Car undertrays - are they worth the bother?

[Guest Hooli]

The issue with mine is SiC lost the bolts so put the tray in the boot.

[sierraman]

I've driven it with and without and there's no difference. I'd keep the engine cover on the top, that keeps it quiet but again you are at risk of missing a leak so I wouldn't run out buying another.

[SiC]

The issue with mine is SiC lost the bolts so put the tray in the boot.

I'll probably end up finding them again once I tidy the garage back up again! I took it off originally as it helped keep the box cooler over winter and less likely to bang into gears when driving into work. Also couldn't be bothered to put it back on when it was -1C out and I was fixing the car in it...

[beko1987]

I've been too scared to take my undertray off so far!

[Noel Tidybeard]

my car has under trays which start at front bumper and finish at rear axle- because spaceship

[Kiltox]

I've been too scared to take my undertray off so far!

 

Yeah don't

 

I reckon there's an oily surprise awaiting if you do.

[Eddie Honda]

Lada Riva - required, because without water gets to alternator and things go dark.

 

Honda Jizz (GD) - piece of piss to drain the oil, change the filter and all without jacking it up and with the undertray left on.

[Junkman]

[stripped fred]

I think junkman sums it up well. They're a modern car inconvenience that we can do without, a bit like the plastic engine covers that make it harder to access anything.

[MikeR]

found the pictures of the Zafira subframe , as you can see I have cut the undertray back , and the water holding insulation is visible , Vauxhalls dont need this sort of set up to corrode but it helps .....

 

 

[New POD]

My Xantia HDi Exclusive had a wee handy hinged door for draining the oil. What a handy but simple thing. The Alfa on the other hand has one hell of a massive under tray with a zillion bolts holding it in and no cunning trap door. Oil changes are a bugger on this without a vacuum extractor.

 

Not surprisingly neither the GS or BX have such a thing as an undertray which is a bonus.

 

Imagine the face of the Patent Agent employed by PSA, when some lowly design engineer helped fulfil his yearly target for Patents* by Screwing it up for the Italians.  

"Really? This is an invention?"

 

*This really is a thing. Design and Application Engineers at a number of places I have worked have a target for numbers of patentable ideas and getting a bonus is directly attributed to achieving this target. (Garett (Honeywell Engine Boosting), Rolls Royce PLC - Aero,  and GE - Wind Electronics)

[Uncle Jimmy]

The underneath of a Saab 96 is one solid steel undertray with two holes for the engine and gearbox drain plugs; this is what makes them such high performance aerodynamically advanced vehicles.

[Magpie215]

 

When I owned this the undertrays were taken off and never refitted.....always playing around in the engine bay and servicing......never had any issues

[Uncle Jimmy]

Is that a GT4?

[Talbot]

I've experienced both. Some vehicles can cope just fine without undertrays, and others make a huge difference.

 

Our Berlingo has no undertray and no engine plastic cover. It is definitely a bit noisier and the engine cools down faster when left parked. I suspect it also makes a difference to the economy to have the undertray fitted, as there is definitely wind noise around the floor with the undertray missing.

 

My S210 on the other hand seems to not give a damn whether the trays are fitted or not. I do keep them on though, as the one under the engine is plate steel, and very tough indeed. The car is very low, so I suspect it would prevent the sump from being damaged on any road debris. The engine cover makes zero difference.

 

My D2 needs it's undertray and engine cover. Without them it is much noisier and the engine cools far quicker. (not a good thing.. If used as a daily it is much colder come going-home-time with the covers missing)

[bigfella2]

Is that a GT4?

It's got a gt4 carlos sainz bonnet but it doesn't have the wide arches of a gt4, unless it's a import, maybe there different?

[Magpie215]

Yes it was a JDM import narrow body gt4 I fitted the saint water air intercooler,bonnet and bumper to it

[Guest]

If I remember correctly, the Mercedes 190D was the first car with an "encapsulated" Diesel, and was known as "The whispering Diesel" Fackin LOL!! Having owned two, they are LOUD. But they were a lot louder with the covers off which were huge,and heavy and needed the car on a 2 poster to take the cover off.

[Laseraligningfoofooflanges]

E39's have a flap for the sump plug! naturally mines awol :/

[BorniteIdentity]

If I remember correctly, the Mercedes 190D was the first car with an "encapsulated" Diesel, and was known as "The whispering Diesel" Fackin LOL!! Having owned two, they are LOUD. But they were a lot louder with the covers off which were huge,and heavy and needed the car on a 2 poster to take the cover off.

 

Where as my little carb'd 190 doesn't have any undertrays at all. It means that you can actually change the oil from above - there's an acre of space to reach down from the engine bay to the sump plug, so you just kick a bucket underneath the car - reach down - let the good times flow whilst you do the top facing oil filter.

 

Boom.  Even easier than using a pela!

[NorfolkNWeigh]

When I had my 300C , I hit a small flood at about 80 late at night. I could have sworn it skimmed across the first 20/30 feet on the under tray. Problem was said under tray was about 8 foot long and was half ripped off and folded under the car, I of course was suited and booted and had to crawl around in the mud and rain trying to tear the remains from under the car. When I finally got it off it was not only massive but had thick quilted plastic sound deadening attached .

I left it on the verge and thought great it's going to sound like a tractor, it didn't sound any different at all and the fact it must have weighed 20kg must* have meant it was faster afterwards.

[danthecapriman]

My Volvo 740 has a small undertray type thing right at the front of the engine bay below the radiator and front crossmember. It's more of a wind deflector than a true undertray.

 

When I got the car it was missing, all the fixings were either missing or seized with the undershield remains still stuck under the bolts. Must have been like it for many years.

At high motorway speeds you could hear the wind noise under the car and the wind almost felt like it was getting stuck under the bulkhead and in the engine bay. It was like the wind was trying to lift the front of the car up sometimes.

I bought a brand new one and fitted it and the difference is unbelievable! It's much quieter and you can't feel the wind under the car anymore. You wouldn't think a small bit of flimsy plastic would have that much effect!

[Tamworthbay]

E39's have a flap for the sump plug! naturally mines awol :/

And E46s, mines not there either........

[sierraman]

I've always chucked them away. Never had any problems as a result.

[Vin]

I recently repaired the undertray for the Marea.

 

The access flap had gone AWOL, so I took the undertray off and made a new flap out of an offcut of stokbord. With taking it off though I had to dremel off the front fixings as they were rusted up. I then made some new ones out of zintec with welded on nuts. This was all put back on underneath the engine bay.

 

Previously, on my Fiat Brava, when I ripped the undertray off on a Scottish Lochside track, I temporarily zip-tied it back, then bought a hacksaw and stanley knife, cut it all off and threw it away...Ultimately this resulted in an engine and bay covered in shite and didn't do the electrical connectors much good...

 

The Marea engine bay is pretty clean and everything comes apart cleanly and works, so I wanted to keep it that way...

[beko1987]

My gooner has one, and I did refit it after it's oil change. If I have to start getting under there often it'll be removed and not refitted, but a previous owner went to the trouble of getting all new bolts for it a few years ago so it felt like the right thing to do...

 

The undertray on the old blue gooner is what stopped the oil from falling on the floor, I refitted that for that specific reason! The quilted sound deadening soaked it up a treat!

[Split_Pin]

Throw it in the bin where your exhaust heatshields will also already be.

[AMC Rebel]

I prefer to have them in place.  I bought some new fasteners for the MG one.

 Correction - since ripping the two part undertray off my Jag on the kerb in the co-op car park recently, I have omitted to refit either part.  I did get a new bracket from a scrapper via ebay so that the bumper looks vaguely attached though.