What are they and what are they for? I've wondered this since I first looked under my car last month. Aerodynamics? Something to mitigate mud/debris? A tool to funnel smallish animals squarely under the front tires? I've never seen these on a vehicle before.
Aerodynamics. I notice them on lots of cars these days, now that I started looking for them after seeing them on the Model S.
Yes, and they are quite common. Most noticeable on Corvettes. Pretty much only noticeable to geeks like me. Along with areo, they funnel ICE drivers very neatly and squarely under the tires.
Now that you've noticed them, you'll start to notice them on a lot of new cars, they're actually quite common. Seems to be for aerodynamics.
Yup, aero. The spinning wheel is the worst for airflow, so much so that even a flat plate perpendicular to the direction of travel is better.
Discussion from last year: http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/37317-What-are-those-flaps-ahead-of-the-front-wheels
But this also means they collapse when you park too close to a concrete stop or curb when pulling into the stall, instead of snapping off. I mean honestly, who among us hasn't pulled too far forward before?
Exactly. But I still park my car's front-right on a stall mat. 3/4 inch hard rubber mat, that raises the car just enough so that this flap is not completely flattened when I pull up to the stop in my garage.
Today I pulled too far forward parking at the post office, with the nose of the car over the curb. I looked to make sure nothing scraped and saw these little flaps ahead of the tires that I had never noticed before bent against the curb. I'm glad they're flexible.
