driving without engine cover

Joined
3 March 2020
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Location
Dallas , TX
Has anyone actually heard of or seen the back glass being cracked by a rock due to not having an engine cover? Mine is supercharged and the stock cover obviously does not fit but not even sure if the mesh one would fit. I am not wild about buying a mesh one to try and find out but would like to proudly display that engine without fear of damage to the window coming from underneath. Is it possible? Has it happened before to anyone?
 
Has anyone actually heard of or seen the back glass being cracked by a rock due to not having an engine cover? Mine is supercharged and the stock cover obviously does not fit but not even sure if the mesh one would fit. I am not wild about buying a mesh one to try and find out but would like to proudly display that engine without fear of damage to the window coming from underneath. Is it possible? Has it happened before to anyone?
Yes, several times. It takes a special rock to bounce just right, but it will shatter the hatch glass. That said, many have driven for years- even decades- without a cover and have been just fine.
 
one of our family's NSX's has a CTSC supercharger and doesnt have a engine cover for over 60k miles of city and rural driving, no issues and no rocks luckily, never knew this was a concern before this post. Another NSX in our lineup doesnt have a engine cover also CTSC and have clocked about 10k miles with no issues either. my N/A NSX has done 25k miles no engine cover with no issues either
 
It's a rare occurrences that a rock would be bounce up, get launched by a belt, and then shatter the hatch glass. Unfortunately if this happens finding a replacement glass hatch is also very rare.

Not my photo, but I believe this happened on track and the rock not only shattered the hatch, it ricocheted off and broke the partition glass. Some sort of cover seems worthwhile. I've seen people make a cutout to the mesh covers for just the S/C blower to stick out.
 

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I can't believe someone has not made or marketed a mesh cover to go over the SC specifically. Would the one on the Science of Speed site go over an SC?
 
It's a rare occurrences that a rock would be bounce up, get launched by a belt, and then shatter the hatch glass. Unfortunately if this happens finding a replacement glass hatch is also very rare.

Not my photo, but I believe this happened on track and the rock not only shattered the hatch, it ricocheted off and broke the partition glass. Some sort of cover seems worthwhile. I've seen people make a cutout to the mesh covers for just the S/C blower to stick out.
I don't have any dogs in this race; but, the way the edges of that hatchr are chewed up I have to believe that something more than a rock bouncing up and hitting the glass on the inside was happening there. That hatch looks more like it detached and bounced along the side of the road for a bit.

If you look down (or more appropriately up) you don't see much if any daylight around the engine. While doing maintenance on my engine, I have dropped stuff and at least 50% of the time it does not voluntarily come out the bottom. There is a 10 mm socket that I never found that may still be stuck somewhere back there. I am having a tough time figuring out how a rock picked up by a tire could come up around the engine and then ricochet around and eventually make its way up and hit the glass. An air born rock picked up by the vehicle in front landing on the hatch glass is a much more plausible event as is having the belt let go or hop off your CT supercharger. If you are really worried pre-emptively replace your alternator and AC belts.
 
I don't have any dogs in this race; but, the way the edges of that hatchr are chewed up I have to believe that something more than a rock bouncing up and hitting the glass on the inside was happening there. That hatch looks more like it detached and bounced along the side of the road for a bit.
Did the partition glass also fall off and roll down the road causing it's shattered too?

I think a possible explanation to the edge is that this photo was taken during the clean up process. The owner probably removed the rubber gasket as they are removing the glass from the frame. The blanket is there to catch all the glass.
 
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