Alright two questions for the mechanically inclined:

1: Has anyone removed the stock airbox bracket after putting in a CAI? Everyone I see with a CAI still has it, including the MazdaSpeed ones from the dealer. Is there a reason it's kept in there? Quite unsightly, any reason I shouldn't remove it?

2: The "insulation" in the engine bay. Also quite unsightly. Since we have a very warm engine bay, I figure this plays a role in our temperatures. Seeing as the body is made of aluminum, which will dissipate heat faster than the insulation, why is that in there? Any downside to removing it? The only thing would be that I don't want the heat to go into the cabin, but it seems as though it's coming in through the transmission anyways. I don't care about noise insulation, but is there anything that this insulation is protecting that I should be aware of?

3: My oil temp gauge is either always at half or always at low. It's currently stuck at half. Even when I turn off the car. Any thoughts?

 

i took out my bracket i dont know why it was there...havnt had any problems dont know bout next 2

 

The oil gauge on the dash is purely there for looks! It does nothing at all.

 

Some say the intake box tray is to keep the hot air from the rad underneath the car. This makes a bit of sense, I think it was a credible member who said it as well. However, check this out -

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum-73/diy-hood-ventilation-mod-123524/page6/

 

1. I didnt keep mine, by removing it. You actually help the engine bay to cool down a bit.

2. Its not really the tranny, is your CAT thats heating up the whole console area. If you want to lower the heat, you have to put shields right above the CAT (underneath the car)

3. The Stock Oil Pressure gauge does nothing. It's a switch somewhere behind the oil filter area I think, its pretty much an "on/off" kinda switch, if it stays "low" even ur engine started, either the switch is broken, or you have a real problem (no oil pressure at all). You'll need to install a Real gauge to get "real" oil pressure readings.

You could've search the site, all your questions has been answered like 5 thousand times.

 

Yes, they say it helps keep the air box cooler.

I don't know about the radiator.

You need more air flow in the engine bay.

The bottom tray may help the direction of the flow.

I don't use the bottom tray.

 

Thanks guys.

FWIW the search is kinda all over the place.. which I guess is to be expected when we grow to over 150,000 threads and 2.5 million posts. It's useful for common topics, but corner cases, not so much

So it seems that under the airbox is the radiator. This means more airflow into the engine bay, but mostly warm air from the rad, so I guess I should only remove the liner if there is somewhere for all that hot air to go (vented hood?) -- though it seems some disagree and feel there is adequate ventilation already.

 

Engine bay is kinda small. When in stock form, everything is so tightly packed and theres nothing much room for getting rid of the air. so anything u can do to remove cutter will help air flow around the engine, even when its warm, its better than no air at all, right ?

Im thinking to custom fab some stuff to direct airflow to the lower part of the engine. or just get a vented hood. hmm. thinking

 

Well yes and no. If by removing the airbox bracket the heat from the radiator seeps into the engine bay instead of going under the car, and that results in an increase in engine bay temp, that's not good.

However if the increased airflow helps dissipate the heat quicker, then it's good.

Question is, which of these 2 scenarios are more likely to happen? I'm inclined to stick a temp sensor under the hood and make 2 strong runs to find out the temps.

 

Precisely.

I would think that simply removing the box would cause more hot air to go into the bay rather than under the car - sure more flow is good but this is not more flow, this is hot air going into the engine bay with nowhere to escape