Nissan, Please fix these on the 400Z that were fails on the 350-370

viiv

I agree, sometimes plastic is better as a 'sacrificial' part.
I think some people who get the metal plates are confused thinking its like some sort of SUV skid plate. In fact a metal one will likely cause more damage to the car. For example, if someone goes over a curb stop, when he backs out the plastic may just tear away, while a metal one is strong enough to pull on the hard points its attached to and actually cause damage to the irreplaceable frame of the vehicle. In the event of hitting a driveway for example, the plastic underliner would actually have a tiny bit of shock absorbtion capability, while the thin aluminum sheet metal which has zero compression ability would transmit 100% of the hit and shock to the frame above it...not good.

Case in point, in my Mazda I once ran over something that tore off the OEM mud guard. It was a typical black ABS plastic mud guard that I replaced the same day from the dealership parts department.

Because the mudguard was plastic it tore right off leaving zero damage to the body and paint. Had the mudguard been made of metal, instead of cleanly tearing off, it would have caused significant body damage.