IMHO - a auto manufacturer is not going to put a very expensive piece of plastic on a car, in a place most people will never look at, that does not have a very good purpose. I'll just keep mine on. Oh, and because I live in Minnesota it's a great idea in the winter for snow.

 

Actually...it may. I wouldn't write it off just yet. Unless you have a windtunnel and do testing with it on and off and study the flow of air through the radiator, then you really can't say if, or if it doesn't have an effect on cooling.


I give one example that I am very familiar. The Ford Mustang (1979-2004) has a small peice of plastic under it's engine bay. It's costs $30 from the dealer. It usually gets ripped off when guys lower their cars so they leave them off. They also began to notice they were running a little warm on the freeway. Well, as luck would have it this silly little peice of plastic DOES aide in cooling. It creates a low pressure area behind the radiator that helps draw air through at speed. Without the plastic panel, the air traveling under the car blocked air in the engine bay from escaping and the car would start to run a little warm.

So while i don't have this answer for this particular peice of plastic, i wouldn't write it off just yet unless a Nissan engineer comes in and says something like 'We did it just for snow and rain" or something like that. It may very well be only for rain and snow and such...but i wouldn't say it doesn't aid in cooling without some real world testing (in a labratory, with a wind tunner, flowmeters, and temp gauges and real equipment...not your morning commute with coffee in hand looking at your temp gauge)

 

I wasn't sure about the cooling issue, that is why I asked maybe it was misinterpreted since it was attached to the other sentence. The statement about Corollas and Camrys was in regards to the absence of the underbelly panel and how they are still operating in different climate and environment

 

The plastic shroud not only protects the engine bay components from damage, but serves to duct air through the radiator and oil cooler. If this pan is missing, air will hit the radiator, and be deflected down under the car instead of being forced through the car. The result is a 20%-30% reduction in cooling capacity, and increased operating temperatures. Your guage may not tell you the difference but it has a purpose. Its also something that is not even a big deal to keep installed.

djosephm..
What a well thought out response.

Tangerine... you will find that all new fwd cars have them but they are shorter to aid in the transverse engine set up. Every new car has them in some form. Just a different design then the G. Its for directing air and protection secondary. Sure you do not need it but it better to have it on.

 

The panel's primary purpose is aiding in zero lift at speed (60mph+), to improve the coefficent of drag, and cooling. Does it make a huge difference? Probably not, but it does work and that's the purpose. The engine bay is the primary point at which air builds under a car. Look under any higher performance car and you'll see that the engine bay is usually shielded.

 

 

See! It gets bad when you fire up the car and that little sucker gets caught up in the belts and fan. Have seen it and its not pretty.

 

NICE HIGH FLOW CATS!!
I SEE WHY G35 PURRS!!
LOL

I remember my first time with my exhaust, all the insulation came out, it looked like a cat just been shot out in the road. lol people all swerving behind me dodging it lol

 

I think my car broke, its not a ***** magnet =(

 

haha that's awesome. all the more reason to take her off.