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When I bought my used rx8 the first thing I installed on it was the racing beat oil cooler screens. I puzzles me as to why these cars never came with any kind of grill to protect them from the elements, as my car with only 8750 miles had already suffered damage to its oil coolers.
As you can see by this picture they are well worth it. Installation was easy. I added a coat of high temp paint to mine to make them less noticeable.
They reduce airflow by around 50%, so there is your trade-off. I just straighten the fins every couple of years and spritz them with a light coat of Eastwood Radiator Black.
Not to be rude, just skeptical. 50% is a little high I would think.
I haven't had any trouble with heat on the track running these and I would anticipate a problem if half of the airflow was restricted.
This is pretty easy stuff. Mesh occlusion is easy to calculate. Take the area of the inlet and subtract the area of the mesh itself. An easy way to estimate it is to compare the size of the wire to the size of the holes left behind. If they are roughly equal, flow is reduced by roughly 50%. And, judging by the pictures on RB's site, it looks like about 50%. Air flow is reduced proportionately with occlusion.
You won't notice a problem with heat on track, as oil temp does not contribute to coolant temp very much at all. You will notice a problem with increased wear metals caused by viscosity breakdown due to heat. Run them if you want, but I choose not to, even though they would save me some work.
Last edited by Steve Dallas; Aug 23, 2017 at 08:04 AM.
I too felt the RB screens are a little too dense/expensive so I run metal diamond mesh installed in the bumper openings. It looks OEM and the holes are about 1/4" tall, 1/2" wide. We're not in thr space program, we don't need to keep out every single rock, just the big ones. The odds that an object of any consequence passes cleanly through one of those holes are pretty low.
I'll have to snag a picture later.
Also keep in mind that's a high pressure area, so while mesh occlusion might be 50%, air is compressible so you get better than 50% airflow. There is a bunch of stuff that plays into it if you want to get real nerdy, but seriously we just need to keep the big rocks out. There is plenty of flow at speed.
But think about this: what happens when a dense mesh encounters snow? It gets packed. 100% occlusion.
I have the RB screens, have had them since 2008, with no issues, and never had them get clogged in snow. But don't drive in heavy snow with my RX8 anyway.
Hey the folks at Racing Beat have more rotary car experience than anyone, period. They are not making stuff that will hurt your engine cooling.
To each there own , but I have trusted Racing Beat since my first RX3. I have used their mods for decades without a single problem, and they built my track RX7 to my specifications, oil cooler screens and all.
And I'm sure a lot of Mazda R&D went into designing the size and shape of the factory openings. For all we know, they're larger than they need to be. Impossible to say with any certainty.
I'm sure none of it means jack **** since the Mazdaspeed kit I have was wind tunnel tested, and the openings are larger (and have mesh) than OEM and there is no difference in oil temps.
I have the RB screens, have had them since 2008, with no issues, and never had them get clogged in snow. But don't drive in heavy snow with my RX8 anyway.
Hey the folks at Racing Beat have more rotary car experience than anyone, period. They are not making stuff that will hurt your engine cooling.
To each there own , but I have trusted Racing Beat since my first RX3. I have used their mods for decades without a single problem, and they built my track RX7 to my specifications, oil cooler screens and all.
As long as we are appealing to authority, Mazda engineers made that opening as large as it is and did not use mesh for a reason, and they have more experience with rotaries than Racing beat, PERIOD!!!!1!!!!.
I too felt the RB screens are a little too dense/expensive so I run metal diamond mesh installed in the bumper openings. It looks OEM and the holes are about 1/4" tall, 1/2" wide. We're not in thr space program, we don't need to keep out every single rock, just the big ones. The odds that an object of any consequence passes cleanly through one of those holes are pretty low.
I'll have to snag a picture later.
Also keep in mind that's a high pressure area, so while mesh occlusion might be 50%, air is compressible so you get better than 50% airflow. There is a bunch of stuff that plays into it if you want to get real nerdy, but seriously we just need to keep the big rocks out. There is plenty of flow at speed.
But think about this: what happens when a dense mesh encounters snow? It gets packed. 100% occlusion.
Air compresses, but only when forced to. Otherwise, it takes the path of least resistance as much as possible. This is why theory is great, but it frequently gives way to reality in the wind tunnel. Those screens likely improve air's ability to flow around the openings rather than compress through them. Or at least, this scenario is as plausible as yours.
As to how much it might matter, I imagine this is determined by the climate where you live. Cold weather 8s may not even use their oil coolers, considering the crazy high thermostat temperature.
Anyway, without real data, all this conjecture is pointless, but at least it gives us something relatively new about which to argue.
In any case, no screens for me, and I live in the land of giant grasshopper, where screens would be imminently useful.
Stevedallas, of course Mazda has more rotary experience than anyone. Of course I meant RB had more experience than any other aftermarketsource, period . Mazda worked closely with Racing Beat over many projects ,stock and in racing, to improve various components of these cars. I figured all here were familiar with the long history of Mazda and Racing Beat working together. Look it up.
The RB screens are not going to cause any cooling problems. If you wish not to believe that, then maybe you should talk to the engineers at Racing Beat.
BTW my Mazda dealer installed my RB screens and their head mechanic used to work with Mazdaspeed folks and he swears by RB stuff that was developed by RB and then adopted by Mazdaspeed and used on Mazda factory race cars. He endorsed my use of these screens, installed them and said they would NOT void any Mazda warranty.
When I move to Texas, you are welcome to run airflow and temperature tests with my RB screen setup.
Last edited by gwilliams6; Aug 24, 2017 at 10:34 PM.
Never had any RB product cause any warranty problems on all my Mazdas. That is factual history, believe it or not. My Mazda dealership (one of the largest Mazda dealerships on East Coast) does have a chief mechanic who worked with Mazdaspeed, and he is the one who chooses to work on my car when I use them. My Mazda dealer does approve any warranty work, at the service manager level, and I had the service manager's ok beforehand on any mods they have installed for my RX8. like my BHR coils , the RB screens etc. .
Other times I use Jim of JPR Imports, another Racing Beat user for decades in his stock and race rotary projects. Jim also has used Racing Beat products in my updated cooling system. https://www.jprimports.com/
You know 9krpmrx8, Racing Beat actually has more knowledge ,experience in development of rotary mods and more credibility with the Mazda community than even you, amazing. And more than me also. LOL
Have a nice day everyone.
Last edited by gwilliams6; Aug 24, 2017 at 09:58 PM.
They reduce airflow by around 50%, so there is your trade-off. I just straighten the fins every couple of years and spritz them with a light coat of Eastwood Radiator Black.
You know I have straightened mine and messed around with them countless times and I have never once thought of painting them...
Just remembered my conversation with a dude with a WRX couple of days ago. He looked at my 8 and said that it might be a good idea to invested into those screens if I do a lot of highway driving.
Kinda going cross-eyed looking at this thread as it seems to go both ways... On one hand, you have extra protection, on another hand, it may increase oil temperature... Needs more research on my part, I suppose.
Btw, what do you guys use to straighten the fins? Flathead screwdriver on radiator straightener?
Never had an heating issues with the Racing Beat screens, due to restricted airflow. I have had them on my 2008 since late 2008 and now after nine years I have no fins that need straightening at all. Worth it for me.
But I also understand those that worry about it, so my experience doesn't overrule other points of view.
Last edited by gwilliams6; Oct 5, 2017 at 06:33 AM.
Just remembered my conversation with a dude with a WRX couple of days ago. He looked at my 8 and said that it might be a good idea to invested into those screens if I do a lot of highway driving.
Kinda going cross-eyed looking at this thread as it seems to go both ways... On one hand, you have extra protection, on another hand, it may increase oil temperature... Needs more research on my part, I suppose.
Btw, what do you guys use to straighten the fins? Flathead screwdriver on radiator straightener?
I used a mini flat head screwdriver, going one by one.. it took a while but my fins were pretty messed up. Now I run the RB screens and I also have an oil temperature gauge. During highway driving, my oil temperature never rises above the coolant temperature and is slightly lower most of the time. When descending long hills I have even seen the oil temp drop below 160 F. I am measuring the oil temp at the return line from passenger side oil cooler to the engine. My conclusion: stock oil coolers have more than enough cooling capacity for highway driving - with screens or without.
