Lol, I will be in the shop tomorrow if you have any questions Dan!

 

take some pics of the install / process!

 

Late in the day, finally unboxed mine. Packing was very good, but Fedex did manage to smash one corner which bashed in and bent the drain valve. Not a big deal as no welds broke and I'm going to plug it anyway since I won't be able to get at it without taking out all the sealing I do around the radiator. Scott, tough call, but might want to put the filler that's on the other side of the box on the drain-valve side instead.

Overall the radiator looks very well-done. Welds look like a shiny stack of dimes everywhere though maybe spread-out a little more than I'm used to seeing. Looks like 2.25" core. I'm busier than a monkey humping a football for the next few weeks so it will be a while before I can check fitment and install it. Then I'll have a MAZDASPEED/Ron Davis for sale.

 

Mine arrived in Australia yesterday. Product looks good

 

Installed, well mostly installed, the radiator in my 2004 today. First, let me start out by saying this is a very impressive looking radiator. Very thick compared to stock, mounting holes lined up for stock mounting locations, and very aesthetically pleasing. Furthermore, Scott at RX8Performance was very helpful during the purchase process and responsive along the way. No complaints there at all. I have not finished the install yet, but will report back tomorrow.

Second, please note I am a function over looks driver. My RX8 gets street use, but it is primarily a HPDE track car. I dont have pretty wheels or a polished paint job, rather I put stuff on the car that will improve its reliability and/or safety first and then performance on a road course. That said, I dont expect performance parts to be truly bolt on, most require some rigging to work in place of OEM parts.

To that point, this radiator does "bolt into the stock locations" and the a/c condenser does mount up as well, but I would absolutely not classify this as a "direct bolt in" modification at all and it will not be an easy job for somebody not used to and comfortable with having to do a lot of modifications to make it fit. This radiator is MUCH thicker than a stock unit, therefore the fans will sit much "higher" than they do on the stock radiator. As a result, my modifications needed are as follows:

1) Mounting to stock lower brackets
I was not able to get the radiator/fan combo up high enough to bolt into the stock lower brackets with out fairly extensive modification (read: dremeling and cutting) to the fans due to the thicker core. Modifications included actually removing some of the fan guard and cutting some of the passenger side away. Ultimately, I was able to get it bolted into the factory locations.

2) Radiator Hoses (upper and Lower and coolant tank)
This radiator has both hoses located on the passenger side, rather than the top/bottom. I had to cut both upper and lower hoses, but ultimately they did fit. The smallish stock hose from radiator to the coolant tank does not fit - it is not long enough. I have to get a different one from the store tomorrow to finish the install.

3) Battery Tray
The added thickness of the radiator and fans (height) makes it impossible (for me) for the lower batter tray to bolt back to the stock locations without cutting parts away. I had to remove / notch multiple areas of the front of the lower batter box and upper batter box to make it fit. The battery I am using did fit back on the box, but its a bit smaller than stock.

4) Lower Airbox
I had to cut major parts of the lower Airbox away (maybe just not using it is better). This was the only part that made me really frustrated. Manageable, but at this point I was wishing I had known what I was getting into as daylight was quickly leaving. See my pics on this one. I left it here for the night.

PLEASE - correct me if you find any of this wrong. I am not out to blast this product in any way whatsoever, in fact I endorse it thus far. Just reporting my findings from my installation.

 

Good honest review!
Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks for the review. Took a while to take out my radiator. Looks like I will have to do battle when installing mine. I am not in a rush as my engine needs a rebuild.

 

Still early, but im inclined to say its worth the battle. This thing looks great when in place. Im at sears point (sonoma raceway) 11/21 and will report back!!

 

+100 for a thorough review.

-1 for landscape photos.

-10 for still using (what appears to be) a flooded-cell battery in a track car!

To get back the last ten points: Deka ETX30L AGM batteries are $120 delivered all day long on feeBay. (Same as Braille for half the price.)

Looks like I'll be moving-up my plan to relocate the battery. Already got rid of the stock airbox and tray.

 

Nice write up. Sorry you did not finish it in a day. I know how hard that can be with family around... Looks like there is not much left to get it going though. Only thing I am wondering is if you have a plan for the airbox, or just leave it like that until you get an intake some time in the future?

Edit, just to add, it does look it will be well worth it when you get it going. Looking forward to see how it does at Sonoma!

 

Hilarious!! And yes, totally caught me. Next purchase, battery!!!

 

Thanks for the writeup! Mine is on its way, and should be here by next weekend. I'm not really good at the modification and whatnot, so I may have to bring it to a shop if itit's going to need modification to the airbox and battery tray.

That being said, the s2 came with a thicker radiator, so it may fit better than in an s1. We'll see!

 

I wonder if the Fal fans would work better as they appear to be more slimline? Although they do not have the ecu cooler vent as standard.

 

Finished the radiator installation without further issue, but I do still need to go back and seal with foam pieces. I cannot reiterate what an impressive looking piece of equipment this really is. Drove the car with no leaks of any kind, but it was just a short drive. I am using the stock thermostat and water pump - temp rose to about 200 degrees and stayed between 200-210 in short city driving. I'm anxious to see what it will read when I'm on the freeway with air hitting the radiator and even more curious to see how it does on track, which will be 11/21.

More pics of the mods needed to get the radiator to fit nicely are attached. Please ask any questions - I'm happy to help out however possible. Next steps for me are the foam to seal the air leaks, ensuring the undertray is really on tight and snug with no leaks, change the battery to a smaller one, consider a different intake to improve airflow behind the radiator.

 

Some observations and comments:

1. Did fedex manage to bend your drain valve too or did you do that? (Just the wings look a little bent.)

2. You must seal the gap between the edges of the fan shroud and the radiator (in addition to between the radiator and duct/undertray). The gap looks pretty big, but thick weatherstripping should do.

3. Cutting the two supports of the left-side fan is pretty drastic. I hope that doesn't lead to tears down the road.

4. The AEM intake won't do anything for performance, but it will get the airbox out of the way. I put one in strictly for that purpose. (I had it laying around because it will be the intake for a turbo kit.)

5. Did you modify the lower brackets? Looks like the left side might be but not the right? Would they not fit with the rubber bushings?

6. From the first post, "Maintains mounting of factory cooling fans" probably ought to be modified to include "if you ditch your stock battery box and air box. Or cut the crap out of them!" That's not a bad thing, just realistic.

 

After I get some measurements (the car is in a storage unit at the moment) I will look into this. The FAL has been on my wish list for a while.

 

Mine was packaged really well with no damage. I was really careful with the radiator and dont think I bent them. They may have come that way.


Agreed, this was a bit concerning to me as well.

I assume you are referring to the lower brackets for the fan, correct? If so, no I didnt modify them at all. The fans fit right in. I also didn't modify the lower radiator supports, but it was not easy getting those in place.

 

a huge box just arrived - seems to be unmolested by fedex... will post some pics when I get it home!

 

I tried to test fit mine yesterday and it was a breeze without the fan, everything lines up correctly. Tried to slide in the fan then I found it has a slight overhang on the opposite side to the inlet/outlet pipes. This is made more complicated due to the auxiliary oils hoses that comes with the Hymee supercharger kit. Some cutting to the fan will be required.

 

Good news, holding 185-190 on the freeway under normal driving conditions.

 

The stock radiator for unmodified cars will cause some distress at the track. However, the stock radiator struggles in stop start traffic at high ambient heat. Hopefully the extra capacity will help the NA guys however the fan will need to be adequate as well.

I don't like how the stock fan currently sits whereby it creates a gap for the air to escape. The air will take the path of least resistance which means less air through the fins. I will have to check the dimensions of the alternative fans to see it its viable to change or modify and seal the stock fan.

 

Mine was packaged well as well - the radiator itself looks great!

As for fitment on a Series II:

I think the brackets for the fan on mine were off. The pegs / pins at the bottom of the fan didn't line up properly - after lining up the screws at the top, I ended up having to cut off the middle pin on the fan shroud and just have the fan rest on the fan support tab on the radiator. The other pin on the drivers side lines up well (there is no hole for the fan shroud pin on the passenger side).

The lower radiator supports on mine seemed to go right into the brackets that go to the front crossmemeber, so no issues there on mine.

Doing more fitting of everything later this weekend. We've determined that the fan shroud needs to be cut near passenger side upper mounting point to accommodate the ac condenser hose. Up next is checking on the battery tray and the RB airbox fitment with the fan shroud.

after all this is done, I probably need to take a better look at oil cooling too...

 

Are you seeing high oil temps?

 

Good to see. Next test at Sonoma? :-)

btw, I found a pic that confirms a reman comes with a water pump. So, you most likely have one that is newer than the car. The thermostat does not though, so that could still be the original one.

 

Yes all Mazda remans come with the updated water pump and oil pan.