Seal Skin Supreme All-Weather Outdoor Cover: Protect Your Porsche from the Elements
You love your Porsche, and you want to keep it looking its best. A Seal Skin car cover offers maximum protection for reasonable cost.
(Full disclosure, Seal Skin is an advertiser on Rennlist and sent us this cover specifically to review as part of that relationship. That being said, the review is based on the actual experience of using it on the vehicle).
A Porsche can be a significant investment and we all want to protect our investments as much as we can. I love to drive my Porsche hard as it was meant to be. But I also like to protect it as much as I can so it can look and perform its best for many years. Naturally, mechanical maintenance is key. However, caring for the exterior of the car is important as well. Ceramic coating and paint protection films are a good way to keep the car looking its best. But they have their limits. If you don’t have a garage, your car is constantly exposed to the harsh weather elements. And even if you do have a garage, there is always the risk of a bump or a scrape. That is why a car cover is a good tool to have in your car protection arsenal.
When Seal Skin offered to send a number of writers their covers to review, this seemed like a great time to see what they had to offer, so I requested a Seal Skin Supreme All Weather Outdoor Cover for my 2016 Cayman S. This 5-layer cover is the most powerful cover in the Seal Skin lineup. While my car is typically garaged, I want the best protection possible for those times when it’s not. Plus, even garaged, it doesn’t hurt to have a few extra layers of fabric between my Porsche and any potential implements of harm.
Specs and Features
Here are the exact specifications, courtesy of Seal Skin:
Layers of Protection: 5. Outer layer, Two protective inner layers, Water resistance layer, Soft fleece lining
Warranty: 10 Years
Seams: Ultrasonically welded for 100% waterproof seal
Treated with advanced UV inhibitors for protection against harmful UV rays & heat. Reinforced grommets on both sides of the cover. Elastic hem cord around the perimeter of the cover ensures a snug fit. Free storage pouch and antenna patch included. Cover cable and lock included.
Unboxing & Initial Fit
The cover arrived neatly packaged in a Seal Skin branded plastic shipping bag. The cover was folded neatly into a storage bag made out of material similar to the cover itself. Also in the storage bag was a smaller plastic bag that contained the plastic-coated cable and lock and key set to secure the cover. The storage bag is great, but if you are anything like me, you will never be able to fold the cover so neatly that it will ever fit in the bag again.
I quickly unraveled the folded cover and began to put in on the Cayman. One thing I noticed right away is that finding the front and back was a bit of a challenge. There is only a single small label that looks like it belongs in a t-shirt that reads “Front.” Another similarly sized label on the other end reads “Back.” So, it took me a moment to orient the cover properly. Once I did, fitting it over the car and wrapping the elastic under the front and rear was quite simple.
The cover fit just fine. However, keep in mind this is not a tight, form fitting cover that is going to show off the lines of your sports car. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes a little discretion, especially if your car is stored outside is a good thing. Having a metal hugging cover with a big Porsche crest on the front might invite some unwelcomed attention. I prefer the loose-fitting flannel look if my car is outside. The 5-layer cover also felt nice and thick. I was not going to drop any heavy objects on it to test it out. However, it sure felt like it would provide reasonable protection from dents and dings.
Security & Weather Test
I got the Cayman outside and put the cover on again so I could test it out in real outdoor conditions. The winds were fairly strong and gusty during my testing period. I left the cover on the car without securing it to see how it would hold up to the wind on its own. It did fine. There were times when the wind would get under the cover a bit, but at no point did it even come close to moving or blowing off the car. Satisfied that the cover was going to stay put I wanted to test the cable and lock mechanism.
The cover comes with a plastic-coated steel cable that is fed through reinforced grommets on either side of the car. Loop it on one side, fish it under the car and loop on the other side and lock it in place. Pretty simple, except the little lock that was provided didn’t seem to work properly. It shipped in the locked position. I opened it with the key but could never get it to re-lock. I played with it for 15 minutes before handing it to my much smarter girlfriend to let her have a shot at it. She also could not get the lock to re-lock no matter what. Not a big deal as you can buy a lock like this for about 2 bucks, but still a bit of a bummer that this one was defective.
Next up was the waterproof test. Frustrated waiting for sufficiently intense rainfall, I made my own. With the cover on, I blasted it with water from a hose from all angles with all different nozzle settings. I completely soaked the thing for as long as my water budget would allow. The water simply beaded and rolled off the cover. When I removed the cover, the car was bone dry underneath. I shook the cover in the grass and let it air out for about 15 minutes and the cover was dry enough to put away. It did a great job protecting the car from the elements.
Price
This might be the biggest win for the Seal Skin Supreme All Weather Outdoor Cover. Right now, you can purchase this cover with free shipping for $149.99. That is a heck of a deal for a multi-layer outdoor cover like this. You can easily spend well over $400 for covers from other brands. At $150, this cover is cheap insurance against accidental dings and scratches in your garage. It will also protect your Porsche from the elements should you park it outside. There is a lot of value in this cover.
Final Word
The Seal Skin Supreme All Weather Outdoor Cover is a well-constructed cover that offers solid protection at a very reasonable price. There are some small nits to pick. The front and back labels could be easier to spot, and the lock provided didn’t work. But those are minor inconveniences at worst. Having your kids accidentally scratch your Porsche as they put their bikes back in the garage would be a far bigger hassle. This cover is the perfect solution to that. It also offers protection from the outdoor elements. I will continue to use and evaluate this cover over time. However, the initial impression is that this is an outstanding choice if you are looking for an indoor/outdoor car cover.
Photos: Joe Kucinski
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