I noticed on the stock front-end, the "honey comb" grill was only half-opened. I was in the mazda showroom the other day and noticed the 8 was the only one like that. Anyone have a clue?

 

So it can offer some protection to the radiator up front, I guess!

 

There is a really ugly bar behind the blocked area. Look at the MS body kit. It blocks the bar with a cover. The bar is part of the safety equipment on your 8.....DOT mandated.

 

I think the Japanese models come without this 'bar', any idea how much
it weights?

I would love to remove it, any ounce counts...

 

Remove it? nah.. unless its 100lbs and its not

 

It's probably fairly heavy, but it'll also almost definitely save your life in a front-end collision. (you may also lose a significant amount of chassis rigidity if you lose the beam)

The structural beam istelf isn't too ugly, and since it's black it wouldn't show much through an open grill. The ugly part is the big white block of styrofoam that's mounted on the front of the beam to act as an ablative kinetic energy absorber in the event of a crash.

I would strongly reccomend against removing that beam unless you're using your car only for autocross (and even then, it's probably a really bad idea....)

 

I hate to be negative, but try to explain to your insurance why a 10 mph front impact did $8000 damage instead of the $2000 it should have cost if you hadn't removed the bar. That's if they would cover it at all. Remove safety equipment and take your chances with your insurance, if you survive.

 

Not to mention it is required by law to be there. Otherwise, we would not have it like the JDM versions.

 

I agree that removing the bar will make a difference in a ~5mph crash,
but it will not save your life.

It is probably there to satisfy the 5mph bumper requirements which were
lobbied by the insurance industry.

It would be interesting to see a picture of a JDM and a US model with the
bumper removed.

Maybe the difference in weight is negligible.

 

One of the '8s I saw at SS7 had it removed. I looked through the grille on one that had a MS front end, I think. The big metal black piece is all gone. Thought it was weird, and didn't say anything.

 

back to the grille- it's not "blocked" as it was never open. you dont need to open it for airflow on a stock car as the air all comes in throuhg the lower opening

 

understood... I know how the intake works (for the most part)

I was just being curious the "functionality," and now I know thanks!

would opening it up provide any further cooling?

 

The only reason there is a "grille" there is for aesthetics. In my opinion the phony grille detracts from the car. I like form to follow function. I used to gag at the phony vinyl "top" on my Dad's cars. Now I have a car with fake holes. what can you do?

 

Change it?

 

You will probably like Racing Beat's new RX-8 body kit. It doesn't have a grille where the bumper is. It has 2 long slots underneath for airflow. Personally I'm not wild about their design but that's just me.

 

If you don't like the grille, you can always cut out the plastic hex and form a wire mesh onto it. Also for those that don't haven't removed their front bumper yet, here's what it looks like. I spray painted the styrofoam black.