^ +1

I've done it twice...once the hard way with a dremel...and it looks like crap..cause you cant do it careful enough not to have it show from the front a bit :)

And once the easier way...with an angle grinder...you just take off a thin layer at a time from the rear...until you grind through...and then you carefully trim up the flash with a razor knife. It took about 10% of the time and worked better. You have to be careful that you don't over heat the plastic..in fact..I used a water hose to keep the plastic cool...(bit risky from a shock point of view..use a GFI plug)

Hope this helped :)

^Actually I'll agree with this in regards to the grill only, because it's too thick for the dremel and a grinder will allow a bigger cutting wheel to be used to get the job done much more efficiently.

That being said, the universal application of the dremel is much more handy I find using it for 85% of the mods requiring material removal on this car.

So you grinded down the grill from the back until there was no more covering the holes? Did this pose any issues with reinstalling it? And do you have any pictures?

That is a great idea....im going to try this....i was trying to think of an easier way besides the dremel.....i have the RB air duct, so doing this will actually help the air flow for me....

Thank You

Pics or it didnt happen :)

+1

Haha. I just ask cause his albums are empty and I feel like I would have found a thread from it in my searching.

This modification doesnt seem worth the hassle.... I considered it then just opted for a different way to get more airflow.

Did you just replace the grill or what?

You guys do realize that plate is there to direct airflow to the proper places. That's why that black piece is on the mazdaspeed bumper as well. To much air and it will create turbulence, no air moves,your engine overheats and god takes away your abilities to procreate.

Yes but the MS front bumper is alot bigger than the OEM front bumper and allows airflow where the OEM does not. That black stripe on the MS is alot smaller than the massive plate thats blocking airflow on the OEM , im fairly postitive Mazda didnt put the plate there to direct airflow for the OEM bumper, but so the license plate can stay connected and so the grill is sturdy with it on...

ehh. think what you want. no one can prove anything until we start pooling data.

^^^ lol exactly, but I wouldnt start with assumptions of airblock considering a license plate was supposed to go over it lol, but from what ive read somewhere removing those holes helps...

no I put a ram air duct in my front bumper

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53757607@N08/4964588179/

thats why there needs to be more open spaces in the grill, its blocking alot of airflow to the air duct

I give up.

yes, but i would just skip the drill bit. use a heat gun, decently sized knife, and a lot of patience. the knife just sinks in as you heat it from the back end.

make sure to paint the foam black to match. this DOES NOT improve airflow. at least not to the radiator.... this mod is a complete waste of time if you have no other plans to direct those holes you just opened for air to flow to.

edit: do NOT remove the screws where your license plate bracket would go to. you'll need that sometime...

I feel like at speed this could easily lower radiator temperatures. It'll help my auto even more so because of the radiator's built in tranny cooler.

It's like the oil cooler mod. Oil temps dropped by like 20% by drilling out the restrictive outlet holes in the wheel well. If air is traveling through more efficiently, then that means drag and turbulence is reduced as well.

Idk. If anything it'll look good. If I could do it nicely. I hear horror stories of how poorly this mod turns out sometimes.

What screws are you talking about? My bracket is only screwed into the thick black bar at the top.

I love how people say this mod doesnt work without Data to prove it... someone please throw out some data please and then we will debate whether it works or not... Im not saying it does or doesnt, im just saying please back your anwser with data...

Well I have a ram air duct (like deedub) in my front bumper guiding air straight to my intake and my IAT's are still 15+ over ambient and barely dropped at all; and I have a tube guiding air straight to it.

So Im going to take a stab in the dark and say that drilling holes through a dummy grill that has foam and plastic pieces behind it is going to produce little to no results....at all :dunno:

im not thinking its gonna reduce any temps.....my thoughts on this is.... the middle of my air duct is right behind the closed off portion of the grill....so i want to cut them out and get more air going into the duct...

The foam (which I would remove) and the little bit of frame behind the bumper are almost entirely covered by the thick black bit at the top of the grill, which I would leave in place.

Below that top bit though, there is nothing. Behind the dummy grill is a straight shot to the radiator. Plus, if I were to ever get a REVi duct, or if I were someone who already has one, this mod would be even more functional, as half the duct is literally blocked by faux holes.

Oh, and as far as data goes, lets ask all the race teams that take out the grill entirely on their S2 race cars. Gutting the stock grill is basically like taking it out, but with a factory-esque look still present.