Help identify this piece underneath the front bumper & in need of recommendations

[SoCalSupra]

Hey guys,

I'm having some trouble identifying this car part and need some help and advice. I have a very steep driveway, and unfortunately, I scrape going up every time no matter the approach angle I take. Recently, I noticed that underneath the passenger's side front bumper, this rubber piece that sticks out about 1.5 inches has become partially detached. I've inspected it a couple of times and it almost looks like it was designed to break away. So here are my questions for you:

1. What is the name of this piece?
2. Does it serve a useful purpose? If not, could I trim it down to its base to give me about an extra 1.5 inches of clearance?
3. Besides an air suspension, any tips for preventing this from happening again?

I greatly appreciate any advice or help you can offer!

Sponsored

 

[supraterps]

mine just fell off , did you ever get any answers

 

[HoosierRN]

Mines been off for months. No issues lol

 

[zrk]

It's a [edit] basically a scrape guard. It's there to give you some visceral feedback on your hitting the ground and protect the under panels. It's not necessary by any stretch. though it will move the air around a bit.

 

[FuzzyRev]

It's a scrape guard. It's there to give you some visceral feedback on your hitting the ground and protect the under panels. It's not necessary by any stretch.

Bro, April Fool's was five days ago.

They're much more important than you realize, and considering your racing hobby, I'm thinking you're gonna want them back on there. They have nothing to do with being 'ground feelers', and everything to do with directing the airflow underneath the vehicle, mostly preventing the air from 'crashing' into the tire. Considering that a quarter-inch lip solves the wind buffeting on the sides, imagine how much a 1.5 inch lip can affect air direction, especially on the front lines of the vehicle-versus-wind war. Here's a diagram from my econobox daily driver, just to illustrate the point and purpose.

So, if you all decide they're actually worth having, the part numbers are 53807-WAA01 for RIGHT side, and 53808-WAA01 for the LEFT side. Even though the lips can break free, they're only available with the triangular pad they mount to, as shown below.

 

[zrk]

They have nothing to do with being 'ground feelers',

This is.. not entirely accurate. The part is even referred to as 'scrape guard' in the technical manual, but not completely inaccurate either. They absolutely will redirect air, but they are quite flimsy.

I'm thinking you're gonna want them back on there

Likely not. The Verus splitter deletes these, and as you can see from the OpenFoam renderings, it doesn't cause a significant hotspot on the front tires.

You absolutely want the triangular panels they attach to, to prevent air from lifting under the car, and while I'm sure this lip does provide some airflow away from the tires, that air would be directed into the wheel well based on their shape and position. I'd need to see some wind tunnel or OpenFOAM data to understand better but is definitely something I'm happy to learn more about.

As far as racing the car before and after then, I didn't notice any differences aside from the front end staying down much better than it did before the splitter.

Sponsored