Would it be safe to cut out a portion of the backing to the front grille? So that you would just be left with the diamond pattern which can be seen through. Or would this cause issues with debris? The purpose in this would to make my AEM CAI more visible.

 

if you are in the us, you will see your reinforcement bar if you do that... not a pretty sight

 

paint the bar black.

 

OPs reason for removal would be futil due to both post, you would not see anymore of it than you do now.

 

Use a dremil drill and ur good to go but I'm sure it'll be a pain on tha ****

 

After doing this a couple of different ways I found the easiest way was to use a grinding wheel and lots of water for cooling...and just grind the 1/8" or so off the back in the areas that the holes are plugged.

Using a Dremel or such and doing them a square at a time is very tedious and doesn't look too good at the end

 

have some pics? ps...where can I get a custom grille for my 2010 rx8?

 

I just drilled out the diamonds with bit (found a bit that fit perfect but obviously the holes are round). I did two rows to open up for my oil cooler.

 

Cut the grill completely out of the open lower half, leaving just the border and upper part. I used a jig saw to do this when I ran the Racing Beat ram duct. All you'll see doing your suggestion will be the bar