danzcool

So, I lost the plastic "belly pan" or engine shield, the plastic piece that goes from the front bumper to just behind the radiator on the bottom side.
So what is it's purpose and how important is it? It doesn't 'seem' to really affect cooling, and didn't seem to have any aero affect either. I did a few mile passes and a 300 mile drive since.

It was a spectacular failure actually, I think the front came undone first, scooped a ton of air, which actually made my hood flutter, bulging up about 1-2" at the center near the windshield (glad I had hood pins), then it was gone, I saw the plastic fly up in my rearview mirror. This all happened at a little over 160MPH (on a closed course).

I've been wanting to put an actual slitter and aero shield under the front of the car anyway, just wanting some thoughts as to what purpose it serves?

acquah20

When i was in automotive school about 5yrs ago my buddy was having overheating issues on his rx7 that he had just bought a few months back. Now obviously two completely different cars but same theory. Well needless to say one of our teachers suggested getting it up on a lift and see if the bottom plastic cover was missing as there were no signs of leaks. The cover was obviously not there so we made one out of a sheet of aluminum and put some holes in it and ziptied it in place and it solved all of his overheating issues.

Nuke

My guess is that it plays a role in directing airflow over the engine and also has some aerodynamic function. At 160 MPH, I can only imagine that the front edge came unzipped and sucked up air momentarily like any airdam causing the hood to want to rip from its' hinges before totally ripping off from the amount of resistance. Too bad you didn't get it on video.

BigDinTexas

I want to go 160mph... I'm jealous now.

On a related note, I wonder if the plastic retainers could be replaced with a more suitable fastener that wouldn't sheer at speed?

Don

AzPete

I had to bolt the one on when I had the '07 GT Vert. It came loose at around 90 for some reason but did not leave the car. That hood lift makes ya think for sure.

I would replace it for sure and use bolts with fender washers as a minimum, maybe even a full metal strip to secure it better.

danzcool

So, the only place that it was actually attached to metal was at the rear, thge rest was plastic to plastic.

My first thought was that it was for cooling, directing airflow through the radiator, but the aeroforce scan gauge shows coolant temp to be pretty much the same, maybe a couple degrees warmer, but never at risk of boiling. Another guy mentioned it may keep road stuff from coming up into the belt system, etc.

Yeah, I wish I had it on video, the rear view was quite interesting, it flew up probably 5'-6' after clearing it, which probably is a good indication that I was getting some downforce and that the spoiler and diffuser are actually doing something.

I need to find some good attachment points up front for a heavier duty piece that has better aero.

highline

wow, need to get under my car...didn't even know we had this...anyone have any pics?

AzPete

I originally thought my wife had drug the car front over a parking block to break the push pins but I found no marks to indicate that so mine appeared to just pull out of the plastic of the lower bumper.

jdmcbride

I replaced mine after I ran over a rabbit and destroyed this piece plus the lower grill trim - both were around $50 each to replace...

flash gordon

The plastic cover performs 2 key functions:

1. Keep the car clean underneath
2. Reduces drag