Ari Weight Reduction

"mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/" (mxxxxxm24)
08/14/2019 at 17:35 • Filed to: Arisu, Miata, Miatafications, Race car, weight reduction

I’ve always thought Ari looked like a mini FD with her hardtop on. Funny I ended up behind a similar blue FD in the shop with a blown turbo. I think it’s midnight blue though, where as mine is starlight blue mica. A difference that can only be seen when she’s clean and in the right lighting.

Everything this side of the floor jack was what ran air conditioning at one point.

I’ve talked about it long enough. Now it is done and it is so much lighter. So much better balanced. Turn in is quicker, as is change of direction. And there are more benefits than just weight savings as you will see.

The a/c components are said to weigh about 40 lbs. Just looking at the components laid out on the shop floor above, you can imagine that is a conservative estimate. After feeling each part, I’ll go along with 40 lbs weight savings as my best guess. Maybe a little more. I’d imagine some people leave the second fan and splice the wires to have it come on with the radiator fan, but I was already getting a huge cooling upgrade and didn’t see it as necessary.

What cooling upgrade you ask?

This 37mm Koyo Radiator. This coupled with getting rid of the a/c condenser allows for better airflow to the radiator and engine bay, drastically increasing cooling efficiency. Definitely an upgrade to my plastic radiator that has been unable to do it’s job after my heater core hose burst on the highway on Christmas night a couple years ago. I did the trick where you gently chisel down the teeth on top of the radiator, but it only lasted so long as it was too far gone.

Anyways past is past. Here’s to the future, Oppo.

She really does look like Ari.

DISCUSSION (9)

daender > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/
08/14/2019 at 18:23

Nice! I’m not 100% on deleting the second fan as Mazda did wire it up to turn on if the coolant reaches a certain temperature (I think it was 215*F). By the way, you’ll need this piece to truly complete the AC delete. https://www.prioritymazdaparts.com/p-1990-2005-mazda-miata-a-c-delete-tube-kit-pkna0161150a

I forget exactly where it goes under the dash but you’ll need that to eliminate the AC system from the interior.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > daender
08/14/2019 at 18:33

Hell yeah I’ve got the hole in the gutted factory evaporator box taped up for now, but will replace with that soon to do it right. As far as I know the second fan only comes on for a/c cooling purposes and will only be in the way for my ‘96.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > daender
08/15/2019 at 09:32

Kinja'd!!!

daender > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/
08/15/2019 at 17:24

Huh, well I’ll be darn!

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > daender
08/15/2019 at 22:10

Lol, see dead weight.. . well sort of.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/
10/09/2019 at 18:56

Hmm, that is different NA versus NB then. Because the second fan definitely comes on when too hot I have proven in my car haha. It was at about 229 and both fans were definitely on. I believe it is ~220- 225 when the second fan kicks on with the first one running after ~205.

Thankfully with my fancy new rad from Supermiata, I rarely see temps above 200 unless idling. Its nice seeing ~185-190 when cruising in cooler weather on minimal load.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
10/09/2019 at 20:15

Really? That’s interesting. Was your a/c also on? If so I would assume it comes on at those temps because the a/c is on.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/
10/09/2019 at 20:40

If the A/C is on, the fan comes on whenever the compressor is on, no matter what the temperature. This is generally just a good way to test that the fans function. But I dont ever run my AC. I have used it a total of once during a thunderstorm in Sequoia since the car would have fogged up otherwise. In this scenario the rad cap had gone bad so I was running hotter than I should. I was alerted to this fact because of hearing the water in my overflow tank at a rolling boil, temp gauge never moved. This was during a canyon carving session with Future Heap Owner and just happened to have pulled over for some scenic photos at the right time. Just funny to me that the car can be reaching almost 230 and still not move the temp gauge one bit!

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
10/09/2019 at 20:49

Oh yeah I remember that. Well Mazda dumbed it down a bit too much, but that and the oil pressure are because idiots complained about varying readings on the gauges. Just think if people weren’t complete idiots we would have functioning gauges still lol. And that’s interesting. Definitely worth looking more into the second fan operation, but yeah in normal operation it should never reach temps near that