Mirage LX7

*"Hear that high revving brap noise? Oh yeah, it's the glorious sound of the notorious Mirage LX7, the first race car to win LeMans that is powered by a glorious screaming twin turbo 4.7L Wankel engine. Compared to the prototypes in its day, the LX7 displays just how cutting edge and powerful the rotary engine truly is. Even though Mirage is a French brand, Ozutsu did most of the actually complicated technical stuff, while Mirage mainly built the body of the car. For the most part, the expensive price tag for this car is reasonable, since you are basically driving a piece of motorsports history. While you're out there, show those piston engined prototypes how its done!"*

- Garage Descritpion.

The **Mirage LX7** is a Supercar appearing in *MotorStorm: Apocalypse*, and *MotorStorm RC*.

It appears in *MotorStorm: Return to the Wild, and MotorStorm: Transylvania Unleashed* reclassified as a Prototype.

## Details

Developed in the late 80's during the golden age of Group C racing, also being developed in collaboration with Ozutsu, and with a few pointers from an Ozutsu's parent company, Infinite. The LX7 was said to be an evolution of the Mirage LX5, and the Mirage LX6, which were earlier designs that participated in the earlier days of Group C, from 1983 to 1987.

The Group C-spec LX7 was powered by a naturally aspirated 3.5L Maxi-built V12, which produced 690 horsepower. The V12 engine was originally used in the 1986 season of Formula One, even though the V12 proved to be in every bit highly unreliable, due to its horrendous fuel economy, and being easily prone to having its pistons be purged from the car's engine under copious amounts of stress to the engine. With a lack of success with the Maxi built V12, Mirage contacted both Cougar and Ozutsu for ideas on developing the car.

Cougar had made a proposition that the car was to be powered by a turbocharged 7.0L V12 from their Chancellor Group C race car, as well as heavily redesigning the car's aerodynamics. However, Ozutsu's proposition was having a specially built, refined, and reworked twin-turbo 47B 4.7L four-rotor Wankel engine that produced anywhere from 700 to 900 horsepower, with the help of having three spark plugs per engine.

The installation of the rotary engine meant that the car's radiators had to be placed elsewhere on the car, an early design even suggesting the radiator be put behind the drivers' seat. However, the final evolution of the car would result with a single radiator being put in the front of the car.

In an attempt to keep the car's various systems cool during the 24 Hours of LeMans, the radiator would end up being put on the car's front intake, with a gurney flap being placed at the exit of the car's radiator to aid the car's downforce, while keeping the brakes cool, and aid the car's front end downforce.

Throughout the car's life, it raced in the World Sportscar Championship, the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship, and then eventually the prestigious 24 Hours of LeMans, where it was the first rotary powered car to win the legendary and grueling endurance race.

A total of six early model LX7s were built, while only two LeMans winning LX7s were built. It had won the 24 Hours of LeMans from 1990-1992, until being unseated by the monstrous Gyoza Colta in 1993.