i have a 08 STi, and just installed the 1/8" undertray. I had an unfortunate rock incident that pushed through the plastic undertray and bent my oil filter, leading to a an unfortunate oil loss incident --> cracked ringland --> engine rebuild. No way a rock can get anywhere near my filter now

I'm going to stay away from rocks for a while, but the 1/8" is so much more solid than the stock tray, and will hold up well for those inevitable moments. I'm not planning on rallying right now, so the 1/8" was appropriate for me.

 

Is it a pain to remove for oil changes?

 

Nope. Although i haven't done it yet, i'm going to hack up the stock plastic piece and zip tie the sides on so that i have side coverage (the primitive has no side covers). As for the skid plate itself, i bought the aftermarket header version that has welded on spacers for more room. with this setup it's only 2 studs and 1 bolt to remove. no clips in the back, no clips on the side... it's easier.

 

I did exactly this, only took a few zip ties to hold the plastic sides in place. It takes me longer to pull the car up on ramps than to take the skid plate off. It's really that easy. The plastic parts just stay in place when the skid plate is taken off. Having the plastic sides makes a big difference in how much dirt and mud gets up in the engine bay too. I am also convinced that it helps ensure good airflow past the engine rather than just swirling around, but I've not tried to measure this.

Pro-tip: use Loctite blue (242) to hold the two studs into the radiator support, then grease the two nuts which thread onto the studs. Makes it much easier to realign the plate each time you put it back.

I went with the Primitive Racing 3/16" with a stinger tail since I take my wrx off road from time to time. Plenty of big dings and scratches in the skid plate with no damage to the car. I added the diff guard at the same time. Wish I'd opted for the header offset version - I had to make a small aluminum spacer for the rear mounting bolt so the plate doesn't hit the Fumoto oil drain valve (another huge time saver for oil changes).

 

I've actually been interested at the Rallitek skidplates for daily driving, I like how they have a panel that you can remove to do oil changes.

would certainly be alot easier than removing the whole plate. Anyone got any experience with those?

 

Unfortunately this is not true...at least not with my older version that has NO louvers.

My oil temps went up 20-30 degrees between no skid plate and the Primitive plate. I am sure the plastic OEM piece falls somewhere in the middle. I guess it is a big difference when the pan is not exposed to a fresh air supply.

If you have headers or heatwrap then you will need to remove the plate regardless to keep oil off. And, to be honest, if removing up to 5 bolts is to big of a hassle for you then you should not be working on your car...or modifying it, or changing your own oil

 

Mine

 

Last I checked, it wasn't a crime to be lazy.

 

badass!!

 

Thanks