http://www.strages.homestead.com/files/underhood8.jpg

Factory Strut tower brace. Looks like the air filter to the right of the overflow reservoir, and a resonator chamber right behind it. Maybe battery box on the right fender, fusebox on the left. Don't see the hood prop-rod clip. RH drive model of course(see brake booster)

Can we say "heat-soak"?

Does Mazda include a “Letter of Authenticity” guaranteeing that a rotary engine really does reside under all that plastic junk???

In my best Dana Carvy voice…“Why in my day, the engine was left exposed & oil squirted all over the place & you’d scrap your knuckles on all the sharp edges & that’s the way we liked it!!!”

ya, seriously, what's with all that plastic crap?? engine bay air management?? sound deadening?? i just don't get it... why is it more esthetically appealing to cover up the engine anyways?? hmmm... removing that garbage violates warranty, right???? jeez...

on a non-engine related note, i like that side reflector!! :)

but god, HAVE to junk that POS plate holder...

Originally posted by Toadman

Factory Strut tower brace. Looks like the air filter to the right of the overflow reservoir, and a resonator chamber right behind it. Maybe battery box on the right fender, fusebox on the left. Don't see the hood prop-rod clip. RH drive model of course(see brake booster)
Can we say "heat-soak"?

what is the roughly rotor shaped silverish thingy with the mazda logo? i dont see a place for hood prop to go unless it goes along the left fender or maybe it clips to that black thing on the overflow bucket? why are we saying "heat-soak"?

Rotaries put out tremendous heat. The 3rd Gen suffered heat-soak or actual underhood temperature increases upon shutdown. Even though the Renesis is NA, all that plastic is going to trap alot of underhood heat and harden rubber and vacuum hoses prematurely. Hope they got the cooling problems under control this time around. Some of us actually WANT to see our rotary engines. On the 3rd gen it was buried under turbo hoses, solenoids and intercooling pipes. Now they shroud it in plastic. Go figure.
:confused:


"Hey Ethel, where's the durn dipstick on this thang?"

what is the roughly rotor shaped silverish thingy with the mazda logo?

It’s location & composition suggests that it’s part of the intake runner / expansion chamber assembly however the smooth rather than scalloped shape isn’t consistent with a conventional casting. My best guess is that it’s nothing more than a styling feature meant to convey the “Rotor Inside” message.

Originally posted by Toadman
... Hope they got the cooling problems under control this time around.
thanks T. this is why i am opposed to obstructing the airflow with that @#%@& front plate holder. i am with you on hoping the cooling is under control!
edit: and thanks rx7guy

HEY, where are the hood hinges?

I would like to have the option of taking that plastic crap off... I don't like that "clean engine look" trend.. Let me see it! :D

I don't mind it covered up, and I can near guarantee Mazda learned their lesson from the last RX-7 and their heat problems.

I've got full faith in Mazda for this car, because THEY know better than I do, that they have to have their act up above par, or they are going to die a very fast and painful death in the very competitive world of sport SEDANS :)

By the way, from the looks of that plastic, it seems to be just a cover.

I think that with the front air intakes, there's probably a channel for the air to follow and hit on the right stuff and keep it cool... that plastic may just be a way to channel the air coming into the car.

Hey, it's not like we need access to do a valve job or timing belt change! :)

Question, I know this will expose me as a helpless newbie but what does "NA" reference?

Originally posted by Aesculapius

Question, I know this will expose me as a helpless newbie but what does "NA" reference?

NA = Naturally Aspirated

Originally posted by Aesculapius
Hey, it's not like we need access to do a valve job or timing belt change! :)

Question, I know this will expose me as a helpless newbie but what does "NA" reference?
NA = Naturally Aspirated

aka... no turbos on this engine, thus no turbo lag, and no suffering in hot weather :)

Dammit ZoomZoom beat me to it! :)

:D

Nowadays lots of companies are using those plastic engine covers.

I guess its to keep the engine and hoses cleaner.

I personally like to see everything. Imagine if you get stuck on the side of the road you have to spend 30 mins taking off plastic before you can even see whats wrong :p

actually according to the time, you tied!;)

Looks like there are hinges on the front of the plastic dealy. It flips foward or do you gotta remove it completl by other means.
If it flips fowards easlly its probably not to much of a problem.
but if its a hassle it gotta go!

I35/G35/350Z motor has a shroud. Easy way to kick up the service flat rate at dealers. Better keep a socket/driver set in the trunk if you are a do-it-yourself guy.

http://www.strages.homestead.com/files/I35engine.gif
http://www.strages.homestead.com/files/underhood8.jpg

well lookin under the hood of a friends celica, they have the same plastic crap too. Its kept in place by some cheap ass plastic pin things. I hope mazda puts on hinges or real hardware cause those plastic pos break really easily. But then again its Toyota.

doe sanyone see the hinges for the hood?:confused:

Far upper left looks like a slot for the hood hinge/safety hook to to drop down into the cowling. Looks pretty standard and no heavy failure-prone hydraulic struts. Wonder if the hood is as light as the FD?

good i can do without the struts. how light are we talking on the fd hood?

Perhaps the hood prop hangs from the hood itself....hmmm

And yes where is that dipstick thingy!

see if you wait long enough someone else posts what you were thinking:D has any one seen a hood prop that hangs down from the hood?

Originally posted by zoom44
...this is why i am opposed to obstructing the airflow with that @#%@& front plate holder... Don't forget, that's less than half of the equation. Once you get the air inside, it needs to flow well, and then it needs a way to get out. You could put the biggest shogun style grille opening on the car, but if you don't have vents to allow the air out, the airflow will simply stall, and you won't gain anything.

---jps

Talking of airflow, I hope this car has good electric fans... AND a big alternator...

It's amasing how little cooling you can get when stationary with no airflow unless you have really decent fans.

I nearly got stranded the other day in the landrover I use to carry junk and bits of engine etc..... got stuck in stationary traffic for 1 1/2 hours... night time, pouring rain etc.... with everything switched on and 35-40 amps of engine cooling fans it took out the battery!... I noticed when the relay for the fans clicked and the stereo switched off!!!

Glanced down at the voltmeter and it read 7 volts... you've never seen me switch everything off and rev the engine so fast!!!

Good thing the ignition system on that thing has no computers or anything... I bet I was on the verge of loosing the ignition too!

I see where the prop rod clips into when it's down. :)

Soon as I get my RX-8 (if I ever get one...) that plastic crap will be first to go. I want to see the engine dagnabbit!

Once you get the air inside, it needs to flow well, and then it needs a way to get out. You could put the biggest shogun style grille opening on the car, but if you don't have vents to allow the air out, the airflow will simply stall, and you won't gain anything. Methinks that's what the vents behind the front wheels are for. :)

Originally posted by BryanH
I see where the prop rod clips into when it's down. :)...
where?

Originally posted by zoom44

where?

Exactly opposite where it's hinge mounts...

here?:http://www.rx8forum.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=13669

Originally posted by zoom44
here?:http://www.rx8forum.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=13669
Doesn't look right to me.. that's the same thing on the other side.

the skinny silver rod on the left side of the engine oil dipstick? or some dipstick tranny?

Originally posted by BryanH
...Methinks that's what the vents behind the front wheels are for. :) Are they functional? They weren't necessarilly so on the FD.

---jps

They are functional actually. They cool the brake housings.

Orginally they were going to be full swept intakes going over the wheel wells but they didn't have the room. So they scrapped them...

The engineers came back later and said they needed better break cooling so they came back, only without the well intakes.

Plust the styling guys wanted them. Win for everyone.

But we almost didn't get them. :(

Twifosp,

Since you’re new to this board, would it be possible for you to provide a little background on your rotary engine experience & your source(s) of information???

I was sure that if the vents were functional, they’d be used to cool the oil.

If the vents are in fact being used to cool the breaks, I’d have to say that Mazda picked the easiest rather than most beneficial thing to cool for the sake of having functional vents @ the lowest cost. :(

Originally posted by twifosp
...The engineers came back later and said they needed better break cooling so they came back... The vents located directly behind the wheels are for brake cooling!? Why is my BS detector going off?

---jps

Originally posted by Sputnik
Are they functional? They weren't necessarilly so on the FD.

---jps

Every FD had functional driver's side ducts. The passenger side ducts were only functional if the car was an R model.

Originally posted by RedRotaryRocket
Every FD had functional driver's side ducts. The passenger side ducts were only functional if the car was an R model. On the FD that I looked at, the driver's side was blocked off.

---jps

Originally posted by Sputnik
The vents located directly behind the wheels are for brake cooling!? Why is my BS detector going off?

---jps
you gotta vent the hot air out somewhere and that is the best place to do it that i can think of:)

Originally posted by Sputnik
On the FD that I looked at, the driver's side was blocked off.

---jps

Hmm, the only thing I can think is that maybe you just weren't looking at it the right way? It's very hard to see that the vent is functional without actually removing the wheel well liner. In fact, I had come to the same conclusion you have by inspecting the car completely assembled. One day I removed the wheel well liner and realized that I was wrong. If you didn't look at it with the liner off, you haven't looked at it closely enough.

The side vent provides the exhaust for the oil cooler air. Oil cooling is very important to the rotary, and every FD RX-7 has an oil cooler on the driver's side. It simply can't have been blocked off, unless someone "modified" it for some reason.

This is not inteded as a flame, it's just that I am confident that this was the case on all cars.

Don't make me get out my digital camera and remove my wheel well liner! :D

Originally posted by zoom44

you gotta vent the hot air out somewhere and that is the best place to do it that i can think of:)

The brakes are located way out at the ends of the suspension. There's no way to duct the hot air FROM the brakes, routed to the rear. If there are brake ducts on this car, they would be in the front. Where the air goes onces it has hit the rotors is it's own business.

I think those rear vents are an aesthetic feature...

hey zoom... that's a good guess, and actually i thought those vents were there to expire the wheel well, so you don't get that turbulent venturi you can plainly see billowing out of the back side of any wheel well during a rainy day on the freeway...

anyhoo, the best way to vent that warm air from the brakes is to push it out through the wheel itself... Ferrari first perfected this, using some kind of impeller or something to thrust air out of the spokes in the wheel and added a non-rotating sleeve which smooths the airflow inside the rim... many other constructors have copied this, but even without the impeller, the good ol' big-duct-ram-system still does the same thing... just look at the front wheels of an F1 car as they brake for a very slow corner, coming down from 300kph, on a really hot day... brake dust from the disc and pad will blow out into clouds of black haze...

anyhoo, ya, that's the consensus for the best way to ventilate brakes... this is also because with a car trying to use the ground effect, moving the air from under the car out of the wheels cools the brakes while at the same time lowers the air pressure under it... so ya...
:D good idea though, i'm imagining what you mean... it would work (using a small inlet duct, then using negative pressure behind the brake to pull the air through), just maybe not so efficiently as ramming the air across the brake...

guys lets not forget that this is still a CONCEPT model. I bet you they are trying to cover the final engine layout and design. This is probably the last concept, maybe even pre -production....but it i still a concept as you notice on the mazda site for rx-8 design, the final model is blacked out...so ill bet you they are just covering the engine design until final release..

Originally posted by RedRotaryRocket


Hmm, the only thing I can think is that maybe you just weren't looking at it the right way? It's very hard to see that the vent is functional without actually removing the wheel well liner. In fact, I had come to the same conclusion you have by inspecting the car completely assembled. One day I removed the wheel well liner and realized that I was wrong. If you didn't look at it with the liner off, you haven't looked at it closely enough.

The side vent provides the exhaust for the oil cooler air. Oil cooling is very important to the rotary, and every FD RX-7 has an oil cooler on the driver's side. It simply can't have been blocked off, unless someone "modified" it for some reason.

This is not inteded as a flame, it's just that I am confident that this was the case on all cars.

Don't make me get out my digital camera and remove my wheel well liner! :D

I have also read that the passenger side vent was functional on all 3rd gens. There was a duct that went from the oil cooler over the wheel arch and to the side vent.

The r1 had 2 oil coolers so both side vents were functional.

Brian

Originally posted by wakeech
:D good idea though, i'm imagining what you mean... it would work (using a small inlet duct, then using negative pressure behind the brake to pull the air through), just maybe not so efficiently as ramming the air across the brake...

thanks wakeech. but after reading your post i understand more. i stand corected! so are the vents just for looks or do they offer some aerodynamic effects like you spoke of?

uh, i don't think they ventilate the wheel well, the rubber thingy gets in the way, i think (from reading RRR's post) they just do what you were describeing for the brakes, but do it for the oil coolers...

Originally posted by Buger


I have also read that the passenger side vent was functional on all 3rd gens. There was a duct that went from the oil cooler over the wheel arch and to the side vent.

The r1 had 2 oil coolers so both side vents were functional.

Brian

That's right, except that it's the driver's side that always has an oil cooler and functional vent. The passenger side has the optional oil cooler for the R model. (passenger side USA that is) Either way, you are correct about the duct over the wheel arch. The duct is attached to the back side of the wheel well liner and takes the air back to the side vent.

I don't mean to toot my own horn too much, but I love my R1!

i know it goes against God's big ten, but so do i... ;)

(i'm an atheist anyways... ha ha ha!!)

oil cooling is a must have since almost 1/3 of the rotarys heat it taken away by the oil that is run into the rotor and its barrings.

So even in an N/A its almost a nessity to make it last a long time.
so if they aren't for oil cooling I could not even see what else thry could be because the brakes don't take the precedence over the engine to warrent extra brake cooling now you can always use more cooling capacity (we all leaned that from the FD) so if they are for braking and not oil I will think of the new mazda desingers gensis and fools at the same time, because to work this hard and get so many things right and to half-ass it by not cooling the oil. :mad:

Speaking of rotor bearings... are they roller bearings or oil pressure bearings like in a regular car?

Cheap and nasty elasticated plastic:D ...