Plastic Engine Cover: Why Keep It?

It keeps the airflow over the engine laminar. Removing it will result in loss of mpg.

 

Double posting, due to to flakey site?

 

That piece of plastic isn't cheap:

Engine Appearance Cover for 2010 Toyota Prius | Toyota Parts

 

Take it off and see what happens........

 

Beside just being an appearance cover it probably has some noise attenuation qualities.

 

It does have some padding. Just one small area though.

 

Depends on what you're cooking. Sometimes you want it to show those grilling stripes. The surface of the valve cover underneath it is more just flat.

 

Found roadkill?

 

Interesting. Would like to see more input on this.

 

Actually, when you think about it, it’s just one more place the car maker can display their corporate logo. Think of it as a bill board under your hood.In the old days when you could actually see the unobstructed view of the engine, it was usually the valve covers that would display this identifier.

 

And a way to sell another replacement part. Mine cracked behind the silver sticker straight down when I pulled it directly upwards from the rubber point end points, pulled it off many times w/o problems until the last time. At least this car doesn't have plastic panels blocking the engine bay like newer cars, I'd probably break all of them by now if I drunkenly buy a new car

 

I'll bet most folks don't realize it's just a plastic cover.

 

It'll get lost and/or trampled.

 

I think you would get a more even distribution of heat and thus baking if you lay down the cover on top of your dish. For something thick like leg of Groundhog, I expect it would help keep it properly juicy. This would of course matter less if you do thin slices or if you had something small like a squirrel. Leaving the cover off would be more like roasting and less like baking.