Both Driveshafts Explode During Launch of AWD 4 Rotor RX-7
Building a custom, turbo 4 rotor RX-7 comes with a certain amount of risk. That risk sometimes includes being peppered with hot shrapnel.
When Mazda introduced the FD generation of the RX-7 they knew they had a special car. However, we are not sure if they knew that going on 30 years later that people would still be so drawn to them. Collectors, and tuners alike all want these RX-7 sports cars. While some are preserved in original condition, many are used as the platform for some wild builds. YouTuber Rob Dahm is the wild build type. Dahm has been working on his AWD 4 rotor FD RX7 for several years now. The build process has been documented in over 100 videos on his YouTube channel. It needs little introduction.
The car Dahm is building is a high-revving, AWD, 4-digit horsepower monster. Sometimes a monster can decide to attack and that is what we see in one of Dahm’s latest videos. During a recent launch test we see not one, but both driveshafts explode and shower the inside of the car with red hot metal fragments that come just centimeters from striking Dahm and turning a bad night into a worse night. It looks eerily similar to the famous “danger to manifold” scene from a certain Hollywood film.
Thankfully Dahm escapes any injury and after the incident he and his team are able to perform a postmortem on the failed components. The inspection and review of all components involved are what make up the bulk of this video. It is all part of the continued learning process with such an extreme car. You have to take the good with the bad and enjoy the little victories when you can. As Dahm says: “We’ll fix this, that’s the nature of this beast. I don’t care about anything else. We did it, we’re here. It felt so good though.”
Dahm then steps us through all the parts that he can find that may have been damaged in the explosion. The process starts by pulling off the dash and checking all the electrical components underneath. Some connectors were pulled loose, but nothing seems too bad all things considered. Even the driveshafts themselves faired unexpectedly well. Both shafts are made of carbon fiber and none of the carbon fiber portions failed at all. The front driveshaft was the more impressive of the two. “It hit the metal chassis over and over again. Not once did the carbon fiber let go.” Says Dahm.
The transfer case used in this build is from a Nissan GT-R. It is removed and examined as well to look for damage. Rather surprisingly there does not seem to be anything wrong with it. The unit was purchased used, so that combined with this event is making Dahm decide to take the whole thing apart to do a full health check test on it. Despite all the fireworks all components seemed to hold up fairly well. The clutches were not inspected but they are not suspected of having any issues. “We were doing all-wheel-drive burnouts and the fact that the clutch held so strong is another reason why the car ripped itself in half.” Says Dahm.
This appears to be a case of no harm no foul. An event like this certainly could have been much worse for both man and machine. However, each came away reasonably unscathed and ready to fight another day. We are looking forward to the next installment so we can see what the future holds for this amazing RX-7.
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