Scirocco front lip protection from scraping underside?

**quozl** · 19-03-2012, 10:22 PM

I noticed tonight that the underside of the front lip area on my wife's Scirocco R already has a couple of small scrapes underneath at the two forward most parts of the front lip. If you look at the front of the car standing directly in the centre the two points would be directly inline with the edge of the plate holder but underneath the front lip.

I asked her if she knew how they got there and she was as baffled as I was so I took a drive down to her office and sure enough the entrance to the driveway where the road meets the driveway is the culprit as the road dives down to the gutter and then the driveway climbs up. Now my wife knows how to drive into and out of a steep driveway having driven in various low race cars and all my sports cars and she knows how to enter and exit steep drives but even with entering or exiting at an extreme angle and at crawling pace they are still just touching and scraping up the plastic and underside painted bit.

I was wondering if anyone else has had a look under the front of their car to see if they are scraping anywhere and if anyone has seen any after market solutions to alleviate this issue, I guess it wouldn't be a problem if it was just black plastic piece like the R32 but it is a painted integrated piece of the lower front bumper / lip / spoiler.

The GT3 Porsche guys I run with in my old 911 use a bit of weather strip on their front lips to save it from rubbing but as we don't have any edge to mount to under there I'm not sure if that will work. I was thinking of maybe getting my engineer who does the mods on the rally car to make up a couple of small alloy strips maybe 10mm thick and bolt them to the underside so they scrape instead of the plastic but if anyone else has any ideas or has seen an after market solution please pass it on.

We've ordered her a set of VW Racing lowering springs that get here in the next day or two but I won't be installing them for her unless we can come up with some sort of solution.

Cheers Al

**she_dub** · 20-03-2012, 06:45 AM

I have exactly the same problem, and I know how to enter and exit a driveway properly with low slung cars. It just doesn't seem to be avoidable with the Scirocco.
I also have the VWR springs, and I'm putting off having them installed as I don't know how to stop the scrape.. I was thinking of getting a strip of a plastic clear vinyl put on, but that would only really be a very temporary solution.

Interested to see if anyone has addressed the problem. Might have a look on the UK forums.

**marquee** · 20-03-2012, 07:08 AM

I know some people get a rubber strip similar to what goes under a garage door. Some have made it look pretty stock

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**Transporter** · 20-03-2012, 07:24 AM

The front facing camera with the monitor
The air bag springs fitted to front suspension, switch operated by driver (Pedders sell them)

That's what I would do to prevent the leaving the front bumper bar somewhere at the shopping centre car park.

**quozl** · 20-03-2012, 10:04 AM

Hi she_dub, I'm working on a solution that I think will work nicely and prevent any more scrapes, will keep you posted once I get a bit more info.

Hi Marquee, that is essentially what the GT3 guys I know use but I'm thinking it is going to have to be something more solid that can take the grind instead of the front underside of the lip and then once it is worn down can be easily replaces with a new one.

Once I get the solution finalised I will see if anyone else wants them in here.

Cheers Q

**Rev 555** · 20-03-2012, 12:25 PM

Originally Posted by quozl

Hi she_dub, I'm working on a solution that I think will work nicely and prevent any more scrapes, will keep you posted once I get a bit more info.

Hi Marquee, that is essentially what the GT3 guys I know use but I'm thinking it is going to have to be something more solid that can take the grind instead of the front underside of the lip and then once it is worn down can be easily replaces with a new one.

Once I get the solution finalised I will see if anyone else wants them in here.

Cheers Q

Please keep me informed too! Those two points is the only point of impact and I need to drive VERY slowly at angles to up ramps. Mine got damaged at a recent wheel alignment place and am now paranoid to leave it with anyone. The tricky part is to get something that is strong and maleable enough to run over the edge where that point joins the flat part of the underside. I was thinking like a carbon fibre piece.

Something a bit more subtle than thsi would be good.

**quozl** · 20-03-2012, 02:26 PM

Will do, I already have my engineer who does all the mod work on my Porsche working on a prototype and will be going to see him Friday to work out a few dimensions. It will be strong and malleable, easy to mount and able to be easily replaced as it wears down over the years so it will never hit the actual lip area again. If the prototype works out we will make them available to the community.

Cheers Al

**she_dub** · 20-03-2012, 06:41 PM

Good work Al, sounds like you're the guys for the job!
I'm very interested in seeing how your prototype turns out, as I do cringe every time I see a driveway with a slight incline, but a great big dip before it.

**ConR** · 20-03-2012, 06:56 PM

Originally Posted by she_dub

Good work Al, sounds like you're the guys for the job!
I'm very interested in seeing how your prototype turns out, as I do cringe every time I see a driveway with a slight incline, but a great big dip before it.

Isn't that pretty much every driveway in Australia?