Is it safe to remove all of the plastic panels under the car?

 

Absolutely. As long as you don't drive the car.

1. Mitsubishi put them there for a reason.

2. vendors make aftermarket covers that are even stronger.

3. They protect some very vital parts of your vehicle, from being damaged by debris.

4. What could possibly be the advantage from doing this? (Don't say weight savings)

My opinion? Leave them alone.

 

I've never had anything happen when I removed the underpanel of the evo. I've had it removed for about 5 years now with no ill effects. There are plenty of people that left it off. It makes it a ton easier to work on your car. Some people have said it helps with highspeed downforce though.

 

Not only does it protect your car, it is also an essential part of the evo x's aerodynamics. The panels are designed to improve airflow under the car, and I would definitely leave them in even though they are a pain to always remove/reinstall.

 

It also has ports into the engine bay that aids in cooling. I know it's a pain to remove for oil changes and what not, but Mitsu engineers designed the car a specific way for a reason.

 

That's the main reason I want to remove it. Those plastic clips are a PITA to work with.

What aftermarket reinforced ones are there?

 

voltex is in the process of making on. beatrush i believe makes one, ralliart makes 2 one in Ti and the other in either SS or Alum.

How much actual work do you do under the car that require taking the undertray off? I can see when you drop something, but oil changes only require removing the bolts for that cover.

I'm glad that it's their, I would hate to see what my engine bay would look like after all the salt from this winter.

 

I love the two faced attitude I see on these forums some times.

One minute we don't give a **** how the car was "designed/engineered" and we start modding and fine tuning our ecu maps and adding all kind of ****. I didn't hear a single person say this defending Mitsu's 9:1 A/F ratio....No one said it's there for a reason and leave it alone... First thing people said was holy **** 9/1, lets fix that

The next minute a guy wants to take off a plastic piece off to make his oil changes faster/convienient and we scold him.

I find that pretty funny, thats' all I'm saying.

 

That's call evolution buddy, we are the only specie that evaluate all the time what others from the same specie did five minutes ago.
Thanks to that behavior we evolve faster. Sometimes is for good, sometimes for bad.
I think is less boring than be emigrating from north to south in winter for 250 million years, find a mate, make two cubs and die, like the rest of the mammiferous.

 

But would aftermarket skid plates be any easier to remove and put back on for service, compared to the factory pieces?

 

I'd guess harder as they are most likely more durable (stiffer) than OEM

 

I can't speak to the X, but the Beatrush underpanel for the IX was way easier to remove than the stock underpanel using metal fasteners versus the plastic screw thingies). I would imagine the X would be the same.

 

Sorry just wanted to add my 2c on this,

When you're modding a car you're changing the goals of the car. Whether its for looks, performance or comfort... Mitsu designed this car for (in my opinion) above average performance compared to other vehicles on the road and reliability. When you mod a car to change the suspension parts, adding a bigger turbo or something crazy like that, you're changing how long the car will last in the long run. Vehicles are meticulously tested to meet MITSUBISHI'S expectations... not our enthusiast expectations. Also another thing to consider is cost. Mitsubishi is a business after all so it CAN'T sell an evo with a bijillion hp completely track ready without taking a hit economically, and thats why WE mod them, because we're willing to take that financial hit to make a fantastic car.

as for the plastic under piece, i would believe that its mostly for protection and aerodynamics, so i would leave it on.

 

Gotcha so why is it ok, for us to remove change/remove the "boost limit protection" in the name of performance but not ok for him to change/remove the plastic piece for performance as well (his performance of changing the oil)

Bottom line is people want to do all kinds of stuff to their cars. It's there car! a person shouldn't crticize modding in any way if they themselves had modded.

I drove around for months without the plastic. Never hurt a thing. Sure if you're aiming for 140+ mph down the straight or off-roading/rallying it' would be a good thing to have. Normal street driving though - it is not needed one bit. I never even saw a decrease in fuel mileage.

I'm done going off-topic and won't comment again b/c I don't want the thread closed. Sorry to go off topic.

 

I think Carbing is the only company that makes one for the X. It's pretty spendy (around $500) so if somebody sells one in the low $300's (like the Beatrush for the IX) then I'm all over it.