meternerd

I live in HEAVY snow country in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Believe me, it can and will get torn off if your wife backs over a huge snow berm. I've patched mine about a dozen times. They ain't cheap to replace, but they are available. I prefer having it on to keep gunk and road debris off od the underside of the engine/tranny. Also keeps the squirrel roadkill residue off of the engine!

Just Me

aero - smooths airflow.
Also catches all the parts that fall off.
Its odes provide some small amount of protection from stuff below. not much though.

G

Just Me

Huh? My '00 had one. And my '95. And my '91.

G

Just Me

it is for aero management. Plain and simple.

isleblue65

It also helps with downdraft on the track. I bought my 2.7t from my Uncle who used it as a driving instruction car as he teaches courses for the Porsche and Audi of America clubs. He explained that when the belly pan was removed at Laguna-Seca, the front end drifted and felt light at speeds over 100mph. He put it back on and the front end tracked and gripped much better, felt heavier and more solid, etc.

The car is lowered as well, so maybe the smaller distance between the pan and the road has an effect also.

jseklund

My car, my gf's car and my mom's car have all lost the belly pans. In the winter, when it snows and the roads aren't cleared too well, it's easy to rip one off - especially if someone else worked on the car and didn't put the pan on right.

While I don't think it provides much protection from impact, it may provide some protection from dirt and more importantly - water. I'm not real concerned about it, since I don't have any, but I do wonder if it makes the alternator more likely to get wet in certain situations, which I am not fond of.

Just Me

yep, that's aero management!

bigdadi

Imagine you are working on something
with glove (belly pan)
without glove (no belly pan)

2.7Lturbo

i believe that was what i said at the begining of the post as was ignored lol

Just Me

facts never trump opinions.