What is with the front spoiler ? It makes the car too low to the ground ! Everytime I go out of my driveway and sometimes even making a turn it scrapes on the asphalt ! Has anyone taken their spoiler off ? Does it really make any difference in the handling ?

 

It lets you know that your close I wouldn't take it off

 

The front spoiler has been designed by GM to aid the Corvette with it's high speed aerodynamics along with the correct direction of incoming wind/air for cooling of the brakes and engine.
The part DOES SERVE a purpose other than scraping the ground when pulling out of a driveway.
Anticipation of scraping, and the appropriate avoidance with correct steering, should help with the problem.

 

I have the same problem. But I'd rather scrape the "little black plastic thing" than the paint off my front bumper.


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The height of the air dam above the ground seems to vary between Z51-equipped cars and others. GM has stated that the air dams on the C6s are more durable than prior models. I suggest you leave it on to warn you of worse problems if you normally would be scraping it and don't know it until it's too late.

 

Approach driveways at an angle and you should be fine, although some extreme ones will always give you trouble.

 

Low front spoilers have been something Corvette owners have lived with since the C4. It's just part of the sport's car experience. Some owners like their Vette even lower, if you can believe that.

 

The spoiler thing is part of the "Corvette experience" & on the occasions when I become aware of it it makes me feel even more grateful I have one of the truly great cars in the world. Yes - I am a new, first-time owner - but I hope this feeling never goes away.

 

 

The C6 scrapes less than my C5 did. Same driveway.

 

Interesting, I thought the C6 was lower.

 

See page 2-20 of the owner's manual and "Aero Tricks" at the following link to Car and Driver: http://www.caranddriver.com/article....&page_number=5

The owner's manual states:

Under normal operation, the air dam will occasionally contact some road surfaces (speed bumps, driveway ramps, etc.). This can be heard inside the vehicle as a scraping noise. This is normal and does not indicate a problem.

Car and Driver states:

Decreasing drag wasn't easy, especially considering that the C6's shorter body and wider rear tires increased drag. With the help of a wind tunnel, Bennion says the team tweaked the airflow in a lot of small areas for an overall improvement.

Take, for example, the area below the front fascia. There's a black air dam that runs across the bottom of the nose. Its job is to reduce the amount of air that flows under the car. It's roughly three-and-a-half inches off the road, and this will sound funny, but designers know it will scrape the surface when, for example, dipping into a parking lot. It's meant to hit the ground, though, and it won't be damaged when it does. (The C5 had a similar piece, but now Hill says the C6's makes less noise when it contacts the road.) The devil's in the details—there are curves at each end of the air dam. The radius of these curves was carefully designed so that air coming off the dam stays close to the body to minimize drag-inducing turbulence.

 

I think you are right, It is lower. The only thing I can figure is maybe the front wheels are a little further up front keeping the dam from scraping. Just my thoughts.

 

My C6 Z51 scrapes more than my C5 Z51 did.

 

it's a minor thing to live with....doesn't bug me at all

it serves a purpose.....relax.....think of it like the low seats, which, compared to "normal" cars, are harder to get in and out of........so? doesn't that come with the territory?

you'd rather have a car that just looks fast, but doesn't function right at high speeds?

 

I couldn't agree with you more, well said bro.

 

This is why it isn't broken.

 

The angle thing works for me.
The spoiler works as a snow plow too. For those high piles in the center of the road before they plow. Tested mine in VA Bch this weekend. Unnerving

 

My base C6 scrapes a lot more than my Z51 C5 did! I drove my C5 for years without ever hearing a scrape and when I got my C6, it was so bad that I ended up trimming off about an inch of the air dam all the way across. It's still there but now it isn't as close to the ground. There haven't been any adverse affects on the car, but then again, I haven't been up to 185 MPH yet. ;-)

I'd rather my top speed be reduced from 186 MPH down to 183 MPH than scrape every entrance in town. It gets pretty annoying when everyone in parking lots looks to see who just ran over an orange traffic cone. There's a big variance in ride height amongst the C6's too. My car (base suspension) is an inch lower than most, meaning that my air dam was 2.5 inches from the ground! And no, when it's that low, hitting the entrances/exits at an angle only changes the volume of the scrape slightly, not much more. I've been driving sports cars for 20 years so I know about the angle of attack.

Based on my investigation of varying ride heights in these cars, I'd say if your air dam is 3.5 inches from the ground, leave it alone. If your car is like mine (it seems only a few are) and it came "slammed" right off the showroom floor (or if you've lowered it yourself) and it is at 2.5 inches ride height or less from the air dam to the ground, I'd say trim an inch off with scissors.

IMO, YMMV, and all the rest...

Mike

 

Mike that is the best answer I have heard ! Trim the damn thing ! That works for me . I will check my height from the ground .