Not really, some people take it off to save weight (not that it weighs that much), or to make oil changes easier, i'd say it's better to have one as if you do have a front end impact it protects your fuel rail from splitting and setting the car on fire, but people that run throttle bodies don't use them because that's where they go, so it's up to you really but essentially it's just a big chunk of metal held on by two bolts.