Raceland Windblokker-my impressions
Ordered a Windblokker from Raceland. I know they aren’t for everyone. Some don’t mind the wind in their hair etc. Around town, it’s no big deal to me either, but I have a longish commute and don’t always want the wind beating me in the back of my head.
Initial impressions out of the box: It’s well built, stylish looking etc. Apparently they use the same one for different generations of Miata and apparently the newer generation must be more narrow because the Windblokker isn’t quite wide enough for my 95. I had to bend the brackets out a little bit which was kind of disappointing. It doesn’t affect the ability of the device to function correctly, I just don’t like that you have to modify something that is supposed to be intended for your car. I would have been willing to pay a few $ more for them to include some type of spacer with the product. I know, you can go to home Cheapo and buy your own etc. Also, they do not send any type of printed instructions. It’s not a difficult task to install it. If requested, they will email you a PDF version of instructions. I found them on Miata.net. There is apparently some debate about whether or not it affects your boot cover. I installed it exactly as Raceland shows and my boot cover doesn’t fit around the bracket very well. I suppose there could be some differences in different boot covers. Mine seems to fit kind of tight. I did buy some shelf repair brackets that I have bent and will add to mine so that it puts a little more space between the Windblokker and the seat belt tower brace. I’m thinking that will allow the boot cover to more easily fit so I can fasten the Tenax bolt snaps there. Also, the brackets that attach the Windblokker don’t seem to be long enough in my opinion. The Windblokker installs behind the seat belt tower brace using the Tenax bolts and the length of those brackets basically doesn’t allow the Windblokker enough clearance to the brace so that it can be positioned straight up and down. It’s close but not quite in my opinion. The additional bracket pieces that I made should give that a little more room as well.
Top clearance-When putting the soft top up, the window does hit the Windblokker but it has enough give that I can still put the top up. If you mounted the Windblokker in front of the tower brace, I’m guessing that would give enough clearance for the top to go up and down with no contact at all. But, you wouldn’t be able to fold the Windblokker up and down, it would be up all the time due to that brace being in the way. I guess the issue I am having is that brace kind of hinders the whole installation and operation of the Windblokker. There is probably something I am not doing correctly, but I can’t figure it out whatever it is. I haven’t installed my extensions for the brackets yet, but I’m guessing they will allow me to tilt the Windblokker forward a little bit and it will not hinder putting the top up.
So, that’s the negatives. The positives are that it definitely does block wind. Depending on how tall you are or how high your head winds up sitting in the cockpit of the car, you will still get some wind hitting the top of your head. I am 6’ 0” and have a short torso and basically from about the forehead up I still get some wind. It’s not bad at all though. I decided to try it with it up and down on successive days to test it out. The first day with it up, and then this morning with it down. There is a definite difference. I am deaf as a stump, so I can’t really tell you about affects on hearing the radio sound etc. Overall, I think for $32 total including shipping, it’s worth it. I would have paid an additional $5 or $10 to have some spacers included so that it would fit my NA without bending the brackets and for them to have brackets that are longer.
Hopefully that all makes sense for someone thinking about getting one. I think it’s a good value and does what it is intended to do. It’s not perfect, but overall I think it is a good thing.
