Front air dam ground clearance?
 

OK, dumb question time. Does the optional front air dam reduce the ground clearance? If so, does anyone know by how much and what the clearance is like without it? The brochure makes it look like you might lose some clearance. Out with your tape measures rexers!

Don't know exactly, but I'll try to find out for you tonight, since mine has the appearance package on it. I think some of the japanese members of the forum posted some pictures of it, and it didn't look like it knocked too much off it.

Thanks!

How do you like the appearance package? I wasn't planning on ordering it,but then I haven't seen it outside of the brochure. I have a car available to buy with this option pre-installed and ground clearance is one of the factors in my decision. I've grounded the front undercarriage of my Miata near where I live, so I'd hate to rip the air dam off my RX-8 which I'm guessing has less ground clearance even without the air dam/appearance package.

IMO it makes the car. I was regretting having ordered it before my car got delivered because I was having second thoughts about the spoiler, but after seeing it and comparing it side-by-side to 8's without the appearance package, I'm soooo happy that I ordered it. The appearance package doesn't lower the car, but the front-airdam is lower than the front would be without it (does that make sense). You have to be really careful with parking pilons and curbs, but you won't have any issues with normal driving, only parking. I haven't scraped it yet, but I had one close call where I literally couldn't have slid much more than a sheet of paper between the bottom of the airdam and a curb after pulling into a parking spot.

Thanks, RotorMotor. I like the look of the air dam myself. I'm not quite sure about the rest of the appearance package. I'll have to find a dealer with this installed. There are a number of places where I drive that involve sharp changes in road angle, one being the exit ramp from a car ferry I use regularly.

Ahhhh yes. I used to live in Silverdale (near Bremerton, ugh) and I'm very familiar with Seattle's ferries. I don't think you'd have any problems at all.

I don't think that I would go for the front dam without the side skirts and rear flares. They look really nice and balance the appearance out. If you didn't like the spoiler, I could see getting the rest of the package without it, but I like the spoiler now as well. Regardless, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding a dealer that has one with the appearance package. Have you tried using the dealer inventory search on the Mazda USA site?

I have the appearance package on my car and I love it. It makes the already attractive RX-8 look even better, plus it improves performace. It is worth every penny. I too had a close call with a curb. I am starting to think they purposely made it just high enough to clear most curbs.

I have to agree with RotoMotor, regular driving, speed bumbs, driveways with steep entry or exit, absolutely no problem. Becareful with curbs and parking spots that have islands and/or dividers.

Yes, it's those very same ferries, but on the Bainbridge/Seattle run.

Yes, I've found the inventory search feature very useful for tracking down vehicles that match what I'm looking for. So, I'll be hunting air "dammed" rexers tomorrow. Thanks for the perspective RotorMotor and rotarymagic.

my work has a funny driveway and the back of my car hits everyday on it. It hits by about a tenth of an inch. Anyways the clearance in the front is 4.7 inches

They're right, the appearance package REALLY looks great- I'll post the pictures we took this evening later on. Anyway, our unscientific measurement with a tape measure just now showed 6 1/2 inches of clearance on my 8 with the package, and 7 inches on the 8 next to it with no appearance package. PLease note, these are subject to double checking, because it was pouring rain at the time. However, it really doesn't appear that we're going to have any issues with clearance at all.

The spoiler looks great too- I can't believe I almost didn't include it. The whole appearance/spoiler thing makes the car look meaner overall.

Now let's talk about dedication! Out there in the rain measuring air dam ground clearances. Way to go Elara! I owe you a drink of your choice next time I zoom through Richmond, VA. Ummm...never been there yet, but if you have a large computer data center that wouldn't mind being studied by my company...

Now, if I can convince the dealer to negotiate this "unwanted" option price down I'll be a happy be-dam'd RX-8 owner!

Good luck :) And I'll measure it again tomorrow after we pick up the car when it's DRY and we're not soaking wet. Anyway, I put the pictures up on the web here. We tried to get some good ones of the air dam so you can see how close to the ground it was.

The long-time members are beginning to see the light... :p

I went minus the spoiler in hopes of getting the euro lip-spoiler down the road!

The front air dam added with the appearance package doesn't really lower the front much; it just sticks out a little further.

So, it really doesn't hurt clearance over rocks etc, but it does "hurt" the cars ability to get in an out of driveways.

I use the word "hurt" because without the airdam, almost zero percent of driveways would ever give the 8 trouble. With the airdam that number goes up from near 0 to a small percentage.

It is a win-win item in my opinion. It helps the appearance but doesn't really effect driveability.

-Mr. Wigggles

My wife has reported that there does not seem to be a problem with ground clearance. I'm glad because my driveway is at a slight slant from the street. I believe it is designed in such a way that it almost covers the existing black "frame". If anything I bet you lose no more than 1/2 of inch.

The apperance package does indead makes it look "meaner". I think without the air dam, something looks missing from the front end. I definately have no regrets getting the appearance package and the rear spoiler. Check out some of my pics to see the appearance package and spoiler.

Here's a pic I took of one of the touring RX-8s when they visited Philly. Though it doesn't look like it, there was a tiny gap.

http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...51_27_full.jpg

I posted this reply a couple weeks ago and Elara's measurements pretty much coincide with mine.

Air Dam clearance

Scraped mine leaving the driveway this morning :( I found that going back straight causes a scrape but even slightly angled -- no problem. Just need to remember not to shoot straight out.

I took a look at some RX-8s today with and without the air dam. As others have commented, the air dam doesn't reduce the ground clearance significantly. It looks like it mostly extends forward rather than downwards. Amusingly, for comparison I measured the ground clearance of our dog's car (they drive a Subaru Forester) and found that it had a meagre 6 inches of clearance under the engine. There's 10 inches at the front, but go back a bit and the clearance falls way significantly. So, the issue with the RX is just that the clearance is low right at the front just where curbs are. Just have to be careful parking until I get used to where the front of the car is I guess!

BTW, this forum is great! I'm used to getting great support on miata.net so it's great to know that there's such a good community of RX-8 fanatics out there. I overheard someone at the dealer today quoting the advice of this rx8forum. Yeah, I thought, another informed soon to be rexer ! Neat :-)

Oh yeah, the big news. I ordered mine! Nordic Green, GT Package, Rear Wing Spoiler and a few other extras. I'm going to accessorize when I get the car and see what looks good. I like the aluminum fender strakes and the not yet available allow fuel cap, but boy are these "decorations" expensive!

Thanks all!

Ok, hijacking the thread for a minute- TJRX8, have I told you how grateful I am that you posted your pictures so quickly with the appearance package/spoiler? As soon as we saw yours, we knew we needed them both, and we were able to call and add them on even though the car was already in port. They look SO good on the car, all the other 8s looked naked (albeit still beautiful) on the lot next to mine. THANK YOU!!

rex,
You won't be dissappointed with the green or the spoiler. It REALLY looks great together. Congrats on your soon-to-be new 8!

I've been thinking about ordering the appearance parts for my 8... just have concerns about driving in the winter and becomming a snowpl0w :o


The 6.5" sounds acceptable... the thing that scared me was somewhere on here I read that the ground clearance was like 4.75" without the air damn :eek:

6.5 is an accurate figure. I went so far as to run outside and take a picture. Unfortunately they came out fuzzy and crooked, still legible but not worth posting. I'm not about to run outside again, so you'll have to take my word on it. ;)

WOW! You're welcome! I agree it does make the car just that much more special. I stopped by the dealer tonight and there were 6 Rx-8's (3 black, 2 red and 1 yellow) none of them had the appearance pkg. Mine got the most attention while I was checking the others out. The salesman actually brought people over to show them mine. :D Of course then I had to answer 100 questions and hated it...not!

Thanks for the Thanks!

I found this image while browsing JapanParts.com, it shows the Mazda Front Air Dam complete with the ground clearance measurement compared with with the standard front.

http://www.japanparts.com/Pic/pic91/04-1.JPG

The Truth is out there!