米娅子弹跑车是增压V8工厂ta You Never Knew Existed

Oct. 16, 2023 11:00 AM ET byCesar Miguel Sports Cars /3 Comments

It nearly had a rotary, and even an engine shared with a TVR, but in the end settled for something else entirely.

TheMazda MX-5Miata is primarily known for its inline-four gasoline mill, but did you know that a factory-made V8 version was once available? The only caveat is that it never came from Mazda, but rather from a company called Bullet from Queensland, Australia.

V8-swapped Miatas have been around since the early 1990s, with various kits making the swap easier until recent legislationmade it a whole lot more difficult. But Bullet engineered its Roadster to be fully street-legal and road-registered. The V8-powered Bullet Roadster, however, was produced in limited numbers - less than 1,000 were made from 1999 to 2009, making it much rarer than the factory-turboMazdaspeed Miata. Still, those numbers placed it firmly in the realm of mass-production level.

Development started in the late 1990s when a Miata body (a modified NA with a fiberglass front-opening clamshell hood) housed a 13b rotary engine from an RX-7. That was proof of concept that more power in a Miata would work a treat, but it wasn't until the V8s came along that the idea really kicked off.

The series production models were based on the pre-facelift second-gen MX-5. The company replaced the 13B with a Rover V8 due to public demand, creating the early Rover V8 Bullet. This was the same 4.6-liter Rover V8 used on some of thecraziest models from TVR.

Bur from 2000-2002, a predicted shortage in these V8s meant a switch was in order, and Bullet decided to use the Toyota 1UZ-FE V8. This engine was initially found on the Toyota Soarer and Lexus LS400, featuring an aluminum block and heads, 32 valves, and quad cams.

It wasnotoriously reliable too, and so Bullet decided maybe a bit of forced induction would work. You could order it with or without a supercharger kit, but the latter became known as the Bullet Roadster SS in early 2003. The SS model was given a custom Sprintex M90 Supercharger with dual staged throttle bodies and forged pistons. The result is a power output of 429 horsepower and 424 lb-ft of torque.

At the same time, Bullet went about ensuring all cars were compliant with the Australian Design Rules (ADR) regulations, with the chassis reinforced, bigger Brembo brakes added, and a limited-slip differential included for the SS derivative, resulting in a road-legal factory model.

And to fit its performance, it was also provided with a fetching wide-body look via fiberglass and carbon composite materials. A new front end design also made it look unique, although the Mazda headlights remained, partially covered by the new clamshell front end.

Impressive? There was one problem: the Bullet SS did not come cheap. Back in 2000, it retailed at around US$75,000. In today's money, that's around $135,000. That price positioned it as a cheaper alternative to the BMW Z8, which retailed at $128,000 in its heyday. It is all the more impressive that the Bullet MX-5 SS can match the Z8's 0-60 mph time of 4.5 seconds despite being cheaper.

Sadly, Bullet never went mainstream, and despite its intentions to build a ground-up supercar, the Bullet V8 Roadster was its last official product.