IAIA

My front, center rubber spoiler has broken again. I repaired it by epoxying the broken tabs back on with additional hard rubber as backing material. Worked for a few months, then broke off again. The smaller side spoilers on both sides have been fine. Any suggestions?
Thanks.

Frodo

I'm thinking you're talking about the flexible rubber air dams that hang down in front of the front tires and across, 3 pieces. You've got a base Stingray, right? These are mostly for fuel savings, all economy cars have them. The Z51, Z06, and GS don't have the center one, just the two in front of the tires. Feel free to remove the center piece if you don't wish to repair or replace it. I removed all 3 on my base coupe a few months after I bought the car and after 3 1/2 years there's been no problems and no noticeable change in the car's performance. I think the lines are cleaner without those things and its something I don't have to get on my knees and clean. I get on my knees enough for this car as it is.

TEXHAWK0

Just quit hitting stuff. I have all 3 air dams plus stage 1 splitter and have not damaged them in 4 years of street driving.

fsvoboda

They're a wear item. If you don't have them you'll notice a difference in handling at high speeds, but if you don't drive fast (as in Track Fast) you're probably going to notice no difference.

Replace or remove the center section, your choice.

IAIA

Thanks for the useful advice. Now I know I should jackhammer my drive way, bring in a backhoe and regrade the angle, and re-cement the drive way. Thanks again.

IAIA

Yes, the air dam. I actually have a 2017 GS and it's had all 3 pieces since I bought it new from the dealer in December.

TEXHAWK0

That's what I would do.

JGarland

The GS isnt supposed to have a center one.

Maxie2U

Maybe someone can answer this question. Why not just remove the air dams what harm could it do?

owc6

Well, beside the fact that they do perform a distinct aerodynamic service at high speeds, they serve as an early warning alarm that something vital may be damaged.

As said they are a wear item, and are basically sacrificial. You won't get too many long time/high milage C6 or C7 drivers that actually recommend removing them.

joemessman

The air dam is there to reduce drag. The center piece is not on the Z51 for better brake cooling. This is what Harlan stated when asked about the air dams. He went on to say that there would be no measurable effect with speeds under 80 MPH. The faster you go, the more effect. Not all C7 models have all three pieces and I am not sure specifically which models do or don't, but I find it interesting that the Grand Sport has all three pieces. And the Z51 still doesn't.
Stage 1 Z06 C7s have the center piece. Stage 2 and stage 3 aero packages don't have the center piece. I have my son's Z06 in the garage and it has no center piece, obviously because he bought the car with a stage 3 aero package.
My understanding is, and I don't know this for fact, that any dry sump C7 Corvette shall not have a center air dam.

Frodo

In an ASK TADGE post, Tadge said the center air dam was removed for the Z51 and Z06 to reduce down force on the front of the car at high speed. That was before the GS came along but it doesn't have the center dam either. The preference Tadge and his team have for balance is the front should be light enough to loose traction first and have the car plow straight ahead, engine first for safety, rather than the rear end step out and the car enter frisbee mode spinning into a crash with who knows who exposed to side impact. They wanted to reduce oversteer, the car has enough downforce without the air dam. Thus the decision to remove the center air dam. The first '14 Z51s were delivered with the center air dam before this decision was made. So, since track oriented Corvettes don't have the center air dam then removing one on a base C7 isn't going to cause a problem. If it did then it would be a problem on all other C7s.

JGarland

The GS doesnt have the center piece either.

Obviously the dealer stuck it on there thinking it was "missing".

Rich0071

I have a steep drive and the air dams on my 2014 always scrape the drive at the curb, mostly when backing out. Eventually, the front one tore at the top seam and was dragging on the pavement. I removed it. I replaced it with a dealer purchased one and it tore the first time backing down the driveway. It looks like the purchased one is a softer rubber and one would have thought that it wouldn't tear as easily. I haven't replaced it again and removed the remaining bracket, screws and clips. The clips tend to end up where you can't fully retrieve them without scuba gear. One dam on the right side has lost one of its fasteners so that one is on the way to coming off. It's the one is on the low side of the vehicle when backing out to the left which I do most of the time. I don't notice any performance issues with the front dam removed.

Avanti

Highly vulnerable parts are apt to get damaged. You've probably just found out that repairs instead of replacing such doesn't often work well. The only answer as for as I'm concerned is to: suck it up and replace such parts as needed, drive on a giant pool-table, or get rid of such vulnerable stuff. All the best next time.

IAIA

Actually, it's not true that all GS models don't have the center air dam. Some do, at least according to Gerald Uttrachi who has posted a series of very informational PDFs, including this one on the function and model associations of air dams on the C7:
http://netwelding.com/Air_Dam.pdf
I'll probably replace/repair my center air dam because, while I usually don't exceed 90 mph, sometimes I do. And it was there when I bought the January 2017 build.

Frodo

Thanks for the link to Gerald's post. It reaffirms what I posted in #12. Tadge and his team have designed a car with more than enough downforce without the air dam. They've removed it from the fastest of the Corvette line to make it safer at high speeds. The dam is on the base model for CAFE fuel mileage requirements. Keep it if you wish, it isn't making things safer at any speed, that's not it's design.

IAIA

In your #12 post you refer to the base C7, but mine is a GS and is a 2017...so I'm wondering whether the center air dam is still there for a reason. Bottom line is that it likely makes no difference to me because of the way I drive, but on an open road with little risk, I do exceed 110+ from time to time, and don't want to lighten the downforce. Thinking about installing a simple splitter without changing the rockers (GS already has the short rockers).
BTW, this is a useful link on the aero packages and how they're configured by splitter, end caps, rockers, etc. Scroll down past the pictures for the various details.
https://gm.oemdtc.com/8579/16-na-330...rolet-corvette

iclick

Every GS I've seen has one, which may not be readily apparent since it is narrower and provides large gaps between it and the side air dams. I assume these gaps facilitate added cooling for brakes.

JGarland

I know what I'm talking about.

The only model that has the center is the base Stingray.