Dave Lauzier's 11sec Turbo MX-3
(almost into the 10s)

Dave Lauzier has probably the fastest front wheel drive MX-3 that I know of, in the world. His car has been featured in Sport Compact Car & also in Turbo Magazine. The first I heard of his car was a couple of summers ago when people in the local Import scene started talking about this red MX-3 beating Dodge Vipers in street races. I have to say the two of us didn't start out on the right foot due to a misunderstanding and messages not being past along.

His MX-3 started out life with a (K08) 1.8L V-6 but Dave and Steve the turbo wizard at Advance EFI realized that Mazda's V-6 has a very limited performance potential comparted to a (BP) 1.8L DOHC 4 cylinder engine. A (BPD) 1.8L DOHC was swapped from a early Protege GT in place of the V-6. A 323 GT-R turbo manifold was imported and bolted up to this engine and Steve developed the rest of the system including a propretary piggyback engine management system. I have to say the failsafes in this system really work. With upward of 30psi of boost Dave has never blown an engine although he goes through tranny and driveshafts often.

By the end of last year his car was putting out +480hp at the wheels. His fastest run to date has been 11.1 sec@ 131mph at a NIRA drag race in ADCO, NJ. This is a story in itself. He didn't have a roll bar in the car for this race. At this track all cars running under 11.99sec are required to have one. On the first two runs of qualifying he made the pass in the 12s and on the third run he broke out and made the 11.1sec pass. This would have been good enough to qualify 6th in the quick 8. This is part of a message that Dave sent to me after the race.

".........anyways all of the quick 8 guys saw the run and freaked out. Pretty cool when Tony Fuch and Ed Bergenhotlz come see you and freak out at your car. They wanted to run me but the track officials wouldn't let me go again...Tony Fuchs integra ran 10.92@134mph ,so now I know that my car is just as fast as these guys,and the most crazy thing is that I still have a lot more power to gain and these guys where freaking out when they saw my setup compared tho theirs, I have a lot less but I am making the same power as them, so what will happen when I have as much as them.....".

Quick 8 at Virginia Motorsport Park

When I saw Dave at a local drag race on Labor day, I mentioned that Turbo Magazine spelled his name right this time. He made the quick 8 along with well known drives like Lisa Kubo, Tony Fuchs and Sean Glazer. Dave was the number seven qualifier. In the first round of eliminations Dave was red lighted. He told me they red lighted him while staging against Sean Glazer. He said he rolled a little to far ahead on his burn-out and was backing up to stage when looked ahead he saw Sean Glazer taking off and they gave him the red light.  A lot of the quick 8 teams and ecpecially their sponsors weren't happy that he even qualified. I guess the red stickerless (un-sponsored) MX-3  out of nowhere made them see red and not just the color of his car. One thing you will notice is Turbo "forgot" to post his speed which was faster than Tony Fuchs at around 135mph. I was wondering how his E.T could be 19.53sec in the first round. but when you think Dave was in reverse when Sean Glazer launched his reaction time was still pretty good.

Dave and the car weigh 2400lbs  compared to the race prepped Honda's at around 1800lbs. Things I noticed that the other racers don't have that Dave still has in his car. The bumpers and side impact door beams are still intact, electric sunroof, radio and speakers, A/C-heater core assy, all exterior lighting, horn, ABS brakes, the thick layer of rust preventing asphalt under coating that comes on all Canadian cars and license plates (He drove the car to the races labor day). With the exception of the engine his car can be return to stock in a day. He also has less horsepower but more torque. Also his engine is relatively stock compared to the engines the other racers have.  One thing you can say as a privateer he has accomplished a lot more than anyone else on the import drag scene on the East Coast.

Several of the boys in Toronto have been claiming to be the fastest Import in Canada for years Recently I pointed out that Dave has been faster for at least 2 years to a Canadian performance magazine and several imports organizations. Dave finally has some competition from the other Canadians after 2 years his record as Canada's quickest(E.T) FWD import has been broken but he is still the fastest(mph). His competition has one think he doesn't. Sponsorship money...........

Dave Lauzier (Turbo MX3) from Laval, Quebec will be returning to DSM vs Them for an attempt to recapture his title as Canada's Quickest Import which he had held for the past two years. Note: Dave still holds the record as the Fastest Import with a run of 137 MPH. The power is there for a mid 10 second run. But will Dave be able to put the power to the ground and pull it off? Paul Bakker was the first to demote Dave to second place with his run of 11.15 against Dave's 11.18. Paul didn't get to hold the title for long as only a couple of weeks later. Serge Lisboa ran 10.90@127 in the early afternoon at ISDS Finals to take the title away from him and securing his spot as the Quickest Import in Canada.