What is the flap behind the seats for? I assume its some sort of a wind deflector, but doesnt make any difference with windows up or down? I dont have a factory manual so Im clueless

 

Hi,
Aside from being a bit of pain to flip up and down, i definitely notice a difference with it up. The owner's manual, btw says it should touch the back of the seats, i think it works better off them about 1 inch, but maybe i'm fooling myself. See this link for a copy of the manual(very handy should your convertible decide it doesn't WANT to go back up, thank you very much.) Don't bother spending the $27 to get it from Mazda, the pictures aren't any better

http://www.cabrio7.org/rx7man1.html

For me, the wind factor's perfect with driver's side window down, passenger side up and wind blocker up, but then i have long hair i'm trying to keep out of my eyes. Have a fun summer.

 

Yeah I couldnt really tell that it made much a difference or not? But anyways, thats what I figured it was for... Thanks

 

I only tried mine once and didn't notice any difference. I'm way too lazy to have tried it a second time to see if I missed something.

Dan

 

If you take the hartop out and snap on the leather boot, you'll DEFINITLY want this up. Otherwise having the hartop in it won't make much of a difference.

 

I have found that it helps a good bit once you get up to about 65-75 mph. Lower speeds I don't find there to be much a difference.

 

With the deflector "up" I have found there is a "Sweet spot" aroung 90 MPH, where there is almost no wind noise, buffeting or anything.

As a matter of interest, Mazda pioneered this deflector - since used by almost everyone, including Porsche.

And on that subject, I had an extended drive of a Porsche S2 Convertible a little while back (with view to maybe trading my '88 vert).
Conclusion : Mazda make a stronger, more sophisticated product than Porsche. Aerodynamics with the top down were FAR inferior to the Mazda, Handling was (being generous) on a par - brakes were very good though.