Talking about the silver engine cover and black radiator/front bay cover...do these have any functionality? Thinking about keeping them off

 

Aesthetics and I've heard it can suppress some engine noise but not sure this would be noticeable on the GX. The GX cover does have some padding in there so there may be something to that purpose.

Front bay cover probably probably just aesthetics and a place to rest your service caps. That one does get in the way of servicing radiator and power steering fluid....just to name a few.

Example off of eBay

 

sound dispersion, absorption, and deadening. Take it off and drive around. only you know if it's tolerable within the cabin.

 

I think it's probably 99% aesthetics and maybe a rounding error in sound absorption.

 

 

The major use is for sound reduction. Thats why some other manufacturers call it a sound absorber or acoustic cover. The looks part is secondary, the rectangles for each cylinder. Others use circles or actually state the number. Also gives a clean look




http://www.dupont.com/industries/aut...nnovation.html

Older engines aren't able to benefit from them for various reasons. These started out on super expensive vehicles with very high horsepower engines.

 

Thanks for the info, saw foam like material on the underside of the engine cover and wasn't sure if this thermal thing, sound absorber makes sense I suppose...took a peek under it and there was an old napkin and some leafs, it's capturing dirt plus I noticed an inch long crack on the right hand side so figured I'd take it off and maybe keep things cooler?

No offense to those who like the look of it, to me looks cheap, guess if your car is silver it blends in better...since this thing has a purpose I might repair the crack with epoxy and spray paint it black to match rest of the car better.

As for the front bay cover think I seen somebody on GXOR mentioned it helps to channel air better I'm not sure about that and if it's actually true.

 

If I took it off, then I'd have to find some place to store it...