What Is This -> Black Plastic Cover Where Rear Mud Flap Should Be?

[mario]

hey guys,

Giving the car a good ol' detail the other day and while I'm washing I get to the rear wheel wells, and notice at the back of the

sideskirt where you would imagine a mudflap to located, that general area, there is a small black plastic cover/casing that seems

to serve no purpose other than to hold up to the last 6months of driving worth of dirt / glass / bits n pieces of whatever you ever

drive over and from wherever.

I didnt try get under the car to remove it, but there seems to be no hole so it doesnt act as a drain, its literally just there for what

seems to me, to catch dirt and make my cleaning job longer than what I had anticipated due to the amount of dirt that came out

of it.

Anyone able to shed some light on what this might actually be there for ?

You can almost bend it 120degree's to try remove the dirt it holds, and it wont snap or break and will just go straight back to its

original position also.

Be interesting to see what other people say/ think or even knew if it was there..

[rs73]

not sure what u talking about... how about some photos?

[mario]

time is limiting factor here with photos unfortunately, that and the fact it would be all black on black if I took something..

quite simple really... go to the rear wheel well of your car, you can see where the side skirt finishes, put your hand inside the wheel well

right behind the skirt and you will feel this big black plastic cover that is open at the top..

you can stick your fingers into the hole it creates, then you realise you can bend it back and all of a sudden you notice all the dirt n crap

it holds in it....

[sethaiyaar]

wwel....thats makes it a dirt trap!...the japs did think of everything, even making out roads cleaner!...who sed this wasnt a environmentally caring car!

[boodsGtr]

It could be a pressure equaliser that lets air escape when you close the door.

[rs73]

how would that work?

I didn't remember seeing anything around the door jamb when the doors were opened that could indicate some path of air to escape if that's to equalise the pressure...

maybe just a bad design, and they decided to put a plastic cover on top to reduce the whole crap load of sh1t it would have collected without the cover?

[mario]

well if the black thing wasnt there, it wouldnt collect anything!

[n15m0]

Good place to hide your stash maybe?

[V35_Paul]

Good place to hide your stash maybe?

DUDE! Don't tell everyone

[boodsGtr]

how would that work?

I didn't remember seeing anything around the door jamb when the doors were opened that could indicate some path of air to escape if that's to equalise the pressure...

Not necessarily from the door jam. Some cars have them so when you close the doors, the cabin pressure that builds up when you close the door is released through a vent at the rear, enabling the door to be closed easier.

Might not be the case for this, but a possibility.

Boods.

[scathing]

Is it behind the wheel? Almost like a L-shape when viewed from side on (a vertical piece, with a flat horizontal tray) where the horizontal bit is a quarter circle?

There'll be one on either side of the car, but have different shapes.

Edited May 18, 2009 by scathing

[BLISTC]

Is it behind the wheel? Almost like a L-shape when viewed from side on (a vertical piece, with a flat horizontal tray) where the horizontal bit is a quarter circle?

There'll be one on either side of the car, but have different shapes.

you still have not helped us solve the mystery... what does it do!?

[mario]

Is it behind the wheel? Almost like a L-shape when viewed from side on (a vertical piece, with a flat horizontal tray) where the horizontal bit is a quarter circle?

There'll be one on either side of the car, but have different shapes.

yeah thats it, no idea wtf it does or why it there though

[scathing]

you still have not helped us solve the mystery... what does it do!?

Just making sure I'm talking about the right thing first.

yeah thats it, no idea wtf it does or why it there though

It is probably the OEM rear diffusers. They smooth the airflow leaving the rear wheel well.

On the Australian delivered 350Z, it's standard on the Track and optional on the Touring (I ended up picking up a set for my Touring from the USA). Apparently the Touring has a Cd of 0.30, and the Track (with a small chin spoiler, rear bootlid spoiler, and these rear diffusers) drop the Cd to 0.29.

When I spoke to Pro Concept about it they told me they took theirs off their race car. Like you, Josh said the only thing they were good for is collecting dirt whenever they came off the track. If it takes those 3 items above to drop the drag co-efficient by only 0.01, taking them off will probably do sweet f**k all.

Edited May 18, 2009 by scathing

[mario]

thats what i figured, pretty sure its not going to do much fto my 60km hour city driving or occasional highway use

just intrigued me as to what the hell they were