Plastic tray beneath engine - functional

[Ally]

Ive been catching the edge of the plastic undertray - below the engine of my 172 - on the fold-down bollard at work since I lowered it about 9 months ago. This morning the fecker really caught as I reversed in and it ripped part of the tray - its now dragging on the road!

Is this plastic tray functional? Im thinking of just removing it if I cant fix it somehow? Anyone know? I need to do something before I leave for home tonight!!!

Thanks!

 

[Alan]

Bin it mate, all they do is catch things that you drop down, sockets, spanners and other tools.....lol

BTW, crail on sunday?

 

[Fred@BTM]

just remove it, it does bugger all

 

[Pete]

Ive not had one on mine for ages and cups dont have them.

 

[Mondial172]

My Cup does

 

[Day]

Remove the oil catch bag as well while you are there...

 

[Ally]

Cheeers for the replies!

Ahh, so thats what that binbag type thing is - cheers Day.

Ill just remove it when I get home - I jacked the car up (not ideal for crawling underneath it, I know) and managed to tuck it up so that I can drive home without it dragging. If its not repairble Ill rip it off.

Alan - aye, Ill be convoying up from Burger King @ SQ 9.30am. See ya there.

 

[stu8v]

Well worth keeping it.

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by Pete on 08 July 2005



Ive not had one on mine for ages and cups dont have them.

My Cup did...

 

[BenR]

be surprised how dirty a bay gets without it.

i can also argue the aerodynamic front if you want lol.

 

[Zebrs]

Keep it; it stops stones, crap etc being flicked up into the engine bay. Should really have kept the one on my Bravo *ahem* when a security pole did exactly that to it, but instead took a breadknife to it (it was foam, I was a student lol) and worried after that Id get a stone right in the cambelt or something.

 

[Fred@BTM]

you cant get a stone in the cambelt on the 172, the undertray is pointless IMO, chuck it in the bin

 

[McBunny]

Quote: Originally posted by BenR on 08 July 2005
be surprised how dirty a bay gets without it. i can also argue the aerodynamic front if you want lol.

just what i was going to say

altho clios dont go very much into ground effects

 

[stu8v]

Definately not pointless, it will make the car faster, give better fuel economy, keep the engine bay cleaner to name a few.

 

[182_blue]

Quote: Originally posted by Pete on 08 July 2005

Ive not had one on mine for ages and cups dont have them.

my cup did

 

[McBunny]

Quote: Originally posted by stu8v on 08 July 2005
Definately not pointless, it will make the car faster, give better fuel economy, keep the engine bay cleaner to name a few.



fancy explaining the first 2 ??

 

[182_blue]

Quote: Originally posted by McBunny on 08 July 2005

Quote: Originally posted by stu8v on 08 July 2005

Definately not pointless, it will make the car faster, give better fuel economy, keep the engine bay cleaner to name a few.

fancy explaining the first 2 ??




i would imagine he means it reduces the drag factor (similar to leaving your window open reduces mpg, and slows you, granted very slightly)

 

[BenR]

fuel economy? the drag coefficient will be lower at aero effective speeds (70+) with it on.

 

[McBunny]

Quote: Originally posted by BenR on 08 July 2005
fuel economy? the drag coefficient will be lower at aero effective speeds (70+) with it on.

suppose but it will be outweighed by the boot full of ice and the silly spoilers people stick on them

 

[BenR]

angle of the dangle and all.

 

[McBunny]

must admit i was upset to find out the underneath of my 172 didnt look like the underside of an r34 skyline

 

[stu8v]

A flat bottomed car will create less drag than one with lots of bits hanging down.

If it did nothing do you think they would have fitted it?

 

[McBunny]

Quote: Originally posted by stu8v on 08 July 2005
A flat bottomed car will create less drag than one with lots of bits hanging down.If it did nothing do you think they would have fitted it?



did you read my earlier post id already agreed with ben that you should keep it infact id replace it with a cabon fibre sheet to try protect the sump on a coilovered car

 

[Gus]

Does anyone know how much they are cause mine was stolen by a Renault Garage when I was on holiday in france. Only noticed when i got home and it wasnt there.

 

[McBunny]

Quote: Originally posted by optical on 08 July 2005
<FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #407db6">Does anyone know how much they are cause mine was stolen by a Renault Garage when I was on holiday in france. Only noticed when i got home and it wasnt there.

go ask for it back lol

 

[BenR]

threaten them with british cooking.

 

[Ally]

LOL Ben, what a threat (although I still cant believe they didnt serve haggis to the G8 mailto:tw@ts">tw@ts at their meal on Wednesday - wouldve loved to see the reaction to that).

Ive kept it on! Removed it, cut out a few inches of it that had been damaged and were hanging off, refitted - et voila, one fixed undertray. Its missing a wee bit, but its better than nothing.

Im a believer that if something is fitted to a car by the manufacturer, then its there for a good reason - if it keeps the engine bay clean/improves aerodynamics/improves economy, then Im happy with that. Only hope I dont catch it again... serves me right for lowering the car I suppose

 

[Mike@Rentech]

rempve it , bet a few dealers forget to fit it back on as well, hehe

 

[Ambo]

Cant say Ive looked that closely at mine, but as well as uses above isnt it a sump guard! Surely more important the more your lowered