From a Mazda engineer

[b3GS]

I work for Carguide and World of Wheels magazines (both canadian only magazines) and was chatting with one of our editor's about the Mazda 3.

he mention this to me in an email

nothing major.. but a consideration, especially for those of us that re-located our licence plate to the lower portion of the bumper. I might move mine back up.

I was talking to the Mazdaspeed engineer a few weeks ago and he pointed to me that the opening in the bumper is critical to the cooling of these
Mazda3, and not only on the Mazdaspeed version but on normal Mazda3 also.
Seems like they are in touch with Mazda's design department to have a front
end for the base Mazda3 that will allow for more cooling from the lower
section in the future.

[Fuman]

well that area is were the radiator is.
I knew it'll impact it but just didn't know how much.
You might as well do it after winter, since the temperatures are getting cooler.

[nicker]

very interesting. Seems very logical, but how much air flow does a plate really block? I can't see it being much....but hey

[Gizzmo_jr]

Thats why we need to abolish the stupid Fing front plate all together.

[3GFX]

Makes complete sense.

[Skarbro]

Yeah I had this thought before. There is no air dam under the car directing air up to the radiator (like other cars), which leaves only the front opening to cool it.

[EvilDeadFan]

Aaaaand this was a consideration of mine when I relocated mine. Which is why mine sticks out like 3 inches, so that lots of flow could go behind the plate as well. I haven't seen any extra engine heat because of the upgrade.

You can pretty much see it floating out there. It took me a while to find out a cheap and easy way to mount it like that. Total money spent, $5-7 from Home Depot, plus some primer+paint I already had.

[3GFX]

You wouldn't know if there was extra heat or not because our car's temp gauge isn't realtime.

[ds2chan]

lol.. looks like a pair of teeth.. also looks like u photoshopped the plate into the picture..

[MajesticBlueNTO]

You wouldn't know if there was extra heat or not because our car's temp gauge isn't realtime.

it is realtime, it's just that the needle sits still within a varying range (both when the fan comes on - higher coolant temp - and when the fan shuts off)

if there's less airflow, the fan will cycle more often.

[EvilDeadFan]

Sure. I can take 3 trillion other angles as well. Besides the two entirely different ones I posted already

[3GFX]

it is realtime, it's just that the needle sits still within a varying range (both when the fan comes on - higher coolant temp - and when the fan shuts off)

if there's less airflow, the fan will cycle more often.

Well its not that its not realtime, what I meant to say is what you said. It doesn't accurately display the actual varying temps.

[Xerox]

Yeah I had this thought before. There is no air dam under the car directing air up to the radiator (like other cars), which leaves only the front opening to cool it.

Exactly. Most cars have that plastic scoop (aka the thing that scrapes parking curbs) that channels air into the rad.
The up-side is that if you tape up the entire mouth of the Mazda3, you'll have slightly better aero-dynamics.

[b3GS]

Exactly. Most cars have that plastic scoop (aka the thing that scrapes parking curbs) that channels air into the rad.
The up-side is that if you tape up the entire mouth of the Mazda3, you'll have slightly better aero-dynamics.

lol... NASCAR style

[garboui]

it may hinder cooling for the engine but it may not be too noticeable on the temp gague cause the fan can pick up the slack. now what blocking a third of the grill will reduce cooling in is, tranny cooler, and ac. not to mention the air that the engineers designed around to expect so that heat can be taken away from other under the hood parts such as gear cases clutch housings etc. also not to mention overall higher under the hood temps all round.

[mazda lover]

You wouldn't know if there was extra heat or not because our car's temp gauge isn't realtime.

Our temp gauges are just an extension of a idiot light..the temp needle never goes up or down, just stays in the middle, never seen mine move, even when stuck in traffic on a hot day, anybody else

[Fuman]

Our temp gauges are just an extension of a idiot light..the temp needle never goes up or down, just stays in the middle, never seen mine move, even when stuck in traffic on a hot day, anybody else

as long as it is within operating temperature the needle will stay in the middle.

[Elder_MMHS]

Manual describes the temperature gauge as that of the engine coolant, which is an indirect measure of actual overall engine temperature. So yes, as garboui stated, other components that normally heat up are not accounted for.

[Skarbro]

I would think that it would just cause the thermostat to open up quicker/more often.

[FLIPDADY]

I've had my plates like that for 3 years haven't noticed any changes whatsoever. Long term maybe?

[Effin Itai]

Like everyone else who drives in Ontario, it boggles my mind why we need one in the front. Quebec has it right, what makes them so different than us? Besides the fact that they are frogs.