I installed the NSX Type-R replica front bumper and battery undertrays from Downforce. The following are my impressions from my experience.
Ordering: I ordered from SOS and it was quick and painless, as has always been my experience with them.
Delivery: I ordered on a Monday afternoon and was signing for my delivery from UPS on Thursday morning. Pretty good!
Packaging: from the outside, everything seemed to be packed well and most of it was. The battery undertray, however, was not secure within the box in which it was packed. It was just kinda tumbling around in there and the result is that one of the corners was bent a little. It was nothing that would make the part unusable or less effective since I just bent it back but when you pay 350 for a piece of bent aluminum, you kinda want it to only be bent where it should be…
Installation: First off, understand that the front bumper undertray was really designed with the OEM lip in mind without consideration for compatibility with aftermarket lips. This is not a complaint or a design flaw but rather just my observation. The reason I mention it is because I have (had…) a Cantrell lip on my car and it absolutely will not work with the front bumper undertray without serious modification to one or the other. So I had to revert to my OEM. Again, this is just an installation note, not a complaint about the product. I'm actually very satisfied with the front bumper undertray.
As for installation with the OEM lip, it appeared to fit very nicely, just like how I would expect an OEM replica to fit. Of note here, however, is that my OEM bolts that hold on the lip were no longer long enough to accommodate both the OEM lip and the front bumper undertray. Upon close inspection, it appears that the fitment between the OEM lip and the undertray, while appearing to be very good, actually leaves a little gap of 2 or 2.5 mm. This added gap is enough for the bolt to no longer reach the threaded clips. So for now, until I can find a set of bolts long enough, I have a mixed up mish-mash of bolts holding it on. Others may find that they don’t need them, but the bolts I’ll need are 6mm dia, 1mm pitch, 20mm long. I believe they call this bolt out as “M6x20”. I’d like to find a bolt with a head that’s wide enough to not use them, but I’ll probably have to use washers so that the head of the bolt doesn’t damage or go through the hole of the undertray.
The battery undertray is an easy install but what I didn’t’ know and what I didn’t find mentioned when searching for reviews and installation tips for it is that almost none of the attachment points are “factory”. At the front, there are five body clips that attach the battery undertray to the front bumper undertray and 4 locations for bolts, two on each side, but other than those, it appears that you have to drill your own holes for attachment. The screws provided with the battery undertray are of the type that would also indicate that they were for drilled holes, not threaded holes. I drilled two holes that go through the OEM battery tray to hold on the center and it’s solid enough to hold it in place until I figure out what’s behind the rear holes. I want to know what I might hit before I start drilling, but also I have a feeling that drilling there will be a chore, especially while lying on my back.
Overall impressions: my installed parts look just like all the pics that have been posted on Prime so I won’t post any of those, but later, when the install is done, I’ll take a few more pics showing where I had to drill, what the screws that came with the battery undertray look like, and hopefully a picture of a couple of the holes where the longer bolts are needed (on my car, at least). It would have been nice if these bolts were included, or at least mentioned somewhere that they’d be needed. But then again, maybe it was just on my car. It just seems that if the flat area where the holes on the front bumper undertray are was maybe 3-5mm longer that it would line up better and the longer bolts would not have been needed.
My impression of the battery undertray is… well, it’s a bent piece of aluminum. I’m sure it’s an exact OEM replica of the type-R piece, but… well, it’s a bent piece of aluminum. All of the OEM holes are cut into it (not holes that are meant to attach it to anything, just random holes here and there) to give you the feeling like you’re getting something that’s based off the real thing but in my opinion they’re just adding to the cost to punch out those holes without any real benefit other than making it look OEM when really… well, it’s just a bent piece of aluminum. Oh, and affixed at either side of the battery undertray is an added aero piece that is just hoaky beyond all belief. I’m not trying to make a comparison with the following sentences, just trying to describe what I’m talking about. On the Procar battery undertray, the piece “folds down” at 90-degree angles to form a sort of “lip” that supposedly channels the air or whatever… well, DF’s solution isn’t to bend the aluminum down in a similar fashion, but to affix the afore-mentioned hoaky strips of foamy… weather stripping looking kind of stuff. It’s about as firm as… uh, weather stripping. I’m sure this will deteriorate after a while. Perhaps it’s an attempt at keeping them intact vs aluminum which, if struck by something going under the car, would damage it. But I think that if that’s a worry, then you’re way too low and have bigger issues to worry about because the suspension and frame is only about 12 or 15 mm higher. You’d have much bigger worries of something else getting damaged. The battery undertray can be duplicated custom for you for much, much less than what anyone is selling these for. The only reason nobody does is because nobody has a template from which to build.
So, that’s my feedback. Would I do it again? Yes on the front bumper undertray and no on the battery undertray. If I could do it all again I’d use cardboard and tape to mock up a model. Then I’d use very thin gauge aluminum and cutting shears and rivets to “build” one. Then I’d take my prototype to a local fabricator to have it made for me, minus all the little extra oval and square holes that would make it look OEM. Oh, and my version would also have the little bend down aluminum things on the sides.
Then I’d market them on Prime and sell it for a hundred less than my competitors and I’d make millions and retire early and have enough money to mod the crap out of my car and all the girls would want me and all the guys would want to be me and life would be good… but I digress….
Post or PM if you have any questions or for pics of anything I described above.
J
Ordering: I ordered from SOS and it was quick and painless, as has always been my experience with them.
Delivery: I ordered on a Monday afternoon and was signing for my delivery from UPS on Thursday morning. Pretty good!
Packaging: from the outside, everything seemed to be packed well and most of it was. The battery undertray, however, was not secure within the box in which it was packed. It was just kinda tumbling around in there and the result is that one of the corners was bent a little. It was nothing that would make the part unusable or less effective since I just bent it back but when you pay 350 for a piece of bent aluminum, you kinda want it to only be bent where it should be…
Installation: First off, understand that the front bumper undertray was really designed with the OEM lip in mind without consideration for compatibility with aftermarket lips. This is not a complaint or a design flaw but rather just my observation. The reason I mention it is because I have (had…) a Cantrell lip on my car and it absolutely will not work with the front bumper undertray without serious modification to one or the other. So I had to revert to my OEM. Again, this is just an installation note, not a complaint about the product. I'm actually very satisfied with the front bumper undertray.
As for installation with the OEM lip, it appeared to fit very nicely, just like how I would expect an OEM replica to fit. Of note here, however, is that my OEM bolts that hold on the lip were no longer long enough to accommodate both the OEM lip and the front bumper undertray. Upon close inspection, it appears that the fitment between the OEM lip and the undertray, while appearing to be very good, actually leaves a little gap of 2 or 2.5 mm. This added gap is enough for the bolt to no longer reach the threaded clips. So for now, until I can find a set of bolts long enough, I have a mixed up mish-mash of bolts holding it on. Others may find that they don’t need them, but the bolts I’ll need are 6mm dia, 1mm pitch, 20mm long. I believe they call this bolt out as “M6x20”. I’d like to find a bolt with a head that’s wide enough to not use them, but I’ll probably have to use washers so that the head of the bolt doesn’t damage or go through the hole of the undertray.
The battery undertray is an easy install but what I didn’t’ know and what I didn’t find mentioned when searching for reviews and installation tips for it is that almost none of the attachment points are “factory”. At the front, there are five body clips that attach the battery undertray to the front bumper undertray and 4 locations for bolts, two on each side, but other than those, it appears that you have to drill your own holes for attachment. The screws provided with the battery undertray are of the type that would also indicate that they were for drilled holes, not threaded holes. I drilled two holes that go through the OEM battery tray to hold on the center and it’s solid enough to hold it in place until I figure out what’s behind the rear holes. I want to know what I might hit before I start drilling, but also I have a feeling that drilling there will be a chore, especially while lying on my back.
Overall impressions: my installed parts look just like all the pics that have been posted on Prime so I won’t post any of those, but later, when the install is done, I’ll take a few more pics showing where I had to drill, what the screws that came with the battery undertray look like, and hopefully a picture of a couple of the holes where the longer bolts are needed (on my car, at least). It would have been nice if these bolts were included, or at least mentioned somewhere that they’d be needed. But then again, maybe it was just on my car. It just seems that if the flat area where the holes on the front bumper undertray are was maybe 3-5mm longer that it would line up better and the longer bolts would not have been needed.
My impression of the battery undertray is… well, it’s a bent piece of aluminum. I’m sure it’s an exact OEM replica of the type-R piece, but… well, it’s a bent piece of aluminum. All of the OEM holes are cut into it (not holes that are meant to attach it to anything, just random holes here and there) to give you the feeling like you’re getting something that’s based off the real thing but in my opinion they’re just adding to the cost to punch out those holes without any real benefit other than making it look OEM when really… well, it’s just a bent piece of aluminum. Oh, and affixed at either side of the battery undertray is an added aero piece that is just hoaky beyond all belief. I’m not trying to make a comparison with the following sentences, just trying to describe what I’m talking about. On the Procar battery undertray, the piece “folds down” at 90-degree angles to form a sort of “lip” that supposedly channels the air or whatever… well, DF’s solution isn’t to bend the aluminum down in a similar fashion, but to affix the afore-mentioned hoaky strips of foamy… weather stripping looking kind of stuff. It’s about as firm as… uh, weather stripping. I’m sure this will deteriorate after a while. Perhaps it’s an attempt at keeping them intact vs aluminum which, if struck by something going under the car, would damage it. But I think that if that’s a worry, then you’re way too low and have bigger issues to worry about because the suspension and frame is only about 12 or 15 mm higher. You’d have much bigger worries of something else getting damaged. The battery undertray can be duplicated custom for you for much, much less than what anyone is selling these for. The only reason nobody does is because nobody has a template from which to build.
So, that’s my feedback. Would I do it again? Yes on the front bumper undertray and no on the battery undertray. If I could do it all again I’d use cardboard and tape to mock up a model. Then I’d use very thin gauge aluminum and cutting shears and rivets to “build” one. Then I’d take my prototype to a local fabricator to have it made for me, minus all the little extra oval and square holes that would make it look OEM. Oh, and my version would also have the little bend down aluminum things on the sides.
Then I’d market them on Prime and sell it for a hundred less than my competitors and I’d make millions and retire early and have enough money to mod the crap out of my car and all the girls would want me and all the guys would want to be me and life would be good… but I digress….
Post or PM if you have any questions or for pics of anything I described above.
J
. Question is it any lighter than the old battery tray?
