Winter is almost here... time for a beater front bumper!

[Sean T.]

So I've decided to put my old front bumper back on for the winter months (I have a bit of a tendency to get in accidents in the winter).

I'll be switching from my current one which looks like this:


To the stock one which looks like this:


I plan on putting clear vinyl over the upper grille and the turn signal housings, as there is no intake of air up there. The engine breathes solely through the bottom vents and from underneath. I've already tested this on my current bumper and it doesn't effect the engine temp at all.

My other thought is to replicate my air dam from last winter:


But seeing as that ended up being more of a hassle than it helped (too much pull from crosswinds) I'm thinking of trimming it up so it's only as low as the lowest undercarriage component, which would be a good 6-8 inches of clearance.

I'm thinking it will work good as an air block on the highway, but since the bumper is rounded and pulls in at the bottom, air will still get in the vents allowing temperatures to stay low in the city.

Let me know what everybody thinks. Cause right now I'm driving around like this:


Which is NOT very aerodynamic at ALL.

[electricman]

What about the Air dam, but - having the bottom jutt forward more - rather than just vertical. Give it more of a 'cow-catcher' angle - to deflect the air up and over the car - so less of it goes under, to cause drag there. My 2 Cents worth! Robert

[Sean T.]

Originally Posted by electricman

What about the Air dam, but - having the bottom jutt forward more - rather than just vertical. Give it more of a 'cow-catcher' angle - to deflect the air up and over the car - so less of it goes under, to cause drag there. My 2 Cents worth! Robert

I agree, that would be the best solution, but I can't figure a way to do that easily without building some kind of structure to put the coroplast over and I'd rather not spend money on this mod.

[brucey]

The idea you said will work great. Same air dam just cut it shorter. I dont see a point in bringing it that low anyway, so long as you drive in the real world.

What happened to your bumper man!?

[Sean T.]

Well, right now I've already took my nice bumper off but haven't put the beater bumper on yet.

[Sorrow Six Star]

oddly enough (okay not really cause I am odd ) I prefer the looks of the beater bumper.

[Sean T.]

Ok, here's a better comparison. Found an old photo of my car with the beater bumper, compared with a new photo taken at close to the same angle.

[Wonderboy]

Well, considering you kind of want your engine to be hot at all times, especially winter, the "beater" bumper seems to be the better choice all year round to me. No matter how you slice it, it's still a Taurus. Fugly, and a horrible car in general. Sometimes though, we get stuck with something and it's not worth getting something else. Block off ALL of the grills in the beater bumper, keep it on all year round, and open up a license plate sized hole in the upper grill in the summer. If attaching blocking is easier on the "non-beater" is easier to do, then use that one. I second the motion for a cow-catcher. The winner of both of this year's AMEC Fuel economy run has one, so as far as I'm concerned you should make your car look as much like his as possible (See AMEC threads). $10 worth of aluminum stock from a home improvement place will build you the support you need to turn that piece of coroplast into a cow catcher.