Is it safe to not use this? I would like to release some heat from the engine bay but don't know if this is a smart move or not. Has anyone done this yet?

 

The skid plate?

Have you seen how many wires and connections are under that? All it takes is one rock or road debris and your Mini is a paperweight

 

I have not seen how many wires are under there. I have never taken it off...just got the car. That is the reason I am asking if it is OK to take it off.

I have two r56's and had one r53, and none of them have flat bottoms and so although I assumed there may be a reason why it is on there, I was not sure seeing as I haven't taken the panel off yet. I could have just taken it off, but I figured someone on here(like yourself) would have taken it off by now to access what's actually under the panel.

 

I wouldn't

 

Yea, your thoughts are echoing some other people's that I have asked so I'll go with that

 

 

Pulled mine off for the first oil change, but not since. No reason to. It helps aerodynamically too.

 

Unless you are replacing it with some other type of protection or skin, not a good idea. Protects fragile stuff under there, and helps with aerodynamics a little.

I'll be building some additional skinning and channels for a functional rear diffuser soon, might re-work the front skid plate while I'm at it, since my front splitter and the skid plate overlap quite a bit.

 

I put on a modified Rennline plate and really like it. I had to modify it to fit around my support braces

 

Which braces? CravenSpeed's Big Pair or something else?

 

Yeah, the Ultra Racing chassis braces, Circled in red:




The Yellow box is the cut off section I made. Basically, the plate dips down a bit and wouldn't go between the braces and the engine block so I cut it off and attached it with the normal screws then attached the "big" plate.

 

Are you running both the ultrabrace and the craven big pair on the car? I can't tell if they overlap or not.

 

Yep!

The Big Pair are more towards the back of the car, basically middle back. These braces are directly under the engine so they are in 2 completely different places