$2.50 from Pelican

What's the need for this plastic flap in front of the front tires? The flap on the passenger side fell off and I'm wondering if it's worth replacing. If so, any one know the part# for the screws? TIA.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/23/2012 10:48PM by boxsterd. (view changes)

brake cooling. The rubber scoops that hang down towards teh rear of the car help rear brake cooling.

I've replaced both the front and rear air deflectos/scoops a couple of times. They are not expensive and I just feel better about the car knowing they and secure and doing what they do.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

Marc is correct (per usual), it routs air to help cool the breaks. Also cheap and easy to replace, so why not. But, the part is not critical for non-track driving. Any reasonably new car in decent working condition (brakes, fluid and tires) will make 1 and probably several emergency stops at 100% of the cars designed ability. The problem is with repeated very hard breaking the brakes can "fade" from over heating and be less efficient. So, routing air by them on the track in DE service an important purpose of cooling them at high speeds prior to intense breaking. If you don't DE, IMHO - no automotive expert me, it is no big deal not to replace them.

1999 Arctic Sivler/black/black (sold)
2008s Silver/black/black - so predictable
2011 Outback
8/24/2011 first Grandson

You can take a screw out of the opposite side and match it to something at a hardware store. The replacement screws and washers should by of a rust/corrosion resistant type.

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?

I noticed that one of the two rubber ducts in the center rear of the car is gone, and I've yet to locate a part number for these. I'm talking about the ones you see hanging below the middle of the car when driving behind a Boxster, that seem to route air flow from under the middle of the car up and around the transmission. Anyone know the part number?

to help cool the rear brakes. I thought they were to help circulate air around the engine compartment but the techs tell me 'no'. And IIRC in parts manager parts catalog they are labeled as brake cooling scoops.

They are held on by plastic rivets, so you'll need two per side. I replace the things in pairs. About as bad as seeing one (or both) missing is seeing one all new and spiffy looking and one hanging down and torn a bit like an old junk yard dog's ear.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

[www.autoatlanta.com]

or if you have a 987, here

[www.autoatlanta.com]

Thanks, Boxsterra. After much digging I found the right diagram. Although the diagram doesn't separately label the parts, the parts list on the right has them, unlabeled.
Here's the diagram. What I am referring to are the rubber pieces that slide onto the leading edge of part #6 in the diagram.
rear axle bracket parts diagram

Seems to be part number 986 331 361 02 ( "Spoiler" ) listed after part #6. ("Part no longer available." Will have to order elsewhere.)

Marc, I'm pretty sure that on my car there's no rivet involved, they just slide on and catch into two little notches in the panel edge. There are slight model year differences, maybe for later years the rivet prevents the spoilers from ... disappearing so easily!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2012 02:21AM by Trygve (Alameda, CA). (view changes)

[www.autoatlanta.com]

Part #4

Those are on the outside of the car just in front of the rear wheel well. I'm talking about the two rubber scoops hanging under the middle of engine/transmission area.

the scoop does slide/sort of snap into place but I still remember rivets being used. But maybe things changed and as you said the newer model cars accept these without any fasteners.

Also, just so it is clear, I'm not talking about the air deflector ahead of each rear wheel well, but the rubber scoops that hang down from a cross rail that spans a distance across the rear of the car either just ahead of the engine or under it.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

Same part #; let me know if you want it.

[www.pelicanparts.com]

Thanks for the link.

Quote
Trygve (Alameda, CA)
I noticed that one of the two rubber ducts in the center rear of the car is gone, and I've yet to locate a part number for these. I'm talking about the ones you see hanging below the middle of the car when driving behind a Boxster, that seem to route air flow from under the middle of the car up and around the transmission. Anyone know the part number?

Trygve:
I think I have one that fell off our 99;I'll check and see if I still have it.
If yes, you could PM me with your address and I'll send it to you.

I agree that that is the function of the flaps - it's interesting during our race I was looking over the Spec Boxsters, and they all have mesh inserts in the plastic wheel liners to allow the radiator heat to flow directly into the wheel well. I assume that it helps both engine and brake cooling.

to the wheels/brakes. Or perhaps just to prevent air pressure build up from air leaking past the radiator duct liners or through the bumper cover/fender gaps, but the air dam is there to generate a low pressure area just at the right spot to help promote air flow. Immediately behind -- again IIRC it has been a while and I do not have the Boxster handy to check to refresh my memory -- the air dam is the exit of the radiator duct.

The mesh is perhaps ok for spec cars. For street cars I can't say. But for street cars and I would believe even more so for spec cars those small air dams are very important for maximum brake cooling and promoting good air flow through the radiators.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?

more venting slots/holes in this area but there may have been changes elsewhere that allow any crud to fall out.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2012 10:55AM by Laz. (view changes)

that's worth a lot. Almost every MY sales blurb Porsche has touted better aero and cooling.

I've described the heat my Boxster encountered -- 116F in AZ -- and its constant 226F coolant temp -- the fans running at high speed all the time too -- and 135F intake air temp and the engine compartment fan running as near as I could tell all the time, even at freeway speeds.

While no harm came to the engine that 116F exposure was relatively short lived, just a few hours.

For cars that live in that climate or see harder driving even in milder climes, improved cooling is very beneficial.

I can tell you my 03 Turbo's cooling is quite a bit better than that of my 02 Boxster -- even in 119F heat the Turbo was cool as a cucumber -- so there's plenty of room for improvement to be had in the Boxster.

As the output of the engine's rise the heat load to be dealt with goes up, up and up. Better cooling is a constant issue.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

It's been my experience to see junk that clumped up in all sorts of nooks and crannies, eventually getting through undercoating or some other corrosion protection, and eating through mild steel, etc. There's an old joke that you can put a Porsche into a garage at night and listen to it rust. Yeah, I know the materials these days are a lot less susceptible, but still...

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?

vent slots/openings I do not remember feeling any concern about stuff getting in there/through the slots and where it shouldn't get. I'm as sensitive as anyone about letting stuff build up and hang around on/under/inside my cars.

IIRC the openings had a form/shape that while air could obviously flow through the slots were shaped in such a way so as to not catch stuff. I'm thinking something like louvers on a hood that lets engine compartment heat out but do not act as tiny scoops directing dirt or water into the engine compartment as the car is driven down the road.

The other thing to consider is as the car's speed rises, and the tire turns faster, any thing that gets slung around towards the front of the fender well is going to be light material (mostly water) and will be greeted with an air blast coming through the slots/openings.

When I'm back in town and can visit my usual dealers I'll look at this area closer and maybe snap some pics.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

I've seen photos of that modification. I'd suspect there must be a good reason why someone would do it. Or it could be that some guy thought it up or saw it on another car, others followed suit, yet it doesn't help anything.

When I removed the left side AC condensor, fan, & shroud, I took notice of where the radiator airflow goes, considering just that very modification. On its face I'm not sure the mesh modification is beneficial. Normally, air flows in the inlet, thru the radiator, and then is directed by the fan shroud shape straight down in front of the plastic lip that is the subject of this original post. (Without the shroud, the air still exits thru the same opening downward in front of the wheel well, but with less of a smooth tunnel.) It seems like the purpose of that lip is to help route the hot air lower in front of the tire, presumably having to do with a clean air flow. Maybe it helps split the airflow around the tire better. If you just pipe the hot air directly at the vertical face of the tire tread thru a mesh in the wheel well liner, that strikes me as being a much more disturbed and turbulent air flow. It also seems like if the intent is to get more air on the brakes, the problem is that it's heated air, which seems wrong.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2012 12:28PM by Trygve (Alameda, CA). (view changes)