Blackwater

Are there any advantages/disadvantages to retaining or removing the front body pan? Aero? Cooling? Maintenance? Aesthestics?

turboted

Do you mean the belly pan? I removed mine on purpose in order to detect leaks, etc. With the pan installed, it catches drips of oil, etc., to protect your garage floor...but I'd rather see puddles on the garage floor rather than let a small leak get worse before I realize it. It also makes working on the car a little easier (less crap to remove from the bottom side). Any aerodynamic advantages are far too minimal to have an impact.

KuHL 951

I disagree, try driving the car with and without one above 130mph. It's makes a serious difference in smoothing the airflow under the car as well to increase the extraction of hot air from the engine compartment. Porsche engineers didn't put aerodynamics there to keep your driveway clean or make oil changes easier.

skene

If you're just driving around town and on highways you'll never hit 130 and have to worry about the aerodynamics.
I drove my car around for a couple weeks with all the bottom pans, including the batwing, off and didn't notice a change in handling at all. I don't think I went over 85-90 and I'd probably start to notice some unpleasantness if I did. It only took about half an hour to put everything back on when I got around to it.

turboted

I haven't tested high speed stability at 130mph with/without the belly pan installed. Maybe you are right. However, the mechanics at my local Porsche shop (who used to race 944's in the FireHawk Series and win) always remove and discard 944 belly pans. For whatever its worth...

2bridges

I would wager that the batwing is the primary "aero" impact. Very obvious that would clean up air flow under nose and get transitioned under car. The belly pans I doubt provide any aero advantage.

Hard data of course is scarce - my bet is lowering the car 1" would have ten fold improvement on under car aero than any belly pan ever dreamed of.

As turboted shared - I too know of 5 dedicated 944 race cars. None retain the belly pans. And to be very clear, not talking low end race operation. Dedicated enclosed trailer, mechanic, 475hp Turbo, s2 class car also. A serious amatuer race outfit

George D

The belly pans help evacuate heat from the engine bay. They have cooling passages built into them. They also do help with high speed stability. I've run my car with them on and off up to 180mph. I keep them on, and just deal with the hassle of unbolting the pan when changing the oil.

Your car will be fine without it, but it does help evacuate heat at speed and it does help with high speed aerodynamics.

When you actually look at the belly pan, you must see how much time, effort, and R&D went into this part. I would use it.

George Darling

Blackwater

Great comments! pro's and con's. The reason that I was thinking about it was not about it's intended function, but about the application. The mounting system sucks. I may leave it off for a while and rethink the mounting. Or maybe modify the pan to just use about 6 inches or so of the leading edge. Best of both worlds?

billindenver

I've been racing mine for a bunch of years without the belly pans. I suppose it's possible I'm giving something up by doing so, but if I am...I've never noticed. There might be a benefit over 130, but my car has always been very stable right up to and past redline in 5th gear. Just another data point to consider.

chrly924s

The bat wing is also a structural part of the front end bumper cover. Mine went the way of the tool kit
w/a PO and the fender in front of the tire is cracking! If you don't want the belly pieces, send them to me!!!!

xsboost90

i like knowing when my car is dripping something- not a week later when it all pours out at once. No problems above 130 w/o the pans on my car- AIR splitter and lowered. Supra guys had the same thing w/ pple removing the lower pans and reducing air through the intercooler- but barely a noticable amount- my supra did ok at 160 w/ no lower pan.

billthe3

How do all you people without the engine body pans keep your batwing held up? Mine was hanging down several inches and scraping on the ground without the rear pans to mount up to - or at least I assume thats why it was hanging down...

JET951

10mm bolt with a few spacers in the middle hole at the back of the batwing. and the undertray wasnt for cooling or aerodynamics, its sole purpose was for noise control. infact when in city traffic it hold heat in the engine compartment.

reno808

I was told by many racesrs that those pans retain heat and they get heat soak especially when the car is idling or stopped. It made a difference when i took mine off. The temps when down that it was noticeable on the water temp gauge. You should stand right next to you front wheel after a long drive in traffic or around town and tell me what you feel with the pan on and off. High speeds (150mh) you notice a little diff but i didnt have my AIR Spliter. Once you install that you wont see the difference allot better then with the pans on.

Geneqco

How much difference do you find using a front splitter instead of the batwing? My batwing is missing so I'm thinking about either getting another one or a front splitter.