Contributing: Matt Freeman
The Beatrush under-panel was in our Install bin for way too long, and now that we finally have it on our project Evo, we regret having not put it on earlier. The car was suffering from front-end lift at the last VIR driving school event. The stock under-panel has been off for some time now because we grew tired of removing it every time we get the evo strapped to the dyno.
A while back, we ran the car at Summit Point Raceway with and without the stock piece in place to make sure that there wasn’t any noticeable aerodynamic difference. The mistake we made was running the test when the car was completely stock. Now that the project car has a lot more power, a significantly stiffer suspension, and wider stickier tires, it became increasingly obvious that we made the wrong choice in ditching the under-panel and we’ve regretted it since, until now.
Instead of refitting the stock piece, Kami Speed had a solution for us: Beatrush’s under-panel. The under-panel is lightweight, features more aerodynamic efficiency, and promotes more down-force than the stock unit. Installation was the only tricky part because of the multiple screws, bolts, aero pieces, and instructions only in Japanese. However, everything slowly came together with a bit of trial and error. The best feature of the under-panel is that once it’s on, it’s not only easy to take it off, but there is also a removable hatch that offers easy access to the front tow hook for dyno pulls.
Once the panel was all bolted up, it was time to perform a road test. The highway was the only public area we could perform an immediate test of this modification at higher speeds. We couldn’t legally get going fast enough to show the true potential of this product. At 65mph, the road noise did seem slightly reduced, and lane changes felt a bit more precise.
As soon as we got the car on the track, the Beatrush under-panel really showed its race function and design. At higher speeds the car’s nose felt planted and the lift was eliminated. The new modification instilled the confidence to take the project car hurdling down the straights at a higher rate of speed. This as well as the decreased lift and consequently increased cornering ability ultimately shaved down our lap times.
To be fair, we had to ask ourselves if the under-panel really provided all these changes we were experiencing on track. To test the effectiveness of the panel, we decided to do one session with the panel on and one without. During the first session we were able to pull a best lap time of 1:29 (Summit Point Main Track). For the next run, we put the panel back on and ran the car. Best lap time out of the second session was 1.26. (Keep in mind that during these sessions, that there are other cars out on the track (traffic), which can obviously affect lap times.) Three seconds is a very substantial improvement and considering other factors we could safely say that the panel decreased lap times by one or maybe two seconds. The biggest source of improvement was the increase in straight-line speed, which was 15 mph faster than without the panel.
The Beatrush under-panel is well worth your money if you are having issues with front end lift. It also looks better then stock and allows for much easier dyno setup, so if you want form, function, and time savings then this is a great mod to get.
