Challenge Lip Clearance

[drburton]

I'm seriously interested in the Challenge Lip but I'm a bit concerned about how much it appears to lower the clearance in front. For the vendors selling the lip or members who already have it installed can you help me to answer a few questions:

1) Is the lip lower than the felt boxes under the bumper?
2) With stock suspension, would i clear standard size speed bumps?
3) Slanted driveway issues?
4) Anyone drive at high speed, any noted impacts on air flow

I live in Minnesota where the roads are pretty rough, lots of dips etc.. pulling into parking lots. Just don't want to buy one and trash it three days later. Any additional insight would be appreciated.

[Gkap]

the Akrym lip sits slightly higher from what ive been told.
So that could always be an option.

[drburton]

I ended up ordering it today, so I'll report back on my findings. Would still love additional feedback from others though.

Also, I noticed in the pictures the Challenge lip attaches from the top, the bottom of the lip extends a couple of inches under, then just stops. I wonder if this will create air turbulence under the car. I hope not since i periodically track the car.

[M3 996]

Here are my real world experiences with the lip:

1) Same level as the felt boxes
2) Shouldn't be many problems with stock ride height
3) No problems
4) No problems

Hope that helps!

Originally Posted by drburton

I'm seriously interested in the Challenge Lip but I'm a bit concerned about how much it appears to lower the clearance in front. For the vendors selling the lip or members who already have it installed can you help me to answer a few questions:

1) Is the lip lower than the felt boxes under the bumper?
2) With stock suspension, would i clear standard size speed bumps?
3) Slanted driveway issues?
4) Anyone drive at high speed, any noted impacts on air flow

I live in Minnesota where the roads are pretty rough, lots of dips etc.. pulling into parking lots. Just don't want to buy one and trash it three days later. Any additional insight would be appreciated.

[GTM_Challenge]

Originally Posted by drburton

I ended up ordering it today, so I'll report back on my findings. Would still love additional feedback from others though.

Also, I noticed in the pictures the Challenge lip attaches from the top, the bottom of the lip extends a couple of inches under, then just stops. I wonder if this will create air turbulence under the car. I hope not since i periodically track the car.

The front lip will have an air dam effect blocking air from hitting the front edges of the wheels. The GTS lip also ends after its front leading edge with positive downforce results, so you should have any worries about negative effects in any way. The rest of the front oem undertray is retained still.

[flipm3]

i don't mean to hijack the thread, but what if one was lowered with B&G or even Eibach springs, how would clearance be?

[EAS]

With the B&G springs, your car is lowered about an inch in the front, so clearance would not be a problem as long as you drive carefully and avoid large dips and potholes. The Eibach is a little less of a drop than B&G, so you'd have even more clearance.

[chris s]

has this been answered?

1) Is the lip lower than the felt boxes under the bumper?

Very curious about this as well....that would be a deal breaker for me as those scrape a lot on H&R's.

[flipm3]

Originally Posted by chris s

has this been answered?

1) Is the lip lower than the felt boxes under the bumper?

Very curious about this as well....that would be a deal breaker for me as those scrape a lot on H&R's.

if i remember correctly, i was told awhile back that it is no lower than the felt boxes, probably the same level as it.

[Locksmythe]

The concern I have is that while it is not lower than the boxes, it is much farther forward of the wheels making it more susceptible to contact with sloped surfaces. I have not taken my lip out of the box yet as I continue to contemplate how to protect it. Had an estimate today for regrading my driveway as well so I don't have to worry about wrecking it on my own property.

I am thinking about velcroing on a flat plane splitter to the lower surface with industrial velcro that could give me a bit of a buffer as well as cover the gap between the lip and the undercarriage.

[Omerta]

Originally Posted by Locksmythe

I have not taken my lip out of the box yet as I continue to contemplate how to protect it. I am thinking about velcroing on a flat plane splitter to the lower surface with industrial velcro that could give me a bit of a buffer as well as cover the gap between the lip and the undercarriage.

I wish the front spoilers were more reasonably priced because there is no way to protect it from damage. It is going to get beat up no doubt about it. Velcro anything on the front of the car is susceptible to extreme wind force... something to think about.

[kryptronix]

I have this lip on an e92 M3 dropped on H&R Sport Plus springs. I am not going to lie, but if you are using your car as a daily driver, you need to be very cautious of where you go. Your wheels are on the outside of the car, not the middle, therefore, the middle of the lip is susceptible to all things that can hit it from the middle of the car. Also need to be careful for humps in the roads, or approaching bridges that always have that small crack before the bridge raises. That is my experience. It will make contact with the ground every so often. My lip is literally 2 inches from tip to ground. So far, I have had good luck, but there are those occasional times where I have been faced with an obstacle of a higher pavement area and how to get around it without scratching the lip.

Separately, at high speeds, the car has some definite downforce because of the lip.

[CBS]

I have this lip and think it looks fantastic.

However I have rebuilt it 7 times over a 16 month period. I have 4" of ground clearance at the front, center of the lip.

iND kindly offered to remove it for me when the M3 goes to them shortly and I declined. It's that good looking (in my opinion).

Slanted driveways are a problem unless you can angle your approach/ descent.

[Detroit M3]

Challenge lip looks good but the ground clearance is an issue, the lip sits below the felt-box as well. I looked into buying this lip for a while but figured It would get ripped off driving in Detroit. Went with Mode Carbon instead, the lip sits higher than the felt box and I have had no problems since purchasing in the summer!