Aero Undercarriage Shields

Tech discussions on the L77 6.0L V8.
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IDLife Caprice
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Aero Undercarriage Shields

Post by IDLife Caprice »

Well these MIGHT not be available but then again... with the new SS hitting the ground, they just might be soon.

Image

Wonder if it will make a difference on my Hwy MPGs if I add these and the front skid-plate.

Thoughts? Does anyone here have the Pro-Guard or Setina front undertrays?
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Crazy Paul
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Re: Aero Undercarriage Shields

Post by Crazy Paul »

Caprice has a longer rear floor pan than Chevy SS.
Navy Lifer
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Re: Aero Undercarriage Shields

Post by Navy Lifer »

previous thread/discussion: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=300" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(corrupted photos still need to be fixed.....)

Also discussed at length on SS Forum:
http://www.ssforums.com/forum/engine-te ... s-mia.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Reality is that even though these components showed up in the parts book, the panels have never been installed on the SS in production. The forward panels may not have ever actually made it to the US, but the rears did--and they've now been discontinued/removed from catalog. No panels ever installed on WM/WN (Caprice), even though the fuel tank straps have the mounting provisions for the rear panels.
IDLife Caprice
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Re: Aero Undercarriage Shields

Post by IDLife Caprice »

With that being said... the mounting provisions are there for someone to make panels to help aid in underbody airflow. AND if they did all the design work, development and production of the parts, then there MUST be a reason why they were added to the cars. Now I do understand there is the argument that dealers would remove these because of access and people tearing them up. Nonetheless they are there and designed... so there must have been a gain from their implementation.
CrashTestDummy
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Re: Aero Undercarriage Shields

Post by CrashTestDummy »

That, and someone at GM probably said 'what about the cost of those if someone runs over something?' Then: 'what if they come off the car and fly up into another vehicle?' I can see where some bean counter and the flying monkeys would be puckering up pretty tightly pretty quickly.

They can, and do help aero, but I'm sure the liability, real, or imagined, was an issue. That, and adding time to the flat-rate book. :lol:
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Navy Lifer
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Re: Aero Undercarriage Shields

Post by Navy Lifer »

there are photos of the undercar I took showing the aero panels on the pre-production/pilot version SS that was on Power Tour in 2013, so the decision to not install them was made at some point further along in the process. The first cars at Daytona before the 2013 Daytona 500 (pace car or cars shown at the official debut) probably had the panels. None of those cars were saleable via dealer distribution to retail customers....production of the dealer-ordered 2014 Chevy-badged SS had not begun yet.

NOT MY PHOTOS: http://www.ssforums.com/forum/382881-post30.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I do have a pair of the rear panels and all the mounting hardware.

One thing you can see if you compare the WM/WN Caprice to either G8 or SS (VE/VF) is that the rocker panels are different--the VE/VF version is squared-off and slightly deeper, with a slight "skirt" extending downward and angling inward toward the rear wheels. This small extension of the rocker panel effectively masks the presence of the aero panels when installed on Commodore/G8/SS. On Caprice, I believe the panels, if installed (rear, anyway) might be seen projecting slightly below the edge of the stock rocker trim/skirt, at least viewed from the right position, but you'd really have to look and know what you were seeing--the un-informed wouldn't realize that there's anything really different or unusual.

The PPV does use a different rocker panel than a civilian Holden Caprice--the Holden Caprice parts are visible on Scott Walker's black PPV, which, along with mine, has these installed. Major shipping project to get them here via CP.

One thing I have not studied yet is whether the aero panel configuration somehow interfered with the lift points for the car--at least at the rear. Can't imagine that could have been the case, but clearly, a decision was made somewhere in the process to leave these parts off of the production version--if they were intended to provide a FE advantage, and the 2014/2015 A6 was going to have a Gas Guzzler tax anyway, with or without panels, perhaps they didn't do enough (cost vs benefit) to avoid the GG tax, and the retail cost of replacement panels was at least several hundred dollars for all 4 panels & mounting hardware, plus the front under-shield (oil pan guard). If they had actually helped the car (SS) NOT get hit with the GG tax, they might have made it.....otherwise, they weren't justified.
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