So yesterday I was driving slowly down a somewhat steep driveway and heard what I thought was a scraping sound and feared I had done just that to my front end - upon inspection it seemed that was not the case but I was wondering if the sound could have come from my front strakes as they appear to hang low enough that they would impact the ground prior to the front end. I know their purpose is aerodynamic in nature but do they also act as a warning to let the driver know how much ground clearance is available? Also, is it common for these to scrape on driveways etc?
Thanks!
J

 

its common, at least for me on steep driveways; theyre flexible,
as long as youre going slow its all good

 

agree, mine is shorter after couple years of service

 

Same thing happened to me the other day. I thought I scraped my front lip but it was just the front strakes.

I'm thinking about taking it off because everytime I hear it scrape, I think it's my lip.

 

^^^I think that would be a bad idea, I heard that removing it could cause your car to handle like crap

 

one of my front strake ripped off.. presumsably due to repeated scraping. my car doesnt handle like crap. maybe if i had raced at 120mph.. but normal driving.. no

 

what are the front strakes, I have side strakes but I am not familiar with front.

 

Strakes -- The black plastic blades that project vertically downward from the front edges of the wheelwells. I understand they enhance high speed directional staiblity. At what speed they become necessary, I cannot comment.

And yes, mine scrape frequently -- even when I try to be careful.

 

Really?!

All this time I thought it was like a bump stop kind of thing so you are aware how low your car is. I had no idea it affected the performanace of the car.

Can someone please elaborate?

 

I took mine off because I was scraping so much. I didnt feel a difference in handling...