Skid Plate Gauge?

[MNE30]

Hey all, I'm making a skid plate for my M20 sometime this weekend because a recent study shows that my oil pan is 2.5 inches off the ground. I was wondering what gauge metal I should use, 3/16" seems to be popular, but it seems thin to me, can anyone give me some input as too how protective that is?

I'm not going to be tracking this car, let alone driving it hard much (yet) I just don't want to scatter my oil pan across the highway.

[yahh]

3/16" is the thickest I would do. At some point it's better to have a cracked pan or bent plate then a twisted frame because the car took the entire impact.

[MNE30]

I didn't really think about damaging the frame with a skid plate that was too thick, thanks for the input. I'm thinking 3/16" will be fine for the daily bumps I will encounter.