germanvette

Starting in my C5 days i wanted to get rid of the low air dam.
I learned that it forces air up to the radiator, since there is almost no
direct air through the bumper for cooling.
The C6 got a big mouth, but still features this air dam.
Very strange it also is wide open under the bumper C5 style in front of the radiator .
They closed that big opening with the Z06, what makes more sense then
leaving it open. I think the air rushes through the bumper and since it can
get out under the car, less air runs through the radiator with this design.
Our car has a very clean and flat fuselage, so Nascar like air that passes underneath
the body.With it’s rearaxle a bit higher that front would make an airstream that sucks
the car to the ground. Would … But I forgot this funny air dam and this big hole.
For my understand the car is lifted, because the pressure in front of the radiator and
engine bay forces a part of that stream downward through this whole.
If someone adds a diffuser to the lower rear of a C6, would it work with an
air dam in front ?. Or would the air without the dam just lift the car ?
I don’t want this mod for more speed, more drag, I just think that it doesn’t fit a car hovering
so low anyway and I don’t like push beer cans in front of it.

Understanding it’ s purpose would help to accept it ….

Zoxxo

If I remember correctly, Katech wind tunnel testing says that the air dam on the Z06 can be removed. Search the Z06 forum for more on this. I'm sure others with more knowledge about this will check in on the topic - especially on what rear end parts can/should/will offset any negatives.

Here:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-z...-on-a-z06.html

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HOXXOH

germanvette

Thanks for that link. I see that there is more behind it.

I thought that with the launch of the Z06 in 2006 they also would close the
opening of the C6 from that MY onwards.
A lot of guessing here, because I imply that the part would also fit a C6.
It started as a cosmetic and practical approach and now it’s more high-tech.

LEAVINU

When I did the Z oil cooler swap to my base C6 I was given that black rubber like piece to close the bottom of the front bumper. I installed this thinking it would direct more air into the radiator for a cooler engine temp. I was wrong. I actually started having cooling issues primarily in stop-n-go traffic. I removed this piece and all has been fine since.

On hwy cruises without this piece I see 174-176 temps in the summer and with it I was seeing 183ish temps.

360jeepboy

So is there any way to take the air dam off if we want to lower the car?

Zoxxo

If you're talking Z06 then yes, you can take it off. If you're talking base C6 (where the radiator air is taken up under the car) then you can trim the air dam a bit without any negative effect. We did that on my wife's lowered 2007 vert and it eliminated the scraping of the air dam that was driving her nuts.

It's not that difficult to remove the air dam.

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360jeepboy

Sounds good. I already scrub and I'm stock. I want to lower on stock bolts, and maybe even more later, but I don't want to scrub everywhere.

Zoxxo

I trimmed about an inch from her air dam. We kept a close eye on the water temps afterwards all through summer. No change at all..

If you lower a base C6 a lot then you will start to hit the actual front fascia and remove paint. Just be aware

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haljensen

The C6 is a "bottom feeder", the majority of the cooling air comes from under the bumper cover. The air dam creates a low pressure area behind the radiator that increases air flow thru the radiator.

The Z06 is a "front feeder", the majority of the cooling air comes thru the bumper cover but the air dam is still needed for the extra air flow it provides.

Zoxxo

The air dam on the Z06 has no effect on engine cooling. ALL of the Z06's cooliing air comes through the front. In fact, the Katech splitter and undertray package complete removes the air dam and closes off the hole where the air dam lives.

The air dam does provide some extra cooling air to the front brakes. So if you're tracking the car, it could be useful. For the street it's pretty much decorative.

http://store.katechengines.com/carbo...-kit-p212.aspx

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germanvette

I also throught about trimming, but i think the dam looses stability. It’s okay for the middle part but the outside is where I’m looking to, so it depends how akkurate you trim.
I would like to install the Z06 dam. It looks smaller, but I’m not sure.

Zoxxo

On my wife's car we simply removed the outside pieces. They are easy to take off (or put on) and relatively inexpensive to replace (approx $20 each internet price.)

Losing stability? In what sense? That piece if not going to lose any strength if you trim it a bit. Trust me. And if you mean the car will lose stability, how often do you run the thing up over 150 mph?

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Tommy D

Correct me if I am wrong: I would think that there is a transitional period whereas the force of the air under the car is greater than the downward force on the front.

The air dam (the black rubber piece that hits the curb every time I drive up my driveway) besides routing air to cool the base C6 also keeps the air from raising the front of the car and making the steering feel light by reducing the amount of air at speed that makes the front lift.

6Speeder

I don't think so. Because the air dam is under the front of the car, not at the end of the nose, it allows air under the car and causes a high pressure area in front of the air dam. This high pressure lifts the nose.

Jason @ Katech says the air dam is not needed on a Z06 and the front downforce and aerodynamics are better without it.

germanvette

A small summery of the thread.

Trimming would be a compromise. The outer pieces force air to the front break venting duct.
The middle part helps to form a low pressure area under the car behind it, so air is sucked
from under the hood and the cats, too.
The dam’s material is soft anyway, but I recall the street near end is formed like a rim to give it a bit longitude stability.
Cutting this away can lock nasty and the piece could be even more sluggish.
That’s why I think about the Z06 outside dam pieces , but because the Z06 body is a bit wider I don’t know if they fit.
And to the top again, my first question was, what the air that rushes trough the bumper and can escape before the radiator to the street again is doing for cooling and lifting.
The first hint here was that closing it ( the opening to the street) increased engine temperature.
This is on a standard C6 and we still don’t know if this is the same like the Z06 Temperature or higher.
And now reached the point engine bay venting, I like to know what the vender openings help for hot air removal from die engine bay and if the Z6 is different here, just to explain
why the temperature increased, while I expected better cooling due the forced inducting.

6Speeder

If you have a standard C6 then you need to keep the bottom opening open, not closed. That's where your radiator gets cooling air. And, you need the air dam to force the air in.
IF you open up the front, like a Z06, THEN you can cut/remove the airdam and close off the bottom feed and improve your aerodynamics.

Rafal

One year bump, don't yell at me. Thought this discussion has not ended and haven't seen anything recent about it.

What if you lower the front of the car. It would obviously affect the airdam; it would be getting air pressure to radiator but also would prevent the car from getting lifted. Although at the same time it would be more prone to getting scratched up.

Mine is quite loose and I'm considering fixing it up and trimming although thinking about lowering my car so not sure if I could only do the latter and solve the issue of scraping the front air dam.

torquetube

If you hear the air dam harmlessly scraping the ground, that's your early warning that the radiator supports are nearing touchdown. I'd leave it alone.

Rafal

I drove friends c6 that was lowered (rear only) over streets I drive mine and it didn't scrape once. Mine gets the hit every bump so loud, everybody givese the "oh no" look, even though I didn't even scrape that hard. It has to be loose. Will check on it this week.

Perhaps lowering rear of the car would help?