Factory Ground Effects

[cadyshac]

I am searching for a 5th gen to buy as a daily. I have come across several that have the factory ground effects. I am not a fan of the rear diffuser on these cars. Can I remove the "ground effects" rear diffuser and replace it with the regular black plastic one without any marks showing on the paint or will you be able to see where the original diffuser was attached around the bottom of the rear quarters?

[Aqua Blue RS/SS]

You are definitely going to see the diffuser was there. And you have to drill holes in the lower corners of the wheel opening of the bumper for the GFX diffuser to mount to.

[TheBrightSide]

I highly, highly suggest you keep that factory GFX bodykit together, as long as it’s not damaged or super banged up. People will pay good money for that. Plus, there’s tons of plain stock or aftermarket bumpers and side skirts/rocker panels you can find and install. If you end up removing the GFX parts, they’re already drilled and modified for your bumpers and side skirts anyways, so it’d show and you’d end up needing an extra way to cover that as well.

OEM GM GFX bodykit parts are super rare/hard to find now, esp if they’re not already on a car. Even the aftermarket replicas of the GFX bodykit parts are pretty damn expensive; though I’ve heard the quality and fitment is nowhere close to being like OEM… I damaged the front lip and side skirt, and somehow, a nice collision company sourced me a plain, unpainted OEM GFX front bumper lip/splitter and side skirt/rocker panel cover.

Do yourself a favor and keep your stuff, and either trade or sell them, and find plain bumpers that are paint matched, and then modify those however you’d like.

[Aqua Blue RS/SS]

Originally Posted by TheBrightSide

I highly, highly suggest you keep that factory GFX bodykit together, as long as it’s not damaged or super banged up. People will pay good money for that. Plus, there’s tons of plain stock or aftermarket bumpers and side skirts/rocker panels you can find and install. If you end up removing the GFX parts, they’re already drilled and modified for your bumpers and side skirts anyways, so it’d show and you’d end up needing an extra way to cover that as well.

OEM GM GFX bodykit parts are super rare/hard to find now, esp if they’re not already on a car. Even the aftermarket replicas of the GFX bodykit parts are pretty damn expensive; though I’ve heard the quality and fitment is nowhere close to being like OEM… I damaged the front lip and side skirt, and somehow, a nice collision company sourced me a plain, unpainted OEM GFX front bumper lip/splitter and side skirt/rocker panel cover.

Do yourself a favor and keep your stuff, and either trade or sell them, and find plain bumpers that are paint matched, and then modify those however you’d like.

I agree. I had to hunt long and hard for my skirts and diffuser. Keep it a GFX car. They look so much better all the way around. The boring black plastic factory diffuser will get old. The GFX stainless exhaust trim make it for me.

[cadyshac]

Thanks for the replies. It just seems every time I find a car that suits my needs it has the factory ground effects on it and I don't care for the look. I haven't bought a car yet so no need to worry about removing or not at this point.

[InFiD3ViL]

Originally Posted by cadyshac

Thanks for the replies. It just seems every time I find a car that suits my needs it has the factory ground effects on it and I don't care for the look. I haven't bought a car yet so no need to worry about removing or not at this point.

I can certainly understand that. I personally love the look of the GFX on the pre-refresh cars, but there are some things that I do not like about them. For instance, replacing the front GFX splitter is near impossible, unless you get one from a salvage yard or try one of the many 'cheap' knockoffs that are out there. Problem is, the mounting hardware that is required is just as unobtainium. This is mainly due to GM discontinuing parts well before they should. I totally understand the need to stop manufacturing certain parts after a set time period, but front bumper/splitter parts? I would expect that these would always be in need, as they get damaged in accidents, hitting curbs, road debris (what happened to mine), etc.



Second, the GFX rear diffuser - I think it looks awesome and love the exhaust bezels. Yes, I wish I could fit quad tips in there somehow (not those tiny Stainless Works ones), but it wasn't meant to be. The bigger issue with the rear diffuser is that it greatly limits you on your exhaust choices. I have already had two brand new exhausts that I have had to cut the tips off of to install. Luckily Corsa offers a Tip-less version of their Xtreme exhaust, so that is what I went with this time. I always finish my exhausts on the GFX rear with the MBRP square tips, as they are a perfect fit and look great.


If the GFX isn't for you, then so be it. There are tons of non-GFX cars out there. There are also other options to trim the car out besides GFX, such as the ZL1 side skirts, and they also make a rear corner side skirt/valance type of thing that offers that lowered look some are after. There are also quite a few rear diffuser choices that can be had, offering the option the change up the exhaust tips. Others choose to keep it clean and simple and love the look of no ground effects at all. That's the beauty of this car. They look amazing no matter how you dress them.

[Bluebagger06]

Originally Posted by cadyshac

Thanks for the replies. It just seems every time I find a car that suits my needs it has the factory ground effects on it and I don't care for the look. I haven't bought a car yet so no need to worry about removing or not at this point.

I see alot of 5th gens for sale that dont have ground effects on them!!

[cadyshac]

Originally Posted by Bluebagger06

I see alot of 5th gens for sale that dont have ground effects on them!!

So do I but they are not low to mid mile, M6, non wrecked, orange or blue with NPP and reasonably priced LOL. The search goes on, BTW the SGM car in my sig is still in the fold and we have owned 3 5th gen's over the years. I am not a newb to these, just looking for the perfect cream puff I guess.

[yodaslim]

Originally Posted by cadyshac

So do I but they are not low to mid mile, M6, non wrecked, orange or blue with NPP and reasonably priced LOL. The search goes on, BTW the SGM car in my sig is still in the fold and we have owned 3 5th gen's over the years. I am not a newb to these, just looking for the perfect cream puff I guess.

Patience goes a long way, you'll find the right one my man!

[Aqua Blue RS/SS]

They are still out there. I bought my 2800 mile ABM that was everything I wanted except for GFX in June of 2022. It’s has GFX now. ABM SS cars are some of the more difficult 5th gens to find, and this one showed up 10 minutes from my house.

[The_bald_eagle_machine]

Originally Posted by Aqua Blue RS/SS

They are still out there. I bought my 2800 mile ABM that was everything I wanted except for GFX in June of 2022. It’s has GFX now. ABM SS cars are some of the more difficult 5th gens to find, and this one showed up 10 minutes from my house.

I saw this thread and immediately knew that Aqua blue would be in here telling you the GFX cars were the best. That man is passionate about the GFX kit, and I can't lie... It is a sexy looking piece of kit. I kind of modeled my tips in a similar way to look like the GFX rear tips, I just prefer the black trim wraparound of the Zl1 parts. Black also just looks really good accenting white.

[MSgt O]

Originally Posted by Aqua Blue RS/SS

They are still out there. I bought my 2800 mile ABM that was everything I wanted except for GFX in June of 2022. It’s has GFX now. ABM SS cars are some of the more difficult 5th gens to find, and this one showed up 10 minutes from my house.

Still looking for a rear diffuser...if by chance you have any leads!

[Aqua Blue RS/SS]

Originally Posted by The_bald_eagle_machine

I saw this thread and immediately knew that Aqua blue would be in here telling you the GFX cars were the best. That man is passionate about the GFX kit, and I can't lie... It is a sexy looking piece of kit. I kind of modeled my tips in a similar way to look like the GFX rear tips, I just prefer the black trim wraparound of the Zl1 parts. Black also just looks really good accenting white.

lol that made me laugh. I’m a man of my convictions for sure.

[NiteProwlerSS]

I agree with op I don't like the looks of the gfx either, mainly because of the bezel around the exhaust on the rear valance.