Cooling is one of the most important elements of a vehicle. Without proper cooling, the trip to the racetrack quickly becomes the last trip with the MX-5 for the time being, because components are not up to the tougher requirements and give up. In this article we show you all the options for cooling the popular roadster.
Through our race track experience, we have dealt intensively with the subject of cooling the Mazda MX-5 and can now effectively adapt the results to all MX-5s:
In principle, our cooling packages are highly recommended for installation on every MX-5. Here you get everything you need to keep the standard MX-5 in the optimal temperature range. An oil cooler kit and an SPS radiator for the respective car are always included. These packages are designed for daily use, casual use on the racetrack is no problem with our cooling packages. The cooling packages for the respective generations are divided as follows:
But there are more issues involved in proper cooling for racing vehicles than just high-quality coolers. The air flow through special air ducts and the dissipation of heat through fan plates and hood vents are just as important as the cooler itself. But here, too, we have the right items to prepare your MX-5 for the racetrack.
Let's explain the individual topics in more detail:
Air ducting and flow to the cooler
The air ducting is the first piece of a successful cooling system. The best cooler is useless without air flow because we have no air to pass through the cooler. For this we have made special air duct kits for the MX-5 NA and MX-5 NB / NBFL. These are 2 parts and made of ABS plastic in order to generate an easy installation and OEM look of the components.
Fan shrouds
Cooling fans are an indispensable component of a good cooling system, especially when there is no airflow and at low speeds. When the air flow is low, the fan replaces the overpressure in front of the radiator with a negative pressure behind the radiator. In this way, the air is effectively drawn through the cooler and a good cooling effect is achieved even at low speeds. Here, too, we have designed special fan shrouds for the MX-5 NA and NB / NBFL models.
Hood louvers
Now that we've channeled the air through the radiator in the most effective way, it's time to get the pent-up, hot air out of the engine bay. Increases in performance (especially in turbo vehicles) can lead to extreme heat build-up in the engine compartment. To do this, we use vents to divert the hot air through the hood. These products are also available from us for the MX-5 NA and MX-5 NB / NBFL.
Transmission and differential oil cooling
Not only the engine cooling is important in the MX-5, but also the cooling of the gearbox and differential. In pure racing vehicles it can happen that the temperatures of the gear and differential oil of the MX-5 skyrocket after long periods of load. The gearbox damage is then preprogrammed. Since we had the same problem on the racetrack with our TimeAttack vehicles, we decided to design packages for this. The cooler is mounted behind the rear bumper and special pumps are mounted in the trunk. The kits for transmission oil cooling and differential oil cooling are suitable for MX-5 NA / NB / NBFL and also available in our shop. This means that the gearbox and differential temperature also remain in the green area.
Do you still have questions about cooling the MX-5? Write us an email or write a comment under this post, we will be happy to answer your questions.
Your SPS Motorsport Team