If you’ve been following Carnage closely over the past few weeks, you’ll know that Scotty pulled a herculean effort to get our Barra-swapped MX-5 ready to shoot for eights.

Last time we took the MX-5 racing, the 580rwhp, stock-bottom-end LPG Barra lost oil pressure, and Scotty decided that was the end of SBE combos for the Mazda. So in just a few days, he pulled apart another Barra we had spare, and slapped in some forged pistons, H-beam rods, gapped rings and head studs to make a 1000rwhp-capable mill.

In the last episode, it made an awesome 650rwhp on the Maxx Performance dyno, with the turbo being the limiting factor, as it ran out of puff on around 25psi.

This episode sees us back at Heathcote Park Raceway to see if this newfound power is enough to squeeze the MX-5 into the eights. Last time it was at Heathcote it ran 9.26@147mph, so Scotty’s optimism was high.

The first run of the day further improved spirits, as even with a softer launch, the Mazda reeled off a 9.22@148mph with no fuss.

So did the Mazda make it into the eights? You’ll have to check out the video at the top of this story to find out!