I have had my C5 for 6 years and the ONLY design complaint I have is the front spoiler. Nothing kills an entrance like draging that spoiler on the pavement. I used to turn heads when someone would SEE my car, but now they just turn and wince when they HEAR my car scraping ground everytime in pull up. The whole spoiler design just looks like an afterthought. I could not believe that the video that came with the car actually said this was designed to drag the pavement and even had instructions on how to brake to minimize the effect. Not only that, years went by and they never came up with anything better.

The question is, can this be trimmed down without causing any airflow problems? Is it really that beneficial around town or just at highway speeds?

It just seems like they (or someone) would have maybe designed this to where it would automatically retract at low speeds like in parking lots or pulling into the garage and then extend as the speed increases. Even a switch I could hit to retract it for 10 seconds at a time would be something. Where I live I must drag this thing 15 times a day - feel like I am driving a street sweeper. The only thing I can say positive is that these things are built from some durable material - I did not now that anything could stand up to that much dragging on bare pavement, but then again who would ever "design" anything to "drag" on the ground. I know they could do better than this and if an aftermarket solution was out there I would jump on it.

 

You can trim it, but don't go crazy, car can overheat if you remove too much. I like scraping a little personally, lets everyone know how low you are.

 

Sounds like a $500 solution to a $71 problem. That's the price to replace all 3 spoiler pieces at Ken Fichtner Chevy.

 

OK, I have been out voted.

Dragging plastic along the pavement all day is really "cool" and makes the car appear like a really well designed piece of engineering. More exotics should take the hint.

Got it.

 

Yep, car will get hot quicker without it. Trim an inch if it really bothers you.

 

Actually a lot of exotics do drag the same way. You have to remember the design is functional since the car is a bottom breather. It isn't cheap either. They spent a lot of time getting the aerodynamics correct so the car has low aero drag (lower than the GM electric car which had the lowest aero drag up until the C5 was produced) which improves top speed and fuel mileage. If you don't want to drag things then by a hi jacker 4 x 4 that you need a ladder to climb into.
Bill

 

my car doesn't even have one on it. I bought it that way. Nothing gets too hot as far as I think.

 

is your car lowered? are you running front cart wheels and tires ? I don't see how you spoiler is constantly dragging.

 

It does not "constantly" drag, I just live in an area where every intersection has a drainage dip so almost every time you turn into a driveway, restaurant, bank, etc. it scrapes. Speed bumps have not been a problem, just all the sharp dips. Gets old after having to slow down and try to hit just the right angle 30 times a day and many like the entrance to my street cannot be entered at even 3 mph at any angle without dragging. If you are turning left you have to angle into both lanes to have a shot at it, and if there is a car turning into the adjacent lane you just have to take your hit (in that case the front rails or rollers will hit as well as the spoiler - not pretty). Kind of like the movie "Showtime" where Eddie Murphy drove his C5 up the parking garage ramps with sparks flying all the way - I think that car wore out more metal than rubber in that scene.

No my car is not lowered - if it was you could find me stuck in an intersection trying to push pavement. Lots of C5s here and you can hear the scraping all day long all over town. Never seen any other cars scrape though and none of my previous Corvettes had that issue.

 

well, then I'm sorry for your $hitty road conditions- you can either trim it a little or try removing it - but with your Texas heat I don't know if you'll be able to get away with a complete removal.Good luck.

 

if it keeps rubbing it will cure itself. Think you have problems look at mine

 

In the owners manual it states that its perfectly normal for the scraping to occur. I removed all 3 pieces and have had no issues with the engine running hot.

 

If possible, try approaching the bump or dip from an angle, trust me, it works.

When I visit a friend, his driveway has one of those and no matter how slow I go it always hits. I decided to approach it from a bit of an angle instead of straight on and no more rubbing....be creative...

 

I've only had someone say something twice about the spoiler dragging on even a modest grade. I explained that the car was aerodynamically designed to make it ride lower at and above 140 and that the spoiler kept air from getting under the bad boy and that was probably the only reason I was there talking to them. One was a woman and the color literally drained from her face contemplating that I had actually driven a car that fast. The other was a dweeb who gave me this all knowing look of understanding and I just KNOW he went home in a ricer.

Been scraping air dams/spoilers for years and LOVE it!

Charlie

 

I've got a good idea. Trade your car in on a Murciealago @ about $320,000. They have a switch which at low speeds will raise the nose two inches so it won't scrape driveways. I drive a lowered Z, get used to it.

 

I wanted to remove mine, but I was told It Is designed to push air Into the Intake and by removing It, It would just flow past It directly under the car and you would loose 90% of the air flow to the Intake....That Is what I was told anyway, I can see how that makes sense.

 

designed to keep the engine cool... pushes air into the radiator..

If you bought a tigershark kit.. (has an openish bumper) you could probably remove it then if you devised a way to direct air over the radiator while still keeping the air filter clear of water..

 

I have only dragged the front spoiler a handfull of times in 3 years. I have gone out some fairly steep exits and not dragged as long as I approach at an angle so one of the wheels reaches the street before the spoilers.
You can scrape on even minor dips if you approach them straight on, or don't slow down to minimize suspension bounce. I would scrape entering my driveway if I went in straight, but I have never scraped there.

 

My air dam drags all the time, but if you'll notice...the center section is spring loaded. I don't think it really hurts them to drag a little.