What's The Point In

[Al J]

Nah. It's still hogwash.

People will be chamfering the edges of their front number plates next.

If they were so important, wouldn't they incorporate them into the design of that part of the car? I notice the new Yaris still has them.

And for you guys who removed them? You're dicing with death!

[smilybrad]

Well the facts are there, they do have an aerodynamic effect on the car, whether you choose to listen to the fact or ignore the obvious is up to you.

As for why don't they build them into thedesign of that part... they do.

There not last minute bodge jobs, they have their own mounting points etc, and the fact they are in a very vinerable place means that making them part of the main bumper section would mean that you would have to replace the whole bumper if they got damaged as they would probably rip half the bumper off.

Brad =)

[Moffmo]

Well i took mine off cos it kept scraping and i could go fast all the same lol

[Ryan1985]

Mine never had any to start with, oh well!

[smilybrad]

Living dangerously you two lol.

Wasting all that extra fuel on motorway journeys =P

Brad =)

[YarisGLS]

I have now come to a conclusion, which I believe is correct.... Please don't attack me with nasty words... etc as it's just a discussion.

The drawing above (by me) should explain what I have in mind. At some speed, the air going towards the car will be forced to travel through and around the car. At the underbumper stripe, some will be forced to pass by the side of the front wheel.

And since there is a direction of air that is forced to go round the front wheel, there is a difference in pressure behind the under bumper strip, and that will draw some of the air which entered the bottom of the car towards the front wheel. Which is for the purpose of cooling down the front brakes.

The idea why it isn't in one piece is because you will need air from the bottom-centre of the car to create the diverted flow towards the brake discs. If it's in one piece, it won't have that affect (or the effect will be minimised a lot).

Look around different make of cars, they have similar under bumper strip design. The one that I saw before coming home is the BMW Mini.

I believe everything a properly managed car company puts on a car has got to have something practical to do, or else they will list them as optional parts. Putting an extra 4 bolts and 2 plastic strips on every Yaris is going to increase the production time and cost anyway, why would they bother if there is no use? (I know some of you will say styling is also part of the thing that helps sales, which I agree, but not in this case with the under bumper strips.)

Hopefully someone will agree with me?

P.S. And don't remove the plastic panel at the front of the car under the radiator, they are there to reduce the amount of air that will sweep back to the front of the radiator at standstill... e.g. in a traffic jam with engine still running.

[Al J]

Well the facts are there, they do have an aerodynamic effect on the car, whether you choose to listen to the fact or ignore the obvious is up to you.

Well, not sure where the "facts" are. All I've read here are people's opinions. If I'd posted more or a few others came out and said they thought they had nothing to do with aerodynamics, would that make them facts?

Well i took mine off cos it kept scraping and i could go fast all the same lol

Probably less drag. ;)

Mine never had any to start with, oh well!

You guys are just reckless! :D

Nice work, YarisGLS. I'm not totally convinced but I can see where you are coming from. Not convinced about brake cooling though. On the other hand, I saw a car a few days ago and the strip went right across the bottom of the car. May have been a Jazz but I can't remember.

I'm happy to agree to differ on this until someone can provide actual evidence. Alan, perhaps?

Off now to replace my ally tax disc holder with something lighter.

Al

<now playing Devil's advocate so I'll stop. Not going to fall out about it, are we? :P >

[alanbradley]

I believe everything a properly managed car company puts on a car has got to have something practical to do, or else they will list them as optional parts. Putting an extra 4 bolts and 2 plastic strips on every Yaris is going to increase the production time and cost anyway, why would they bother if there is no use?

Very, very true. Especially a company like Toyota which is seen as one of the world leaders in mass production techniques and quality engineering.

A