Less drag (plugging the grill)

[Yarii]

Originally Posted by joey1320

if i was you i would start with a full underbody panel and see what happens.
then you don't sacrifice the engine wear/cooling.

Underbody panel is also a good idea, but expensive, and has a possibly worse heat issue around the exhaust if it's not properly designed...

You have to remember, cars are designed to endure stop and go driving in an Arizona summer heatwave. As long as the engine still has enough airflow to remain at it's operating temp, the only concern I'd have is with transmission cooling, and I think that's more of an issue with the automatic. As I recall they generally operate around 90C. You can get a good add-on tranny cooler for like $40 to make sure you're not getting the fluid temps too high.

A guy living in Michigan could plug off most of the grill all winter without worrying about damaging the car - Summertime I imagine you'd have to, or at least should, open up some more cooling space.