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I paid under $500 for the bumper. Whole car is in for paint already. Price isn't clouding my vision. And I'm not coming from a 93 bumper looking for improvements..
Straw Man argument? Stop arguing against physics. Yelling I'm a Sergeant at the tiny oil cooling openings won't make them flow more air.
Still waiting on your list of aftermarket bumpers with 93 stock sized openings
You’re claiming that a bigger hole in the bumper automatically means the engine runs cooler under all circumstances. That’s like saying a bigger displacement engine automatically makes more power. Clearly I said the 99 bumper could be an improvement but show me some numbers, data, before and after ..something other than you just spouting off what is essentially your guess and hope that you didn’t **** away a **** ton of money for cosmetics.
And if you want to get rude just let me know. If the mods are Ok with it, I’m all in.
C$2800 to replace my 99 bumper and rebar on an S8, before labour. I think this is still the going rate on Shine Auto site.
For Version 5, Mazda changed the splitting of the intake air so that air flowed separately to the air cleaner and the intercooler. The intake for the air cleaner duct is surprisingly small.
iirc, the S6 original set-up had some isssues with air damming up and flowing the wrong way, perhaps putting hot air from the intercooler into the air cleaner duct.
The version 5 also got rid of the two tier undertray. Possibly for better airflow dynamics.
The changeover FSM appendix for version 5 gives the technical reasons for the change.
By the late 1990's, the aftermarket market for kit and stuff in Japan was going crazy.
It is not a wonder that Mazda got into the game with a refresh.
The whole Mazdaspeed line of parts was a massive effort in this regard.
It is wild there were so many kits for a limited production run car such as the FD.
It is interesting that they are pulling Re-A stuff off cars in Thailand.
Mazda definitely promoted the 99 spec revisions as offering improved cooling in brochures and press kits at the time.
The changes to the front fascia were one thing, but they also changed a number of other things along with it, like intercooler ducting, airbox design, radiator mounting, i believe the radiator itself is bigger (but need to double check), electric cooling fans were changed (same as rx8 type) and oil cooler ducting, so these things all worked together. You can see how the engine bay intake guide panel on s8 cars is a single piece design and compared to the divided style on earlier cars. This whole section of the car changed, not just the front bar. They even moved the radiator back slightly to reduce weight overhanging the front.
New car reviews from Japan noted "Radiator front duct entrance is 2.5 times bigger than before. Oil cooler ducting is 1.8 times bigger and intercooler duct is 1.8 times bigger"
Let me add to the above. They did upgrade the radiator. It went from 25mm thick core to 27mm and fin pitch was increased from 1.1mm to 1.3mm.
Clearly Mazda measured an improvement in cooling otherwise they would not have gone to all this trouble. And the s8 cars were putting out as much as 10%+ more power from the factory. But, the improvements came from a suite of revisions designed to work together.
Now, if you were to stick a 99 spec bar on a standard earlier car without the extra upgrades and revised ducting would there be an improvement in cooling? Perhaps not - you still have the same bottle necks with the radiator and shared intercooler/intake duct and inferior fans (hence why people on here upgrade to the RX8 ones).
But, if you were to stick a 99 spec bar on a modified earlier car with a better aftermarket intercooler and better radiator, would there be an improvement? Quite possibly, as you can actually take better advantage of that increased airflow through the front.
Thank you to everyone that gave me advice on taking car of the RX-7, I wasn't expecting so many replies otherwise I'd reply individually to you all. A few minor issues I've got to address before I do anything else is the starter dying and the last owner threw in a new alternator he bought but hadn't installed yet, also the bend in the front quarter panel wheel well. Only thing I can think of is someone tried to roll it with a pipe and fucked up. The new header/display he installed also loses power if I hit a bump and restarts so I've got to look into that. Somebody asked for more pics of the car so I'm throwing those up here. First things I plan on doing are aesthetic; newer fog lights, new hood maybe carbon fiber, rear windshield louvres and I want to get different taillights but am torn between keeping it OEM because I haven't found any aftermarket I really love, if you've got recommendations let me know. Thanks again for the info everybody Hood Im looking at Louvre Im looking at
Your car already looks super nice. Try using some Back to Black or other rubber restorer on the lip. You can replace the spring in the fuel door, not sure if it's broken or the fuel door is just open. Do all those little things before the big things, they add up quick and make the car much nicer to be around.
There aren't a lot of white FDs out there, it's one of the better colors, and looks great with minimal mods.
Those lights are 99 spec front bumper lights, not rear. The 99 spec rears are nice. There are nice LED rear lights, but they cost a lot.
The Australian SP style hood looks great on a white car, very similar to the hood you posted.
Idk if you've owned other older cars..
Don't forget to budget for a full fluid change. Put the car on a lift, check all the bushings, spherical joints and rubber boots. Instagram pics are nice, but these cars are special because of how they drive, so try to focus on that first.
And being in Japan, the most important thing is to get any rust under control. I had a lot of FDs inspected in Japan and underbody, boot floor, boot seal, radiator core support and and engine bay panel seams were the biggest problem areas.
I still enjoy the old 93-95 front end. Something classic about it.
~ GW
Me too. Even though I live in a state that requires a front license plate, I'm not too keen on how Mazda molded the rectangular plate space onto the '99+ spec front end, looks more tacked on than the old way where the license plate (if needed) just floated forward of the bumper on a fairly discrete looking bracket.
Me too. Even though I live in a state that requires a front license plate, I'm not too keen on how Mazda molded the rectangular plate space onto the '99+ spec front end, looks more tacked on than the old way where the license plate (if needed) just floated forward of the bumper on a fairly discrete looking bracket.
Welcome to MD Pete. I haven’t had a front tag since I put the car on the road, they don’t seem to care about historic tho. It’s a secondary offense anyways. Most just give me the nod. I agree the tag on the 99 does look a little tacked on. I remember a thread somewhere on here that the guy had dark stickers that went on the side of the plastic where it protruded from the bumper cover. It gave it sort of a shadow. Wouldn’t seem to matter on a black car but the other colors maybe it was an improvement. I do plan to change my BB base over to a 99 front at some point. Just for sake of variety to be honest. I’m still a big fan of the original.
Me too. Even though I live in a state that requires a front license plate, I'm not too keen on how Mazda molded the rectangular plate space onto the '99+ spec front end, looks more tacked on than the old way where the license plate (if needed) just floated forward of the bumper on a fairly discrete looking bracket.
I think we have all been brainwashed with Spirit R pictures, we see the 99 bumper with plate mount and get warm fuzzies thinking about Spirit R cars, when it's actually ugly
Either way, here was my solution. I need to find a mount that can fold away. But this works for now as long as I don't push the car too hard
You may want to collect a set of "tuner bibles' such as the attached. These will give you an extensive insight into "back in the day" aftermarket options.
You can then watch for select items of interest to come up (often at a big discount) on YAJ.
The prices often reflect costs to be competitive with worldwide markets, so if you can take delivery in Japan (or pick-up) some good bargains can be had (almost daily).
Your car already looks super nice. Try using some Back to Black or other rubber restorer on the lip. You can replace the spring in the fuel door, not sure if it's broken or the fuel door is just open. Do all those little things before the big things, they add up quick and make the car much nicer to be around.
There aren't a lot of white FDs out there, it's one of the better colors, and looks great with minimal mods.
Those lights are 99 spec front bumper lights, not rear. The 99 spec rears are nice. There are nice LED rear lights, but they cost a lot.
The Australian SP style hood looks great on a white car, very similar to the hood you posted.
Idk if you've owned other older cars..
Don't forget to budget for a full fluid change. Put the car on a lift, check all the bushings, spherical joints and rubber boots. Instagram pics are nice, but these cars are special because of how they drive, so try to focus on that first.
I've got the paperwork from the last owner he took it to Mazda and got all fluids changed and topped off
Your car already looks super nice. Try using some Back to Black or other rubber restorer on the lip. You can replace the spring in the fuel door, not sure if it's broken or the fuel door is just open. Do all those little things before the big things, they add up quick and make the car much nicer to be around.
There aren't a lot of white FDs out there, it's one of the better colors, and looks great with minimal mods.
Those lights are 99 spec front bumper lights, not rear. The 99 spec rears are nice. There are nice LED rear lights, but they cost a lot.
The Australian SP style hood looks great on a white car, very similar to the hood you posted.
Idk if you've owned other older cars..
Don't forget to budget for a full fluid change. Put the car on a lift, check all the bushings, spherical joints and rubber boots. Instagram pics are nice, but these cars are special because of how they drive, so try to focus on that first.
About the fuel door, the spring works fine but the nub that would keep it closed is sheared off and flush with the bolt. Do you know how involved that'll be to replace? Not sure if I've got to replace the whole cable mechanism or if I can just unscrew the sheared nub and replace that.
You'll have to look at the parts diagram, I'm not sure if that comes only on the cable or you get the little piece separate.
Taking the hatch plastics out to get to it is the hard part, once you're in there it's not bad. Even if you have to replace the whole cable or something it's not too bad.
You’re claiming that a bigger hole in the bumper automatically means the engine runs cooler under all circumstances. That’s like saying a bigger displacement engine automatically makes more power. Clearly I said the 99 bumper could be an improvement but show me some numbers, data, before and after ..something other than you just spouting off what is essentially your guess and hope that you didn’t **** away a **** ton of money for cosmetics. 
moosetache
