

months and loving its mix of sublime

handling and slick looks, but realistically

it was never going to stay standard for

long,’ chuckles Tommy. ‘So when Toyo

Tires USA needed another car for their

stand at the upcoming SEMA show in a

month’s time, I was only too happy to

step up to the plate.’

Having never produced a SEMA-

worthy build before, Tommy was totally

in the hands of his long-time friend Jonny

Grunwald for the intricate planning and

execution of the build in an ultra-short

time scale. ‘Jonny has been building

SEMA cars for years. In fact, he’s had 11

builds appear at the show in the last

seven years. Each one is such a stressful

process. I really don’t know how he does

it, but every year he seems to knock it

out of the park. So when he agreed to be

the build manager for the project, I knew

I was in safe hands.’

Jonny was also building his own car to

display at the 2018 show, a Pandem-

kitted FC RX-7, built in collaboration

with TRA-Kyoto and Spec clutches, so

with both their combined connections it

made sense that Tommy’s build went

down a similar route.

‘The build started with a relatively

simple cat-back exhaust system from

Remark exhausts,’ Tommy recalls. ‘They

produce awesome-sounding systems

that flow really well, too, releasing extra

power. I went for a burnt titanium

tailpipe, which went on to become one of

the accents for the rest of the build.’ With

time against them, Jonny ensured that all

the parts were ordered and delivered

asap, to allow the build to be smashed

out to the highest quality. This involved a

call to Turbosource in Minnesota, to

secure one of the firm’s excellent mk4

turbo kits.

‘The Turbosource kit is the fastest

spooling, most powerful turbo kit

currently on the market for the mk4,’

says Tommy. ‘It’s a complete bolt-on kit

with minimal permanent modifications to

the car and designed specifically for the

stock fuel system and engine, which was

essential if we were going to get it up

and running in time for the show – we

didn’t have enough hours in the day for

an engine rebuild!’

But before Tommy could get

engrossed in upping the power, the

styling required attention. And he knew

exactly where to look... ‘Having already

fallen in love with Miura-san’s kit at the

render stage, it was incredible to think I

would be building the first Pandem-

kitted mk4 to be displayed at SEMA,’

Tommy beams.

The kit and the car were sent to

Fernando Reyes of Famous Customz to

be painted in matching Mazda ceramic

metallic and fitted to the car’s bodywork

with titanium fixings to match the

exhaust tip. ‘It’s always wince-inducing to

see someone taking an angle-grinder to

your car’s pristine bodywork, but we

needed extra space under the new

flared arches for the enlarged rolling

stock,’ recounts Tommy.

The rims in question are a set of Rays

Volk Racing TE37Vs, wrapped in Toyo

R888R tyres (obviously), and connected

to a set of KW Clubsport two-way

coilovers. ‘We also selected a set of cool

Thunderbolt Racing Japan titanium

wheel nuts to continue the theme from

the kit fixings and exhaust,’ Tommy

reveals. ‘Fernando pulled out all the

stops to get the

bodywork finished

as quickly as

possible and we

soon had the car

back at the unit to

install the engine

and transmission

modifications.’

Thanks to Jonny’s

planning skills, all

the parts were

ready and waiting,

so it was a case of bolting on the

Turbosource turbo kit (with its Borg

Warner EFR 6258 turbocharger and

Treadstone intercooler), then remote

mapping it with an EcuTek RaceRom

tune by Orange Virus.

‘We knew the power would be well

over the 300bhp mark, so we’d already

installed an uprated Spec stage 3+

clutch and aluminium flywheel to take

the strain,’ Tommy says. In the end the

power figure hit a punchy 318bhp with

319lb ft of torque, running 15psi of boost.

Which is more than enough to make the

lightweight mk4 a heavy hitter both on

the street or the circuit.

‘It had been a hectic few weeks

without much sleep and the stress level

was insane, so we breathed a huge sigh

of relief when we packed the car into the

truck for the 2300-mile journey from

Orlando to Las Vegas,’ Tommy smiles. ‘To

see it displayed in all its glory on the

Toyo Tires booth at the show made all the

effort worthwhile. But there’s no way I

could’ve done any of it without the help

of my friends.’

THANKS

Jonny Grunwald for his vision and organisational

skills; Kei Miura of TRA-Kyoto; ‘Mad Mike’

Whiddett; my wife, Chavy; Fernando Reyes of

Famous Customz; Joshua Odom at Extreme

Powder Coaters; Chris Schneider; Rays Wheels;

Toyo Tires; Turbosource; Spec Clutch; Borg

Warner; KW Suspensions; Bride JP/Lot USA;

Thunderbolt JP; Tuned JP; Winmax; BASF;

Takata/HMS Motorsports; Remark Exhaust; Fox

Marketing; Vibrant Performance; Brian Crower;

Pancross LLC; Mazda.

5

Top: Pandem body kit

adds some considerable

girth to the mk4

Middle: Rays Volk

Racing wheels with

Toyo R888R rubber

Bottom: GT rear wing is

a substantial item: note

the extra wire braces to

hold it steady when the

car’s at speed