I have check under the hood and I can see the floor of my garage from there. Does that normal or is there a cover under the engine to protect it from water or some thing .
I got stuck in snow/ice and when I got pushed out the e- brake got cut and locked a back tire while driving.
there are some flat plastic shields,,, theres nothing like the HUGE upsidedown hood undeneath the engine/transaxle of my '90s era VW van. it was huge thick heavy hinged to open down if the van was on a lift. thankfully there is nothing like that undeneath. i suggest not fjording puddles of water on purpose because yes some wires run underneath,,, water can eventually get in those thick orange cables,,, liquids always find a way. i suppose you could staplegun some thick plastic sheeting right through the unibody sheet metal frame. (no, dont do that.) try to remember that the styrofoam in the trunk is part of your protection in an accident. ,,, yep just knowing that makes me a more careful driver too,,, definitely want to keep up in traffic and not become a rearended slowpoke. but maybe you are missing a plastic shield or two if you can see the bare garagefloor from above. they were around $50 each when I replaced one i lost dragging my underbody of a Scion xB across lava. we definitely need more ground clearance,,,
wow, you guys get REAL METAL bolts too !!! ,,, my car in america is held together with PLASTIC PINS !!!
You would think with all the wires and even maybe for aerodynamics there would be some sort of plastic molded shield.
that is true. there is a pound different between all the metal bolt and plastic pin. lol a pound here and a pound there.
Plastic "nylon" pins are used as they are quick and save on labor and cost. High stress areas like leading edges of panels are fastened with generally with M6 bolts into captive welded on nuts. On Gen III Prii, Toyota used plastic push pin rivets on the trailing edge of the oil change door. The push pins don't hold and many of these doors come down, get damage and lost. For me, I've replaced them on the trailing edge of the door with M6 "nutserts" or "rivnuts" an M6 bolts. Make Your Own RivNut Tool | Carolina Rover Owners Club
I hope they will put a full panel under the chassis like the EV. it should improve 1-2 MPG on highway.
I'm thinking of putting a rectangular sheet of 4mm Correx/Corroplast sheeting under my engine. Held in place with zip-ties. It may help just a little with aerodynamics, but I hope it will also help keep the engine warm/warm-up quicker, as well as keeping more salt-spray out of the engine compartment in the winter. Old house 'For Sale' signs can work well, and are free! Some people on Ecomodders.com panel the entire underside of their cars to reduce drag. But thats a lot of trouble for a relatively small return. (Bit of a 'drag' in fact!)
