Upon receiving this, I gawked at how good the quality is. I've seen other cooling plates made by Begi and Moss Motors and this one is made of a noticeably thicker aluminum finish.
(Don't mind the dirt in the picture, I got too excited to take a picture so I didn't bother to clean it)
What I also like about GarageStar other than the quality, is the high grade hardware he includes with products like these. In my case he gave me some special bolts that normally doesn't come with the kit.
Even included is a bolt that replaces the exposed one on the bumper:
This shows that Ken really pays close attention to detail, anything that will make a product look or perform better, he would go the extra length to ensure that it does. For some reason, it reminds me of a high quality Japanese product, as if it were from REV9 or Tetsuya Garage. The way the panel was wrapped in film, and the moment I took the cover off, it felt like it was really from JDMland. It fits perfect, I had no trouble aligning the holes and bolting it on. Also, like a Japanese product, it smelled good. The smell of raw aluminum always makes me day.
Function? The drab stock plastic panel usually lets air all over the place, and doesn't really direct it to the radiator. This cooling plate covers more surface area and doesn't let air escape as much, therefore guiding more air to the radiator. Adds 10hp, and 5 more if you put a GarageStar sticker on your car. Oh, and did I mention it looks sexy?
Sorry, OEM panel, you served a good 173k. This new cooling plate is here to stay!
Oh that's what that extra bolt is for. I thought it was just an extra in case one got lost.
I ended up leaving the old OEM panel underneath the aluminum one, just took out the plastic screws.
Put mine in yesterday too! Very nicely made, inexpensive and it looks pretty damn good to boot.
How well does it function? Has anyone noticed a difference in cooling? I know its not that dramatic as a dual core aluminum swap but every bit helps my black car out when summer starts up again. I plan on getting the wrinkled black for the nb.
This may be hearsay, or something to do with the winter weather.
Before the cooling panel went into place my temp gauge read at just slightly before 12 o clock after warming to operating temperatures. After installation it points just in between 11 and 12 o clock after the car warms up.
I did have the black shroud with the hole cut out for wiper fluid bottle on an NA w/ ABS.
I'll see if I can snap some pics and do a proper write up this wednesday as well.
Got mine in wrinkle black as well and I love it. I never knew there was supposed to be a plastic piece there. Mine didn't have one. And I was wondering what that 4th bolt was for.
Nakamae Type R Seats Review
Nakamae Japan has long been known as a Miata interior specialist for decades now. Known for making vintage styled, hand made, custom interior pieces, most notably, the quilted covers for everything from the transmission tunnel to hardtop headliners and boot covers...
As promised here is my tire review i wrote for my sponsor. I know some of you were interested but pretty skeptical on an unproven brand. Here you go!
http://www.zestinoracing.com/michael-donnellys-take-zestino-gredge-rs-tires/
I love these things
You can get them here:
http://lrbspeed.com/product/na-miata-full-aluminum-door-panels/
They are a direct swap for the OEM full door panel.
Comes with everything you need to mount it.
The biggest PITA is swapping over your window felt seals. Just gotta bend up the tabs...
Review:
GO GET ONE TODAY! It's a huge improvement on brake performance.
GarageStar Quote:
The GarageStar Brake Master Brace creates a bridge between the firewall, master cylinder and shock tower, eliminating firewall flex and allowing the driver to regain maximum braking force and increased...
I was part of the group buy for these door bushings and I received them today. First impressions with loosely fitting them to the door cups by hand is that they are a perfect fit on the cups. So I removed the original ones and swapped these in. They were installed initially loosely with the door...
A forum community dedicated to Mazda Miata MX5 owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about Mazdaspeed performance, modifications, troubleshooting, racing, maintenance, and more!
