Turner Motorsport Skid Plate F80/82

[horsepower_and_hounds]

So with the horror stories of people puncturing their oil coolers from road debris or running up on something I had been a bit paranoid being quite lowered so decided to put some under armor on. Turner Motorsports had just released their oil cooler cover/skid plate at just the right time. The thing that attracted me initially was the fact it was only 3lbs heavier that the stock plastic cover and it was brushed aluminum and not stainless steel so it flowed with the underside of the M4.

So…I contacted them and got my greedy hands on one. The moment I pulled it out of the box I was impressed with the design and craftsmanship. After admiring it a bit I got to it.

Installation was easy, straight forward and a perfect fit as if it was the stock cover. All that was needed was to transfer the nut plates from the stock plastic cover the Turner cover.

One important note, they install some weather stripping along the edges that encloses the cooler. It is a snug fit but completely seals the edges of the cooler eliminating any air bypass. It also cocoons the cooler from moving around. Once I fit it up there I massaged the seal around evenly and that was it. Perfect fit.

No need for a step by step guide as it is a direct replacement with zero modifications. You won’t find a better product.

Below is a like to their product site

http://goo.gl/AeB6EU


*Note*
As everybody knows 3 days after installing this I totaled the M4. The cover was untouched and has been re-purposed to another forum members car….. Panzer948

It removed easily and went on another car just the same as it did on mine. As most know Panzer948 had already hit something and bent his cooler so now he has protection.

Pics are below…Please hit me up if you have any questions. The last pic is me installing it on Panzer948's

[jmciver]

Nice to see there are two vendors offering a solution for this now - more competition is always better for the consumer. Although, after looking at both options now, I think I am leaning a bit more towards the Turner one.

Although, I have always been curious as to why some type of screen mesh was not incorporated into the design to help protect from those "small" debris items that still have the potential to damage the radiator. I am no expert in fluid dynamics, but I can only assume the addition of some type of mesh affects the air flow enough that it would impact the cooling characteristics of the design.

[horsepower_and_hounds]

The unit is nice ?? I had thought the same thing but the only real way I could see anything going in there is if you went over something really slow and it bent up and hot caught in the slots or if you were backing up. As for air flow I think any kind of mesh would cause a restriction/create turbulence/etc. I felt the chances of hitting something and shoving the flimsy plastic cover into the cooler was a much higher likely hood

I preferred the look and design of this one and it is a bit cheaper...... win/win