Actually I have this problem when leaving work - the sidewalk skirt is a bit steep and if I go too fast I drag on it. I checked the underside and I'm not hitting the plastic skidplate but rather the very bottom of the front spoiler (noticed a little shredded plastic on it - nothing too dramatic). I was planning on getting a new skid-plate for the car anyway (a stainless one from mossmini) but this has hastened my plan.

 

Yeah. I'd get a scrape there, too. It's the dips in the road that get me seething. Just too much scrape per scrape at this point. I can't imaging what else would be slamming into the ground if that plate wasn't there. (sump, i know) And the fact that others over the same road get scarcely a touch of the road really perturbs me. My dealer calls that asphalt scraper a front spoiler or a splashguard. Go figure. Wouldn't want to get any water underneath the engine, I guess.

 

I've been scraping over large bumps too, but I've had my car lowered 30mm. Sounds like you have something wrong if your car is still stock.

 

making a left turn onto a street today I scraped (which surprised me b/c I took the slight dip at an angle and the car ahead of me had just done it with no problems...I figured at an angle, it would be a piece of cake w/o having to slow down too much...WRONG!) and for awhile I feared the main driveway of the restaurant strip my co-workers and I normally eat at. The odd thing is that the MINI doesn't seem very low stock (whenever I look at my car from the rear, I'm super-compelled to get it lowered), but it's low enough in the front to scrape fairly easily...

 

I used to scrape the front "chin" of my S when I first got my car. And now I've gotten smaller diameter tires and lowered suspension I hardly ever scrape my car anymore. I just leave every hilly driveway or whatever at an extreme angle. I know I look silly leaving my driveway at 1mph at an extreme angle, but I cringe and throw around more 4 letter words than a sailors ever heard when my car scrapes.


-Jason

 

Scraped again today on a speed bump. Now, I'll drive like a granny over every speed bump and through every sidewalk skirt (no offense to the elderly set).

 

Just a thought here....could it be the scraping is because you lost an inch or two of ground clearance because of the skidplate? Mine's been lowered, and other than occasionally rubbing the front spoiler, it nevers scrapes on anything.

 

Scrape mine in the driveway, need a paver.

The hottop in my driveway was installed when Christ built the house! Coop hit bottom before I lowered her, now I have to be tactical in my exits. The lawn is beginning to look a little ragged too. The sacrifices we make for our Mini's .

I think it rubs on two things, the lip of the spoiler and the little flap that runs across the bottom of the car. I think it's just behind the front wheels.

Now I'm just guessing here, but I think we have a frustrated, wannabe F1 designer, Mini engineer involved in the design of our cars. These are ground effects right!!!