Roan’s FD3S
Friday 12 October, 2012 | By Ken
Photos by: Zandro Zafra/Zandbox Photo
What you’re staring at here is a vehicle that doesn’t take the term, “fast” very lightly. Nor does it take the word “street car” for granted. Many times, people throw those three words around so loosely, that its easy to lose sight of what they can truly represent when used to describe one subject. A few weeks ago, Roan and his FD3S was spotted rolling through Times Square. At one point, while SNTRL’s Al Norris was taking photos during The PreGame, a New York City police officer overheard Roan put his car into gear as a street light turned green. What he and half of the tourist standing at the Cross Roads of the World heard, was the sound of 1st gear being engaged. The officer voiced his question audibly and said, “what the heck was that noise?”. Al calmly replied, “a 9 second RX7 officer”.
Just days before rolling through Times Square, Roan and his 1994 RX7 attended the Rotorfest event at Atco Raceway, where it ran a personal best of 9.50 @147 mph. No cage, full interior, zero cut panels, A/C, power steering, DVD player and the sunroof for those sunny afternoons while running errands. This is the pure definition of a fast street car. Function over form applies here, but don’t get it twisted. This FD is a looker on the track, and on the street. Super clean with just the right touches, Roan proves that in a day and age when stance, fitment and flush is all the rage, you can still have true beauty and brawn in the same package.
Roan is no stranger to the import game. A guy who bleeds rotary, his addiction started out on the streets of New York City just over 20 years ago. At the age of 14, his older sister’s boyfriends used to take him to the races late into the night, many times coming home when the sun was just coming up. A regular at old school spots like Hunts Point and Fountain Avenue, streets that have become legendary with their demise, Roan was raised during a time well before the “Fast and Furious” influence. This was a time when the phrase, “if you know, you know” applied to the import street scene. He got the opportunity to own his first automobile, a 1985 Supra when he was 16. But by the time he turned 19, he traded the pistons and rods for the rotary when he picked up a 1988 10th Anniversary Mazda RX7 Turbo II, and the rest is history.
Roan and his FD met each other in 2000, when he became the second owner and she was just a bone stock RX7. While some people will go crazy with the body kit, wheels, drop and other exterior aesthetics, Roan’s background influence in the import game translated to building the motor, transmission and rear for that pure driving excitement, while keeping the lines clean and beautiful for street duty. On the track, she sports Weld Aluma Stars with M&H Slicks. On the street, as you can see by these photos, she rocks Kinesis K58 wrapped in Pirelli P-Zeros. A Mazda 99 Spec front bumper and Feed side skirts add a subtle touch, but the distinct sound of a built rotary and the Borg Warner S475 turbo spooling are what will make you smile.
These days, Roan can be found cruising through the streets of the Metro New York area on his street setup. He can also be found at all the major drag racing events on tracks like Englishtown Raceway Park and Atco Raceway. As owner of www.rxparts.com, Roan brings his 20 years of personal experience in the rotary game to other enthusiast. He doesn’t just talk the life. He lives it as well. If you see a white FD in the NYC rolling around, take notice. It may just very well be a mid 9 second monster doing some daily driving.
Special Thanks goes out to my crew, Marly Clesca, Chris Nembhard, Steve Clesca and Milton Matos, Navin at Speed-Tek for years of support and amazing fabrication work on the car as well as Rakesh, Anthony, Enzo, Smokin Joe, Lee and the guys at The Driveshaft Shop.
1994 rxparts.com Mazda RX7 | Half Bridge ported 13B clearanced and Assembled by Roan Farquharson | Ported by Rakesh Racing | RxParts.com 2mm Apex Seals, Intake system and Engine Stud Kit | Autronic SM2 Ecu and 500R CDI box | M&W Ignition Coils | Mil Spec wire harness Tuned and Wired by Enzo-Racing | Borg Warner S475 Turbo on custom Manifold by Enzo-Racing | custom 4 inch Stainless Steel exhaust with Magnaflow and Apexi mufflers by Speed-Tek | Koyo N Flow Triple Pass Radiator | Engine Irons, Housings and intake Powder Coated by Unique Powder Coating
McLeod Drag Mag twin disk clutch and flywheel | G-Force built Viper T56 Transmission | ’04 Mustang Cobra Rear Differential with Ford Motorsport internals (retained factory Mazda IRS) | Drive Shaft Shop Axles and Drive Shaft | Street wheels 18 x 10 Front and 18 x 11 Rear Kinesis K58 with 285/30 and 285/35 Pirelli P-Zeros | Pettit Racing rear trailing arms and toe links | Delrin suspension bushings throughout | Rear suspension modifications to fit 11 inch wheels by Speed-Tek | Track wheels 15 x 4 and 15 x 10 Weld Aluma Stars with M&H 27 x 10 Slicks | Street suspension: Cusco Zero 2R coilovers | Track Suspension: Custom Valved Koni Yellow Shocks with Ground Control Springs | custom stainless brake hard lines through-out car with ABS delete, Line Loc and Wilwood Proportioning Valve install done by Speed-Tek
OEM Mazda 99 Spec Front bumper | Feed Sideskirts | Sake Bomb Garage dual Mocal Oil Cooler kit and HID Projector Headlamp kit | Custom Molded Speaker Box w/ one JL 12w6 woofer, Pioneer interiors, Alpine DVD Head Unit and Memphis Amps by Speed-Tek | Flo Wideband and gauge | SPA Technique Dual Egt Gauge kit to monitor front and rear rotor exhaust temps | Greddy Profec Type S Boost controller | Stuart Warner 40psi Boost Gauge | Full Factory Interior – no weight reduction, no cutting of any floor pans or body panels | Factory A/C and Power Steering
Want to see Roan’s FD in action? Check out this video by NYCE1S of the RX7’s 9.50 @ 147 mph pass at Rotorfest over the summer.
About the author
Co-founder, Managing Director, Photographer, and editor for SNTRL. To many in the Tri-State, Kenny aka "MAD JDM" needs no introduction. Always out there, always ready, always down.