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NB: Whats with the holes guys ?

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 12:35 am
by Aussie Stig
Seems counterintuitive as it allows air to bypass the radiator.
There must be a valid engineering reason, but feel free to speculate.

Re: NB: Whats with the holes guys ?

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 1:38 am
by emily_mx5
Hmm, I thought that when the bonnet is closed, it presses against the holes and blocks them, so the air can't escape?
Unless someone drives around with the hood up lol
But yeah I would like to know the proper reason aswell.

Re: NB: Whats with the holes guys ?

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 9:27 am
by emexv
Probably just to let the water out that gets in there when it rains or you wash your car.

As far as temps go your right. I've never seen an issue with a properly operating cooling system on the road but I have seen proof on the track that taping up these holes along with the gap between the radiator and the support panel improves cooling efficiency markedly,

Re: NB: Whats with the holes guys ?

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 12:27 pm
by Mr Morlock
It is an aluminium pressed metal component and it is quite common to blank out pieces to improve dimensional requirements or to avoid distortion etc. My guess is that it has nothing to do with air flow but with manufacturing requirements.

Re: NB: Whats with the holes guys ?

Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 6:39 pm
by Steampunk
Don't know bout the NB, but for NA it's used to check the air con gas canister. If no AC canister, then perhaps its because Mazda made a million of them already and can't be stuffed changing the design.

Re: NB: Whats with the holes guys ?

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 3:49 am
by slimx
makes your life easier if you need to run a wire through there..
makes your life easier when installing a new horn without taking the bumper off.