halfmonkey

With the GT4 and Spyder sitting lower to the ground (less so with the regular Cayman and Boxster variants,) are you adding any kind of front end film protection? I see a lot of cars adding the clear bra that only goes up about 1/4 of the front fender, hood, and bumper and it look terrible especially when it's dirty, dusty, or waxed and you can see the residue on the edge of the clear bra to where to goes to the paint.

I noticed as I was walking around several dealers, a few dealers added an accessory clear bra where it was the entire front end of the vehicle including the side mirrors. I don't remember what brand it was called other than the generic term of using clear bra but they wanted $3,000 for the accessory. It looked good because it didn't stop and instead covered the entire front end of the car plus side mirrors. The one dealer I spoke to said it carries a lifetime warranty but $3,000 still is a lot.

Do you worry or have already noticed that you're getting rock chips? Is Porsche paint generally considered to be heavily coated and resistant to rock chips or is Porsche paint thinly applied and very susceptible to rock chips?

wizee

I plan on getting clear film on the front bumper, full front hood, full front fenders, mirrors, rocker panels, and behind the wheels on the rear bumper. It’s pretty standard at this price point of cars.

My old 987 Boxster (and my current AMG GT S) are rock chip magnets, while my full front end PPF’d BMW M240i had zero rock chips after an year of daily driving because the soft PPF took the stone hits better than hard paint, and had the ability to self heal with heat.

colnagoG60

Get PPF if you're worried about chips. Some colors (black) are more fragile than others. I picked up my GT4 with 30k miles, and while front PPF up to the mirrors has been doing its job, both side air scoops are peppered with divets. Cup 2s like to grab anything loose on the road and kick it out...sometimes against the car. I'd even say think about the doors as well.

Independent installer, could do it between $2-$3k, and possibly with better film.

frosty911

I’m trying to decide myself. I will probably do the front bumper and the side rocker panel with side scoop panel. I’m currently driving a 2015 m3 that I bought new 5 years ago. It’s got 5 winters as a daily driver and 30000 miles. I had put PPF on the front bumper and the rocker panel plus the front of the wheel arches which stick out a bit. And I’m glad I did. PPF did a great job. As far as the hood hood, front fenders, doors, roof, rear fenders, not one rock chip on the paint. And that’s with five winter with gravel, and salt on the road. So front bumper and side rockers for the gt4. And if you really don’t want rock chips don’t follow truck especially concrete and construction trucks.

4MIDABLE

Car arrives next week and straight to local shop for PPF. Doing full front bumper, hood, quarter panels, rocker panels Including side intakes, mirrors , headlights and behind the rear wheels. Then entire car with ceramic. Did this on last car...no rock chips and easier to keep clean. Did get a few knicks on the wheels though. Much cheaper to have a wheel refinished, than to re-spray the front end.

_nosubstitute_

Caymans and Porsches in general are rock chip magnets. Get full PPF wrap if you're driving the GT4 /Spyder on any kind of commute, but esp. for spirited canyon or b-road driving and track days.

When you're driving in either scenario cars in front are kicking small rocks and debris at high speeds...hits the full front, full rockers, front of roof and can chip even the wing. The door handles and cups get nailed with small rocks on canyon drives when you're turning and wheel is angled to flip rocks up to it, also can hit the door depending on the situation. I've had road debris flip up from the front and hit the lower edge of the door.

Net, all depends how much peace of mind you want to have. Most people I know have a GT car / GT4 regret not doing the full wrap and just doing the front. If your car is a garage queen, front and rockers is probably fine, but if you actually plan to drive the snot out of it, get the full wrap you will not regret it.

theEnd

I spent about a month thinking about getting paint protection film for my incoming Spyder. Decided to put together a list of pros & cons:

Pros:
- Prevents small rock chips from damaging the paint
- Reduces the need to re-paint, which helps preserve value (apparently there's an army of buyers walking around with paint-meters)
- You feel more protected, so perhaps less concerned about driving down a gravel road, parking under a well-fed bird, following a big truck, etc
- Easier to clean the car

Cons:
- It's plastic; naked painted metal looks and feels better
- Costs a bunch, nearly as much as a re-paint
- Risks of installation mistakes (nicks in the paint, misaligned edges, unwrapped corners, bubbles, seams...)
- Would worry about the PPF getting damaged (by power washers, bird poop, rocks...) and having to replace it
- Might yellow (my car is white)
- Might peel off topcoat or paint if badly installed or removed after too long
- Installation takes a couple of days; I'd rather be driving my brand new car

Ultimately decided not to get PPF because I remember learning in school that the purpose of paint is to protect metal, so I should be covered. And I'm buying this car for enjoyment, not appreciation.

DFW01TT

If you plan to track the car, you really should consider full front bumper, hood and at least 1/2 fender PPF protection and behind the rear wheels too.

soupy

The big brands for it are Xpel, Suntek, and 3M. I'd say the popularity is in that order as well. Each of them should have certified installers listed on their websites. You really shouldn't be paying more than $2-2.5k for a full front clip job (bumper, full hood, fenders, sideview mirrors, headlights). If you do it at the dealer, they simply subcontract the work to a local installer that you can reach out to directly at a lower price. For most Porsche sports cars it's HIGHLY recommended that you do the rocker panels as well which should add some coverage on the air intake ducts. From my 981 GT4 and 981 GTS experience, that area definitely eats more debris and needs it. I hit a deer on my GTS with the driver side mirror and due to how waxed up and PPF'd my car was, the poor fella slid across the side of the car and just barely scratched the film on the rocker panel with her hoof. It self-healed for the most part. The mirror cap obviously popped apart but I miraculously put it all back together only losing 1-2 clips and it looked as good as new. That mirror was also PPF'd and showed no surface scratches.

Pokerhobo

The thickness of the paint is actually really thin. The clear coat protects the paint and is much thicker. In any case, I have a full front film on my current 981 CGTS which I took to the track a few times. I plan to take my 718 GT4 to the track a few times, so full front protection is a must for me.

Dr.Bill

On every Porsche sports car I get the front bumper, full hood, front fenders, A-pillars and 6" of the roof, rocker panels, and rear wheel arches. On the GT4 add the side scoops with the film wrapped around the leading edge. Sometimes headlights too although that has become controversial.

DFW01TT

Dang, a tranny deer?
What are the chances of that?

VVG

Your fears are unfounded. I have had PPF on 5 cars, now, and I swear by it.

"It looks plastic". No. A high quality film, like Xpel Ultimate, is totally invisible. Looks and shines just like bare metal.
"Costs a bunch". Yes, but so does your $100k+ car. Relatively speaking it isn't that much more
"Risk of installation mistakes". Not at all if you go with a premium installer used to working on high end cars. Do not use the dealer for this.
"Would worry about PPF getting damaged". It resists damage better than paint. Power washing is no problem.
"Might Yellow". I have PPF on 2 white cars. A high end product won't yellow. You need to maintain it just like you would if your car didn't have it.
"Might peel the topcoat of paint". This just doesn't happen. There is a process for removing it. You have to use a heat gun.
"Installation takes a couple of days". Well, yes, but how long were you planning on keeping your car, a week?

I had a very high-end shop do not only my PPF, but my whole car prep. I did not let the dealer touch it. They did a proper foam cannon wash, full paint correction, PPF on the full hood, full bumper, full front fenders, full rocker panels including around the intakes and side panel, and rear lower behind the wheel arches. They custom cut these last pieces using digitizing software based on images. I then had ceramic coating over the whole car for that hard, glass-like finish. Looks absolutely stunning. And now, that flawless paint surface is permanently sealed. It will never scratch. A high-end installer will also pay attention the the lines of the car and making sure the film edges are as invisible as possible.

My wife has PPF on her red Audi S3 which now has 85,000 miles and has seen 5 New England winters. The front of the car still looks near-perfect when cleaned up.

incursion

I'm also a big fan of PPF. One time it saved me from an insurance claim because I forgot to put my e-brake on, and my car rolled into along side another car scraping the passenger quarter panel. Had the PPF not been on the car, the paint would have been marred for sure. It saved me $250 and an insurance claim.

tdlondon

I’ve done on my GT4 as well. Full front, mirrors, headlights, rocker panels, stone guards and lower rear bumper. XPel ultimate plus full ceramic coating for 3k. Pricey but after 1 track day for sure already proven worthy.
I had PPF in my other cars which I had bought used. This is the first time I have it installed myself.
never saw yellowing or other cracking that people mention but I’m sure that depends on weather exposure.
My color is gentian blue. I think respraying a bumper or a hood would probably be a bit cheaper, but it would certainly show the paint difference because of the amount of metallic glitter on the paint. My former 997 meteor grey had the hood repainted to mitigate a deep scratch and it was very annoying to see the paint difference under the sun.