Lower Engine Panel Removal Opinions?
 

I performed my first oil change last night and after removing the lower panel, I had some consideration to leave it off. I can understand the engineering perspective to use a panel to shield the engine compartment and improve on aerodynamic properties. My logic behind keeping the panel off would be to increase heat dissipation from the engine bay by allowing air to travel through the front of the vehicle and flow out under the engine and exit through the underside.

At this time I am not using the vehicle for tracking purposes and don't feel like it is a particular benefit beside providing some additional protection. It seems as auto manufacturing develops, companies are choosing to use more plastic to cover components both in the engine bay and under the chassis to isolate different components.

Has anyone opted to keep the panel off? Please post your opinions...

Thanks,

Nick J.

I wouldn't....First of all the engineers put it there for a purpose. Mostly for Aerodynamics. With the other aero aids, the Z is one of the best in this regard. As far as increasing cooling....Probably won't help at all. Air is designed to flow into and out of the engine bay in a controlled manner. This engine does not run hot anyway. 182 degrees is the typical coolant temps I see. That's cool. This is controlled by the cooling system: Radiator, thermostat etc, not air in the engine bay. A 1/16th thick piece of plastic can hardly be considered protective. If you want confused flow under the car, increased lift, Poorer high speed handling and a dirtier engine then by all means take it off.. Personally I wouldn't..

Thanks Modshack, I was hoping you would comment. Your observations seem very reasonable and have the same consideration that I was leaning toward but wanted to see if it was unanimous.

Nick J.

No Problem NicK! One trick you can try is to remove the rubber gaskets at the rear of the engine compartment...The ones that seal the hood and don't allow air in. They just snap into place. This is a natural high pressure area, and by removing them, you will ventilate the engine bay from the rear, then out the bottom. I've done some temp datalogging on another car and seen an 18 degree improvement. Plus hot air will naturally spill out of there when stopped and heat soaking. You'll notice a little more noise as the gaskets are mostly for NVH. No water issues to worry about. If you want even more air, pull the plastic cover at the "V" of the strut brace

As shack mentioned, this would probably be a bad idea. Not only do you mess with the aerodynamics of the car (which in and of itself is no big deal safety-wise at most non-track speeds), you could potentially decrease cooling capability. Air is designed to be shunted from one location (front of the radiator) to another (wherever they decided to let it flow, but you can rest assured physics says it's someplace else) while traveling through the radiator. Remove that panel, and suddenly you've interrupted the normal flow, possibly stagnating the air inside the engine bay and increasing temps. Shack's suggestion of pushing the air from the windshield base down into the engine bay is fine, just make sure it has somewhere to go.

BTW, you don't need to remove the entire bottom panel in order to change the oil! Just remove the 4 bolts on the transmission end of the panel, and their is a flap that can be folded down that gives you access to drain the oil and change the filter.