I just realized that some people's cars have a plastic air duct/tray underneath the front bumper. My car apparently never had these when I bought it. I've never noticed any high-speed temperature problems, and I typically drive 80-90 on the interstate for at least 30 min at a time. I looked in the partsfische too, but I can't find their part number either.

Do I need them, particularly with my new turbo setup? What difference do they make? And how much should I expect to pay for one in decent shape? Thanks!

 

It shouldn't be hard to see that a lot of the air entering the nose of your car is going under the radiator and oil cooler rather than through them. Air always follows the path of least resistance, and without the undertray that's not through restrictive cooling cores.

The undertray forces nearly all of the air entering the nose through the radiator. This considerably increases the capacity of the cooling system. It won't make the engine run cooler unless it was running too hot in the first place.

I recommend you look for one. I doubt they'd cost much from a wrecker.

 

While I personally never had a cooling problem without mine, it probably would help your particular overheating problem.

It also aids in aerodynamics, yes you should get one.

 

*edit* out of stock...

 

Above the aformentioned, you'll end up with a filthy Engine Bay.

 

In summer with AC at highway speed - it's a big deal.

If you can't find a used one, borrow a friend's & use it for a template to make one from sheet aluminum.

 

Most junkyards ain't gonna know how much they are worth.. to them, its a piece of plastic.. i paid 10 bucks for the last one i pulled.. just take a 10mm 1/2 drive socket and a six inch extention with you... those bolts can be rusted tight!!!

 

will these have any effect on an N/A car. crap i guess i need one.

 

this reminds me that i pulled mine off because it was kinda shreded and missing some bolts. does anyone know a good way (besides duct tape) that i can patch mine up?

 

My car was N/A when i took these measurements about my inlet temps, but the aerodynamics will be unchanged, so yes.
Buy a new(2nd hand one...) one...................

They are a good thing, as much as I used to think they had no purpose in this world at all, I can now see the obvious benefits they have. You should really invest in one.

 

Have it plastic welded.

 

well now i guess i'll have to put mine back on now

 

I've had mine missing for a year now, and my car ran fine in Houston Heat/Traffic with no problems
I do however, only have an NA...

 

I have a tII and have been running without it for a while with no problems. Can't hurt to put it back on though.

 

Just so everyone's clear on this, just because you'd experienced no problems running without an undertray doesn't change the fact that you have reduced the capacity of the cooling system by not replacing it. It simply means you've never run the car at a combination of engine load and ambient temp that exceeds this capacity.

A big deal is often made about how the FC's radiator needs to be upgraded to cope with decent power increases, but I hope no-one who is running without an undertray also thinks they need to upgrade their radiator to cope with their mods. That would be very silly.

 

Same here, only I took mine off to deal with an oil leak but haven't put it back on yet. I'm not going to worry about it until it begins to be a problem.

 

Hey guys im missing mine too.. EKKKK

If anyone has one FOR SALE..
PM or give me an E-mail at chadman_302@hotmail.com

 

I took mine off and never had a problem with heating. but i did notice that the aerodynamics where affected at high speed on x-way. I get abit of what i would call lift.

 

If anyone took theres off and doesn't want it anymore.. Please sell it to me..

 

it's not the prettiest, but drilling a bunch of holes opposite to each other and using tywraps/zipties/what ever you want to call them. make sure the holes are about 1/2" back from the crack. I've fixed snowmobile hoods and dirt bike fenders and it holds fairly well, especially considering that it shouldn't flex too much.

 

If someone did make one out of sheet metal, would it make THAT much of a difference if you put louvers on ( the little vents the stock ones had)? Or would it be ok just to have a flat sheet metal?

 

Now that's a real MacGuyver fix there!

 

Actually, I have been wondering if mine being broken in the front mounting area entirely would be real bad on my 88 n/a. There is about a 4" gap from the front bumber to the front of the panel. Looks like the previous owner curb-parked it too close to a concrete bump-stop thing. Any thoughts on whether I need to get this fixed or not?