Little car, big power. Now there is a combination that has always puckered me right up. Ever since the good old days when Chev-powered Vauxhall Chevettes and torque-filled Ford Prefects swung their rear ends wildly down the drag strip as the drivers desperately tried tightening the reins on their short-wheelbase monsters, I have always been a little bit dubious about the idea of a length-challenged drag car but also very impressed at the same time. It takes serious nuts to drive one of these cars fast. Despite the perceived stupidity of such endeavours, people like CBR-sponsored Daniel Tye and Rayglass’s Rod Harvey have been keeping the undie-staining tradition alive and well in the import scene. Now, in Paraparaumu-based service technician Hayden Rowell, there is a new challenger to the crazy crown.

Hayden has spent the last two years building one hell of a Mazda 323 drag weapon. If you know anything about the rotary scene, you can probably guess that, living in Paraparaumu, Hayden has some good backing from none other than wankel heavyweight Lawton Rotorsport. With help from Stu and the rest of the P’ram boys, Hayden has just finished this arse-kicking, big-power 1978 Mazda 323. NZPC jumped into the fray (while there was still some heat in the tyres after the car’s first run at the strip) to see how things went and, more importantly, take a closer look at this small-in-stature, big-in-power spud gun.

Embarking on the project, Hayden knew exactly what he wanted and soon got to work building one seriously hyperactive drag-strip slayer.

Beginning with the body, Hayden and some of his dedicated-to-the-cause mates stripped the car back to a bare shell, before smoothing out any imperfections then laying down some primer and a very nice silver hue.

With the engine bay ready for a serious re-power, it was time for the Lawton boys to shine as a twin-rotor 13B fresh from a FD3S S6 RX-7 made its way to the workshop. The twin rotor was swiftly pulled to pieces and work got underway turning this run of the mill err!mill into something a little more special. Older FC3S S4 RX-7 rotors were balanced then dropped in place to work with a set of 3mm seals and an aftermarket stud kit, all in an effort to handle the extra fuel and air on its way from a custom Lawton bridgeporting job and one hell of a forced induction system.

A massive Garrett GT42 turbocharger dominates the engine bay and forces enormous amounts of air down the throat of the hard-charging 13B. Hayden has decided to go with the more conventional air-to-air intercooler system as opposed to the water-to-air setup favoured by many of the Pro Import boys. A Turbosmart Supersonic blow-off valve helps prevent compressor surge as the air makes its way up to the intake manifold through a good deal of custom piping.

Fuel wise, Hayden manned up and purchased a Bosch Motorsport 044 pump feeding massive 1700cc primary and secondary injectors, meaning that the car now has more than enough gas to pound out the 552hp at the wheels it produced once Andre at Speedtech Motorsport had a good fiddle with the trustworthy Haltech E6X engine management system.

After the combustion process has been completed (with help from Bosch coils and NGK race plugs), a custom-made Cobra exhaust system, complete with massive 50mm Turbonetics external wastegate, dumps waste gases into a 3-inch exhaust system running to the back of the car.

As far as putting all those ponies to the ground goes, we come across probably the weakest link in Hayden’s strip-eater: its driveline. As the man himself says, “We installed a 4-speed Toyota Corona gearbox into the car, knowing full well it wasn’t going to take me all the way to where I wanted to go. But none the less, at least it hasn’t broken yet. The plan is to rip it out at the end of the ’07/’08 season and replace it with a G-Force, which should hopefully take huge amounts of time off my ET.” So, for now, the trusty old Corona box remains in the car, mated to a Precision Engineering flywheel and five-puck single-plate clutch up front, and a chromoly drive shaft/Toyota Hilux differential out the back. This spins a pair of 15×8-inch Centreline Convo Pro rims, shod in very sticky Goodyear slicks. The diff and tyre combo is a real winner, but the setup’s not without its problems. “In the two meets I have raced, I’ve had heaps of trouble getting off the line with any real pace,” Hayden says. “We are going to keep trying new things and messing with the suspension settings to see what can be done.” Sporting Strange Engineering shock absorbers, adjustable ladder bars and Hyper springs, the suspension package in Hayden’s 323 is a fairly specific one, with a lot of headroom when it comes to making changes. So it would be fair to say that with a bit of patience, Hayden will be ripping off the line with much-increased pace in no time.

Anyone who has driven a stock standard ’70s 323 will probably remember that the brakes are barely up to scratch on a 50hp road car, let alone a 200kph-plus high-speed weapon with 10 times the urge. Hayden has rectified the problem in his spud by fitting RX-7 discs and callipers up front and Toyota Trueno discs with Mitsubishi Galant callipers on the rear.

While spooling up the massive turbo on the start line, Hayden stays comfortable in the cabin, snug in a Racetech W1000 seat as the very tidy NZDRA-spec rollcage wraps around the interior a necessary item once any car has dipped into the 10-second bracket. Other than the necessary Momo steering wheel and a few gauges displaying the Mazda’s vital statistics, the 323’s interior is completely stripped, which, of course, all helps to make the car lighter and therefore faster.

So with the car now built and a couple of meets under his belt, Hayden is a reasonably content man. But, like most of us, no one is ever happy and you can be sure as hell that his best ET of 10.52 @ 206kph is a long way off what this mad little machine is capable of. According to Hayden, teething problems are just part of the process, and considering the car has never once come off the line at proper pace, and nor has it managed to stay in a straight line near the pointy end of the track, mid 10s aren’t all that bad, and a single-digit pass surely can’t be far away. Give the man a big, dirty wing hanging off the rear hatch, a few adjustments in the suspension and a new transmission, and you just might see this car dipping well into the NZPC 8-Second Club soon.

1978 MAZDA 323 – Specifications

Engine: Mazda 13B-RE (FD3S), balanced FC3S rotors, 3mm seals, Mazda apex seals, custom NB/LRS stud kit, custom Lawton Rotorsport bridgeporting, Garrett GT42 turbo, Cobra exhaust manifold, Turbosmart Supersonic blow-off valve, 50mm Turbonetics external wastegate, 3-inch mild steel exhaust, PWR intercooler, 3-inch intercooler piping, Bosch Motorsport 044 fuel pump, 1700cc primary injectors, 1700cc secondary injectors, Malpassi fuel regulator, 3/8-inch braided fuel lines, Earl’s fittings, Bosch coils, NGK race plugs, PWR alloy radiator, FC3S oil cooler, Haltech E6X engine management system

Driveline: Toyota Corona 4-speed gearbox, Precision Engineering 10lb flywheel, 5-puck single-plate heavy duty clutch, Toyota Hilux differential, chromoly driveshafts

Suspension/Brakes: Mazda RX-7 S1 front struts, modified front coils, Strange Engineering 2-way adjustable rear shocks, Hyper rear coils, rear adjustable ladder bars, RX-7 front rotors/callipers, rear disc conversion

Wheels/Tyres: 15×8-inch/15×4-inch Centreline Convo Pros, Michelin Front Runners, Goodyear 26x8x15-inch rear slicks

Exterior: Factory 323, custom silver re-spray

Interior: Racetech W1000 bucket seat, Momo steering wheel, Auto Gauge water, oil temp, oil pressure gauges, NZDRA-spec rollcage

Performance: Dyno Power — 552hp @ wheels (19psi boost), 0-400m — 10.52 @ 206kph

HAYDEN ROWELL – Driver Profile

Age: 23
Lives: Paraparaumu
Occupation: Service technician
Previously owned cars: Mazda Familia GT-X, Subaru Legacy
Build time: Two years
Length of ownership: Two years

Thanks to: Barry @ Cobra Goodyear, Century Batteries, John & Stu Lawton @ Lawton Rotorsport, Blair & Bill @ Coby Exhausts, Nick, Steve Jones, Rusty Crow, Andre and Gina @ Speedtech, Robert Eggo, Mike Hone, Abrasive Blasting Services, Gav Notwell, Nick Bartup

Words: Peter Kelly, photos: Quinn Hamill