Engine skid plate
 

Do i really need the plastic engine skid plate the covers the front portion of the under side of the car? It just seems to get in the way more often than it helps.

It helps alot with the cooling of the engine. Directs the airflow to the radiator.

No Mazda put it there SPECIFICALLY to get in the way of vital operations of the car :uh:

BTW thats sarcasm......

It direct's incoming air under the car improving high speed stability.

you called it a skidplate. that's funny.

i'm going rallying.

I knew it, those bastards are out to get us!

- well I pulled it anyway to check and see if the bottom of my rad. was leaking, but found no probs.

-but I did find a unplugged wire going to what seems to be a cooling fan for the a/c condenser thing, is this supposed to be unplugged because I plugged it back in:) but haven’t used the car since.

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yeah thats the aux. fan.

*Should* be plugged in, but the only 7 I've ever had that still had the fan in it never got hot enough to kick that fan on...so yeah, can't hurt I suppose.

Hmmm Half bridge TII with a T66 Turbo and no skid pad for 5 years now and no issues with aerodynamics nor overheating. Not everything Mazda added to the RX7 was vital or useful... The skid plate in my experience and opinion contributes to nothing...:)

What kinda water / oil temps do you run?

You shouldn't have to be a rocket scientist to understand how the undertray considerably improves the efficiency of both the oil and water cooling systems. Air does not magically flow through radiators just because you stick them in an airstream. They are very restrictive to airflow, so air will take any easy path around them if it can. The undertray is there to prevent air flowing underneath the radiator and oil cooler instead of through them. It should be obvious to anyone with half a brain how much of the air entering the nose opening will be doing that if the undertray isn't there.

If you're running the stock radiator, it has plastic endtanks!
At the very least put the plastic pan back so that road debris doesn't get kicked up and damage the plastic endtanks!


-Ted

Excellent point... You beat me to it.

Thanks for making every one feel so smart, I’m sure they like that.:squint:

-hey I’m have a whole brain and I have a genius IQ, and the thought never occurred to me off the bat. Not every one thinks the same way about the same things.

But thanks for the info

actually I think NZ's comment was directed towards rotorforce...

In his experience, which is OBVIOUSLY much more vast then the car manufacturer's who felt it necessary to produce a belly pan or undertray (NOT SKID PLATE!!!) to force air through the oil cooler and rad. Yep, I don't know what they were thinking on that one. :slap:

I don't know why they bothered putting that hood scoop on the car either, hell, its not even centered!! I won't even get started on the necessity of a lock cylinder for hatch access, who ever uses that?? And for those guesssing, yes, its sarcasm...

that plate is needed NZ is right.

LOL If the Belly Pan is so vital to directing air flow to the Rad and Oil cooler, at what point does it do that? They are in the very front of the bumber opening! The Belly Pan helps to hold airflow within the entire engine bay. Does it have fins that point up towards the Rad? No.
Its funny how my car has never had issues with cooling and oil temps and yet I seem to be the only one who feels that that Pan is pointless.. Oh wait perhaps I am running about 2-3 degrees hotter than normal..OH NOOOO!!!

It's amazing how the technical team get their feathers ruffled in a bunch if someone doesn't abide by Mazda Specifications. Heck I may not the manual by heart, but I least my shit runs all the time...:)

BTW before you guys get all bitchy i just want to say that I have nothing but Love for ya!

Peace!

Completely wrong. They are positioned well back from the bumper opening, and without the undertray there's a huge hole that air will go through instead of through the coolers. Air will always follow the path of least resistance, and that's not through the radiator! This should be blindingly obvious. How can you not get it?

Um, no. In front of the radiator is outside the engine bay.

Does it need them? No. It is sealed to the underside of the oil cooler with foam.

My guess would be you don't drive hard enough. Nobody said removing the undertray would cause the engine to suddenly overheat (not me anyway). But it's simple, unavoidable physics that if you reduce the amount of air going through the radiator (which remove the undertray does) then you reduce the cooling capacity of the cooling system.

This has nothing to do with Mazda, it's just very basic and very obvious cooling system design. Most production cars have something similar and if you look at professional ace cars you'll see the great lengths they'll go to to optimise airflow through radiators and other coolers.

I don't care what you do to your car, but the statement you made ("...the skid plate contributes to nothing") could not be more wrong.

The undertray has been discussed so many times, usually because somebody asks if they "really need it", like having it there is some massive inconvenience. The fact that is significantly increases cooling system efficiency is beyond debate. You don't have to be a genius to see that. The question should be why wouldn't you want that?

yeah that's pretty much why I leave mine on, I'd prefer there to be a barrier between debris and my oil pan etc.

Wait,.. you mean you're actually serious?,....... ,......... ,..........................