I'm down with Kersh for a meet up to do this. I will buy the lunch.

 

There are actually metal flanges that help stabalize the rear bumper in the cut off area(pre cutting) I do believe that there is a significant amount of pressure built up here with our cars not having a true diffuser system in place(ie, the need for the bumper mounts in this area) I think that cutting these areas out may have helped I had some one follow me around on the highway just to see if there was any flex or strain on the mesh and he said it never moved once... Now this is either because there is no pressure build up in this area of the car(rare becuase just about every car has some pressure here) or that cutting actually did eleviate this pressure zone, as for test this I have no idea how to do that and not really concerned at the moment to test it...
The front bumper is an entirely different animal. The reason for the closed mesh is that this is where the structural bumper is located. Drilling holes may do something but directly behind this area of the mesh is a block of styrofoam that helps located the bumper gaurd onto the bumper(structural) herres a pic of the bumper behind the meshVVV the second image is a photoshoped image of the bumper on and the first image,,, see closed gaurd with foam behind...

 

nice, i didnt realize the grill came up so high on to the bumper. I wouldnt have believed it with out the pic

I think with the rear their would be minimal differences in pressure build up considering the lip of the bumper is small and the muffler blocks most of that lip how the muffler is tucked up in there so closely. I still would rather it be open mesh than fake mesh.

Thanx for your time in PS . . .

 

Only problem is.... it looks like chicken wire ah buc buc.

Need some decent wire before I do that.

 

id do the same. good job, 3 hours well spent.

 

I'll see this weekend,,, im on a search for a mesh matching the front( i did a rubbing of it) and Michaels has a nice diamond mesh that is slightly off in scale but close enough to work,,,the hard work of cutting is over, with mesh being cheap I can play around with different mesh and paint schemes(flat black was my original intent) so wll see, stay tuned for more...

 

yup finally got the Mazdaspeed tow hook thurs night,,, marked hole locatiion and snipped away,,, install was a breeze...
---Hey Flashwing now you have your cake and eat it too ...

 

hmm... that just doesnt look right sitting there.

if you were on the track, sure.. but right on the street?

 

Hey Kersh,,, not really for street use anyway , I just got it and took pics so I can fab up a gromet fo rthe mesh, so when installing the hook it doest bump the mesh or scratch the hook... thanks for the IMO...

 

good idea.

i also said that because i was afraid it might dent your rear bumper when you go over bumps.

 

no chance at all to dent the bumper, the tightening nut is torqued really tight I have to carry the proper tools in my trunk to adjust it, its either horizontal or down at a 90degree angle, when down it still has about 1/4in. clearance... porbably wont be able to fab up the gromet today with F1 and Rolex GT on today I will be parked in front of my tv...

 

Looks great. Little sketched about hacking up my bumper though. I'll have to take a closer look at it.

 

Its really easy, once you have a hole, you can do almost all of it with a really sharp utility blade...

 

where did you get the tow hook? and how much did it cost?

 

Its the Mazdaspeed, got it from Japanparts.com and cost about $130...

 

You could do like Mugato said buy it and screw it on . Its what i had on my old bumper . To me it looks the same ...........

............By the way this thread is damn OLD .............

What did ever happen to MUGATO ?

 

He got tired of telling all the noobs to Search.

 

Your probably right Al

 

yeah it is old ,,,,,


Mugatu actually came back amonth ago for about a week and then dissappeared again ,,, I miss his antics

 

Rotr8

I finally got tired of my RX8 rear dust collector (rear bumper) and found your rear bumper mod thread. I did the same but instead of using the gutter screen mesh, I used a piece of steel mesh I found while at Home Depot. The diamond pattern is almost the same and I painted it flat black just like my RB front grille. I used brush paint instead of spray cuz it is more durable and it does not chip or flakes. I also added a small wire between the center of the lower bumper (right below the center triangle) and the metal muffler heat shield to prevent the bumper from bowing out while driving at 130+ mph.

 

nice ....

 

Hey bro, where did you get the tow hook?
i so wanted to have it on my 8
looks really nice !!

 

Japanparts.com

 

How did you attach the grill to the bumper? Could you post close up shots? ... also, did you paint the whole lower part black -- along w/ the part by the plate?

 

Nice... i might attempt this lol.