VooDoo

Stupid question alert...

In the front bumper and the rear there "honeycomb grill" portions of the car have no "holes". Should these areas have true "honeycomb" and let air pass through? Would these areas just be blocking air and adding to air resistance?

Again, sorry if this question is silly, but I am looking for a reason why I shouldn't remove these pieces and have them machined out to allow air to pass through.

Thanks...

shelleys_man_06

I've noticed this too a long time ago. The radiator, and I think A/C condenser get its cooling elsewhere. If you are concerned with the grille, wait for D MENAC 7's front grille replacement.

Kewl

First off it would appear that you consider the Mazda engineers....to be stupid. Aerodynamics apply to cars as well as airplanes. Since Mazda engineers work hard to reduce the drag of a vehicle, such as the RX8, as well as to ensure proper down force, albeit small, is properly applied to the vehicle, you would think that they would ensure places where air should flow it does. And of course where it shouldn't it doesn't.

The main reason you likely shouldn't machine out the 'holes' is not to screw with the aero of the car and second not to screw with the structural strength of the piece in question.

Sometimes holes in the wrong place will increase drag, not decrease it.

VooDoo

Uh, easy boy. No, I do not think they are stupid. I fully understand that holes in the wrong place could be bad.

Regarding the tone of your post, climb down before you get a nosebleed...

WHealy

If your talking about the main grill in the front that has the upper half "blacked out", that would be because the front frame "bumper" is right behind it. So with holes, that would look wrong.

If your talking about the rear portion around the rotary symbol, my guess it that those holes would weaken that area too much. I assume it would bend to the touch.

800Degrees

VooDoo...

I agree with every point you've made (including the tone of one response) The front grill and rear valance have bugged me since the first time I saw the car.

I found the bumper behind the front bumper and that satisfied the "why the hell did they do it like that" question. But the rear bumper still gets me. It makes sense that cutting out the holes (too much labor too) would weaken the piece - so they should've used a stronger material. Unless as Kewl pointed out (when he wasn't scolding) that it's an aerodynamics thing. If that's the case - it shouldn't be "fake" mesh.

VooDoo

Thanks for confirming that I didn't over-react to the other post. Also, thanks for letting me know about the front bumper behind the mesh. You probably saved me some time in the machine shop and an "oh crap!" afterwards. I will also agree to your thoughts about the rear.

I might try to locate a damaged car with this piece in-tact and do some prototype work to see if it's going to work.

In either case, thanks for the feedback...

TownDrunk

Don't forget that up front is where the license plate is supposed to be mounted. The probably figured, "Why make it true mess if it's going to be covered."

SpinninAgain!

VooDoo,
Don't cut any holes. There's nothing behind the blocked upper 2/3 of the front grille that needs ventilation. Like WHealy said, just some styrofoam and structural steel. IMO Mazda just decided they wanted a particular look.

You can see this for yourself if you remove the front bumper to install oil cooler and AC condensor screens. That will add real protection for your RX-8, more value than any other $20 mod I can think of.

As far as the rear "grille" is concerned, I assume the same design team that did the front decided to "tie things together" by echoing the grille work on the behind. I believe the Mazdaspeed rear piece dispenses with the fake grille work for a design that allows more air flow out from the rear of the car.

VooDoo

Thanks to all who've guided me to not "cut" anything on the car (yet)...