Stop signs and such, make a nice splash-shield, not a skidplate. It can keep fluffy snow out, some leaves and water. You want a proper skidplate if you know you're going to be hitting stuff or want to actually protect your oil pan. It's more scene points if you use a sign. I have a thick aluminum skidplate under the sedan(lowered) and I love it. I've ran over unavoidable stuff in the road, fell in a hole once and didn't break anything. It's taken some speedbumps and steep driveways. A lot of stuff hit it that I am not aware of, since I'm not the only one driving it. My wagon(will also be lowered) has a steel skidplate and I would highly recommend getting ACTUAL skidplates. Yes, it's more money, but it's cheaper than ruining a motor.