Running without plastic undertray?

[atconc]

Hi all

Started getting a scraping noise when on the brakes or the suspension was compressed on Saturday pulled over and found the plastic undertray and drivers side wheel liner bit it connects to was hanging down on the road. Ended up having to pull it off to continue driving as it was pretty battered several fasteners were already broken. Having had a quick search it seems like the replacement for the lcr is in the region of 160 quid so once I got it fitted I'm guess near to 250 which I could really do without spending at the moment.

Has anyone else run without theirs for a significant period of time? If so have you had any problems? There is noticeably more road noise which is a bit annoying but on the upside seems to have slightly increased engine noise / turbo whistle which I don't mind

Am I taking a huge risk over a couple of hundred quid or should everything be robust enough to survive without the plastic bit?

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

[Mikey_Bling]

The louvres in the undertray apparently slightly aid engine cooling and air flow, but I'm aware a lot of people run without then.

 

[CraigFrTsi]

Lol another member on here in his ibiza was driving along heard a couple of thuds looked in his mirror and saw his flying down the motorway and has never seen it since with no dramas

 

[Grayboy]

Ran without mine for ages no problems other than engine bay getting grubby.

It's in 3 bits the bottom and 2 sides which had broken on mine so just replaced those for £65-70 the pair from Sere.

 

[RaviR50]

im running without, no problems at all

 

[nottsmic]

On my leon the side parts near the wheels had been pulled down as a front clip had broken. I had to remove the undertray and the sides are currently held up by cable ties but never had any issues and no ones ever mentioned ith through servicing etc.

 

[Mikey_Bling]

Funnily enough, I've just had mine through it's MOT and the test centre put the undertray as a bloody advisory as it obscures the engine!

Not only that, the engine cover was put down for the same reason!

 

[Asce]

Funnily enough, I've just had mine through it's MOT and the test centre put the undertray as a bloody advisory as it obscures the engine!

Not only that, the engine cover was put down for the same reason!

Mot centre's aren't allowed to removed anything, so may put it down as an advisory due to that.

 

[CraigFrTsi]

They put it down as an advisory so if you get stopped and find something then the mot centre can't be blamed for letting it pass an mot. It's basically mot centres covering their ass

 

[Mikey_Bling]

Yeh, appreciate that. It's just mental though.

 

[vroomtshh]

Nerobart sell them on eBay for £50ish for all three parts

 

[Beaniesbcfc]

I don't have one and it's fine

 

[Tessitura]

its worse on new Bmw's, they have an undertray all the way down, so in a few years, when they have perished brake lines, no mot tester will be able to check.

 

[dazjstuart]

I have half an undertray lol. Never have had a whole one so can't comment on the difference it makes. Have heard people claiming it reduces MPG (more friction for the airflow under the car) which may well be true but I highly doubt it makes a noticeable difference, maybe you would notice on some super efficient 1000mpg car but on one that barely cracks 30mpg anyway I doubt it. Probably means you will have a dirtier engine bay though so if your turned on by shiny engine bays you will probably want to get one! Main thing though is that it provides some degree of protection for hitting things, pretty flimsy but it might provide enough deflection to stop a stick or stone going through the sump.

 

[danblowes]

been running for two years without it on my LCR with no issues