How Big Of A Difference Does An Undertray Make To Water Temps?

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:01]All right, guys. What's going on?

[00:00:02]Welcome back to the channel and welcome back to the videos. It is a nice and sunny day outside today and because of that, literally everyone is out. You guys see this traffic? It is actually horrendous. But because it is such a nice and sunny day outside today, I thought why not take this opportunity to just go and hit up some local back roads. It's been a minute since we hit up the local roads. We've been making our way out of Oof, that was a That wasn't an apocalypse. It was just like a little bump on the road. But anyways, um I I had a completely lost my train of thought, but yeah, we've been making our way like we've been going out of our way to head up to Bear Mountain recently, right, for our drives. But so I've kind of haven't hit up the local roads in a quite a minute. So today I thought why not change it change things up a little bit and we're going to head out there right now to meet up with Jason and Arda. I'm really excited about it because Arda hasn't seen this new bumper set up yet. So I'm really I'm really curious to see what his reaction to this will be. But yeah, uh Anyways, completely lost my train of thought. ADHD, I'm going to just blame it on that.

[00:01:05]But yeah, because today is such a nice and sunny day, by the way, I think this would be a really great opportunity to really test our new cooling setup, right? Cuz if you guys forgot, um we recently installed a brand new bumper on the RX-8. We installed the feed style front bumper and the main reason for us doing so, on top of it looking so cool, is uh so we can install proper undertray. I wasn't able to do that before with my previous bumper cuz the fitment was just complete crap. But um having the undertray there allows us to funnel air into the radiator when we're at speed. So like right now, we're cruising on the highway or not really cruising. We're like bumper-to-bumper traffic and I don't know how well that's going to focus, but the coolant temp right now is only reading 178 and well, it just went up to 179. But that's really impressive considering that last year around this time when I was doing the same thing, we were climbing up there in like the the So I feel like the the new setup has been doing really great and the past couple times though uh when we did go up to drive and really try to stress test it, right? Um it was raining. So, while the car did perform really well, cooling-wise, I wasn't too sure if I could say that was all thanks to the new cooling setup or if that was just cuz of the rain. So, today, because it's so nice and sunny, this is this is going to be a great opportunity to put us to test that as well as long as we're able to get the car up there in the RPM range, but this traffic right now, like I see this.

[00:02:26]This traffic right now, I hope it's not a reflection of what's to come cuz if it is, then we're we're really not going to be able to do anything today. But, yeah, just got to make it through the traffic and it should be smooth sailing from there.

[00:03:18]>> Arda is quick, dude. He's like right behind me already.

[00:03:20]>> I know. Dude, you give any car to Arda, he'll [ __ ] he'll slide with it, bro.

[00:03:33]A [ __ ] Corolla.

[00:03:35]>> Yeah.

[00:03:36]>> Hey.

[00:03:45]You know that saying that's like uh you can give like the worst cars like the best driver and he's still going to do better than a like a worse driver with the best car.

[00:03:55]>> Yeah, for sure.

[00:03:56]>> That's our dough. Yeah.

[00:04:01]>> Not too bad.

[00:04:51]Nice.

[00:04:54]>> [laughter] >> Dude, that's sick.

[00:05:03]>> That's so funny. That's so That's such a funny thing to see. It's a Corolla absolutely ripping ass.

[00:05:09]Yeah, closed track, by the way. Closed >> All right, yeah, closed track. We got this rented out.

[00:05:56]>> So The shift the beeping is for my shifting by the way.

[00:06:05]>> I was going to ask.

[00:06:09]Got you.

[00:06:15]Is that built in?

[00:06:16]>> Yeah.

[00:06:29]And honestly, dude, the car feels good today.

[00:06:33]Like the tires are tiring.

[00:06:35]>> [laughter] >> The motor's motoring.

[00:06:38]>> Yeah.

[00:06:45]All right, so when Gabriel was in the car, the passenger side was rubbing. I could hear like the wheel rubbing against the fender like quite a bit. So now that he's out of the car doing another solo run here, let's see if that's still happening or not.

[00:07:06]Okay, yeah, it's still happening. I'm still hearing the rub.

[00:07:11]I don't know how well that's coming off on camera. Probably not at all, but I am hearing something rubbing on the side here on the passenger seat.

[00:07:28]>> [music] >> All right, we're going to do a launch here.

[00:07:53]>> That felt good.

[00:08:10]Yeah, the car just feels so balanced.

[00:08:31]It definitely is still rubbing though.

[00:08:36]I don't know I don't think you guys can probably I you guys probably can't hear this on camera, but it's definitely rubbing on the passenger side. I'm hearing it. So, I will likely need to raise the car up a bit, which honestly it's probably it like it doesn't sound like it's a lot of fun, right? You needing to raise your car up, but honestly it's probably for the best cuz I do hear the car scraping against the floor sometimes on tighter corners where there's like elevation, so probably something that we just got to do.

[00:10:01]>> Oh boy.

[00:10:03]I will say these spark plugs are crisp.

[00:10:06]They're like no stutter whatsoever on the higher end. Not that I noticed that there were any before, right? But Yeah, these just feel really good. And I I mentioned this in the last video, but it could just be purely placebo, but I feel like the throttle response has gotten so much better. So, perhaps those old spark plugs were on their way out and these are just breathing new life into the ignition system cuz it feels amazing right now. And I I got to I got to say like I know the car's handled I mean like set up pretty nicely handling wise, right?

[00:10:39]I There's a lot more fine-tuning I could do. I definitely slide around way too much in these seats.

[00:10:45]And I think there's a little bit more body roll than I would like, but outside of that, man, like this car is set up perfectly just for like the the way I want it to be. It's not too stiff.

[00:10:56]It's still a relatively soft ride like around these roads. So, like, you know, I'm not uncomfortable. I could sit here for hours and not complain, right? Those like I think the setup right now is just really, really nice. And it could just use a little bit more fine-tuning, but I will have to make a pretty big adjustment soon cuz I think I need to lift the car up cuz I am hearing a lot of rubbing towards that side. So, once we stop the car, I'm going to get out and check on on my fenders and see how they're doing, but I am just noticing this today. So, I wonder what changed cuz I haven't done much to the I haven't done anything to the car since the last time I drove it.

[00:11:33]So, it could just be that I didn't notice it before or it could just be that this local road has a little bit more unevenness in its road. So, like I'm I don't know what I'm trying to explain here, but I think you guys get what I'm trying to say.

[00:11:50]But, around some of these corners, I'm just hearing a slight rubbing sound.

[00:11:55]So, we got to get that sorted out.

[00:11:58]All right. So, I just stopped the car, right? And we were pushing the car kind of hard, right? We were up there in the RPMs and we were keeping it there for a while and we just stopped and our water temp is at 169 right now. You know how crazy that is? Literally not even like what? 2 months ago, but prior to this new setup, we were at like 200° if we were to do the same thing.

[00:12:19]So, I think this new setup is doing a lot in terms of like keeping the car cool and this is a massive difference.

[00:12:25]This isn't like a a 5° or 10° difference. This is like a 30° difference from like 200 on the back roads down to 169.

[00:12:33]That's honestly insane and it just goes to show how important it is to run a proper undertray on your car, right? So, if you guys have a RX-8 and you guys don't have an undertray right now, you're missing out on potentially a lot of cooling. So, highly recommend you do that and yeah, I'm I'm super impressed right now and the car just handled beautifully as well.

[00:12:52]Man, I I I don't I can't ask for more.

[00:12:54]That was like, you know, this today was kind of like an impromptu thing to be honest. Like I wasn't planning this for a while, just a day off decided come out and I'm really glad I did.

[00:13:04]Unfortunately, it's not that hot outside right now. So, I feel like I could do more stress testing. So, currently it is like 65°. It could definitely be warmer, right? Well, in the peak of summer, it's probably going to be up to 80-90. So, I I think there's just room for more limit testing when that time comes, but I think for what it is right now, like dang, 169.

[00:13:27]This is This is really good, guys. This is really, really good.

[00:13:30]>> Thing is like I'm not really feeling like something like You know when when your tires are rubbing against your fenders and stuff, right? It usually leaves like all of these like little felt I don't know how to describe it, but it usually leaves like these textured, you know, like grated up tires, right?

[00:13:47]Grated up rubber. I'm not really feeling it here. I mean you know, if it is rubbing up on my fender liner here, right? It it's it's not too aggressive. Okay, maybe I feel a little bit, kind of like this. So, I think towards right here, where the bumper sits, I think it is rubbing a little bit over there.

[00:14:08]So, I think we will need to raise the car up a little bit.

[00:14:13]It's definitely not going to look as nice I in my opinion after I bring it up cuz I'll probably need to go up I don't know, maybe half an inch.

[00:14:24]I I could try doing like a quarter of an inch, right? And you're seeing where it goes first, but yeah, but for sure though, we'll need to raise up the front here if we want to stop scraping and I think that's pretty important. So, we got to do that.

[00:14:38]Definitely got to do that.

[00:14:46]>> [laughter] >> Wait, did he like he Did he Is this his first time riding one of those things?

[00:14:50]Is he just sending it or what? Or does he know how to ride?

[00:14:53]>> kind of. He kind of like he's been >> Okay.

[00:14:55]>> [laughter] >> Okay, guys. You made it to the end of the video and as always, if you made it to the end of the video, really appreciate you guys for taking the time out of your day to watch the content all the way through to the very end. Really means the world to me, so thank you guys so much for that. If you guys can't tell, it's another day now. I mean, I usually do these outros like a day later or whatnot, but um yeah, I cut my hair.

[00:15:12]Um it was getting kind of long and yeah, I just decided it's time to get it shorter. So, I'm still getting used to it whenever I look at myself in the viewfinder, but it'll happen. Um if you guys have been watching the channel for a while now, you guys will probably remember like literally maybe 2 years ago I had like the longest hair ever. Like my bangs were up to here and I had a little ponytail [ __ ] but I sometimes look back at those videos and I'm like, "Damn, that that's cringey as hell and that's emo as hell." But you know, I should have cut it a long time ago, but you know, it is what it is. But anyways, um the car feels good. Car feels good.

[00:15:44]Stress testing the cooling setup I felt pretty good. I I have pretty high confidence in that right now. Um granted 65° weather isn't like the craziest in the world, right? I think as as summer really comes here in New York when it gets up to like 80, 90, I'll really be able to stress test it further. And I do expect the temperatures to go up a little bit, but you know, hopefully it stays within like you know, the 180-ish area or 190 at the highest, um and not like getting up to 220, which is where we were like the past 2 years.

[00:16:14]But yeah, I I am planning a trip back down to Tail of the Dragon this year sometime in September. So, you know, if you guys are in the area or you guys want to make a trip out there, definitely let me know in the comment section below or hit me up on Instagram and we'll try to coordinate and do something. But when we head down there, I do fully expect the weather to be even hotter. So, um fingers crossed everything holds up. But yeah.

[00:16:35]In the meantime though, I think the car's doing really well and I have no complaints. And I think in the previous video I did ask you guys and or maybe might have been two videos ago now, um I did ask what would you guys like to see me tackle next on the car. Should I like dive fully dive into more of the suspension things and to fine-tune it a little bit more cuz there's still a lot that I'm seeking, I guess. Like I want to reduce the body roll. I want the comfort to be a little bit better. Um so, just a lot of stuff that I still need to do to get it to the exactly like pinpoint position of where I want. Or should I like, you know, do some of the other stuff, right? Some more cheaper stuff, like, you know, intake, downpipe, and all that kind of fun stuff, right?

[00:17:16]And I think I saw more comments talking about the suspension. So, you know, it is the more expensive of the two. So, uh it might take a little bit of time for me to do more research and really just pick out what I want cuz really the two options right now are Ohlins or Ohlins or Fortune Auto. Those are like my two options right now. Sorry, I'm getting some random pings here. Um but yeah, those are the two options right now and I'm kind of leaning towards Fortune Auto at the moment because Ohlins are just kind of getting so expensive and yeah, I've heard a lot of good things about Fortune Autos as well and I know guys who are like I know shops who are partnered with it, so I might be able to get a little bit of a discount there.

[00:17:56]Ohlins are like three grand, dude.

[00:17:59]Yeah, that's like three grands before like, you know, taxes and stuff. So, I really or after taxes and stuff. So, I'm still depending depending between the two. I personally haven't ridden in a car with Fortune Autos before. So, if you guys have experience riding with Ohlins and Fortune Autos, let me know in the comments section below how that feels. I've been in I've been in cars with Ohlins and it feels amazing. I really don't have like a a perspective on Fortune Autos, but you know, I've heard a lot of good things about them on YouTube and people driving them on, you know, on videos and stuff. So, I feel like it's probably going to be as if it's not if it's not as good, at least I hope in my head like maybe at least 7 or 8/10 as good. So, yeah, let me know in the comments section below if you guys have thoughts on that. Outside of that though, I think one thing I never really gave full context on is um So, I did drive with Jason today, right?

[00:18:46]But his car didn't really show up to all too much and that's really cuz his car's really isn't running all that best right now. Granted, like he's still like sending it, which is kind of crazy, but um nothing engine like related. His uh diff is just making a lot of noises like grinding and clicking. He he kind of knows what's up with it, so he's just got to get that sorted, but I don't know how he has like the the courage to like just full send it around a back road. I would be scared that it's going to explode and stuff, but hopefully it doesn't happen.

[00:19:10]But we'll see what happens from there.

[00:19:12]But yeah, um I'm trying to think if I had anything else I wanted to update you guys on at the end of this video cuz usually at the end here I just ramble for a bit and give you guys little updates on what's happening. And uh nothing is really coming to mind.

[00:19:26]Yeah, I couldn't think of anything so I think I'm going to wrap up the video here which is kind of crazy cuz I feel like I normally ramble for longer than this, but it just what it is. But anyways, guys, thank you guys again so much for watching till the very end here. It really means the world to me and can't explain to you guys like actually how much that means. So, you know, thank you guys so much for sticking around. And yeah, until the next video, guys, remember to stay safe out there cuz the world's a crazy place so you got to do your part to stay safe, all right? Till the next one.

[00:19:51]Peace.