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Okay, I posted my new to me 981 earlier today. During the CPO inspection the dealer removed a previous clear bra application. I'm planning to have it done again here locally. The black is the bee's knees, but a total pain in the ***, and it is ruining some of the fun of becoming a Porsche guy. I'm having to change my behavior and the way I act with and interface with the car. Initial plans are to do the front bumper, hood, front fenders, A pillars, leading edge of roof, and mirrors. Quote came back reasonable enough. Enough so that I'm considering doing the entire car now. I'd like some advice to help make that choice. Is the Xpel any easier to take care of? Will it fingerprint just as badly as just paint? Am I gonna end up with two different care regimens by just doing the front end?
Here's another photo out on the Talladega Scenic Byway.
I have a bra on my entire front half and I use the same cleaning/care as the rest of the car. The advantage of a bra is that you don’t have to worry about damaging the paint if you occasionally rub against it, as far as scratches go I find clear bra to be just as bad if not worse than paint and while most say they self heal my xpel ultimate from 2011 doesn’t self heal and I can’t buff scratches out either. Regardless I would definitely do it again as it’s protected my paint from rock chips extremely well.
I’ve heard ceramic coating may be the solution to protecting bra’s but the whole thing is getting out of hand IMHO, you add protection for your paint and now your adding ceramic for your protection.
Yeah black is a PITA but it sure looks good when it’s detailed!
You should also get the rocker panels and area in front and behind the rear wheels done. That area takes lots of abuse from road debris. I have Xpel Ultimate on my mahogany metallic 981 GTS and have been very satisfied with it. The only areas not covered are the rear deck, rear bumper and rear quarter panels.
In my experience, the most recent technology in clear bra will self heal quite well. Deeper blemishes my require a pass with a heat gun but overall the technology is far better than doing nothing or a standard paint regimen. I had a basalt black metallic CS and had ceramic applied, and though it was incredibly slick, and easy to take care of, i felt that it did little to improve the paints resistance to swirls and marring. Id say if you're going to do it, go all the way around. Several of the local PCA guys here have full expel wrap and are very happy with it, especially if the paint is properly corrected prior to application. Good Luck!
Okay, I posted my new to me 981 earlier today. During the CPO inspection the dealer removed a previous clear bra application. I'm planning to have it done again here locally. The black is the bee's knees, but a total pain in the ***, and it is ruining some of the fun of becoming a Porsche guy. I'm having to change my behavior and the way I act with and interface with the car. Initial plans are to do the front bumper, hood, front fenders, A pillars, leading edge of roof, and mirrors. Quote came back reasonable enough. Enough so that I'm considering doing the entire car now. I'd like some advice to help make that choice. Is the Xpel any easier to take care of? Will it fingerprint just as badly as just paint? Am I gonna end up with two different care regimens by just doing the front end?
Here's another photo out on the Talladega Scenic Byway.
Congratulations on the new to you 981! Those are incredible machines. If you haven't seen it yet, check out the video for our newest film, ULTIMATE PLUS, to really see the rigorous testing we put the film through.
ULTIMATE PLUS has a very low surface energy with makes the film much more slippery. What this means is that bug guts, bird droppings, and other environmental contaminants won't stick to the film as easily, and if they do, they'll come off with ease. When we launched ULTIMATE over 7 years ago, it was the world's very first self-healing paint protection film. ULTIMATE PLUS carries on that tradition by being able to self-heal fine swirl marks and scratches with just the heat of the sun. Which means that your black Porsche will look stunning all year round.
Hope this info helps. If you're coming to Porsche Parade this week come and stop by the XPEL booth and say hi! We'll be handing out some free XPEL Swag.
Get the whole car wrapped. I have a black GT4 with full xpel wrap and cquartz topper and it has been the best and easiest car to maintain. Just wipe it down with a MF towel if dusty, qd if a little dirty, waterless wash if actually dirty. No worrying about swirls, scratches, etc, so you can keep your car looking great more of the time with less effort. Of course, all that and you also have great paint protection! I have some scratches in the ppf from driving too close to some bushes on the side of the road and a few in the front bumper from just normal use and some guy's iPhone that flew out of his GT3 at the track but nothing went through the ppf so I'll happily rewrap a bumper and fender this fall rather than having to paint.
I'm going to have to agree that video was quite impressive. As for a black car, it is a labor of love. About half of the cars that I have owned over the years have been black and while I think there's no better look when completely clean, maintenance is such that it does take away a little bit from the ownership experience. Hence, I have a white Porsche now. That being said, to the OP, I would also recommend getting the car wrapped in XPEL at least for the front half and rear fenders. And if you are really motivated, add a ceramic coating on top of everything.
Try not to let OCD/paranoia about keeping the car clean keep you from enjoying it.
I have a bra on my entire front half and I use the same cleaning/care as the rest of the car. The advantage of a bra is that you don’t have to worry about damaging the paint if you occasionally rub against it, as far as scratches go I find clear bra to be just as bad if not worse than paint and while most say they self heal my xpel ultimate from 2011 doesn’t self heal and I can’t buff scratches out either. Regardless I would definitely do it again as it’s protected my paint from rock chips extremely well.
I’ve heard ceramic coating may be the solution to protecting bra’s but the whole thing is getting out of hand IMHO, you add protection for your paint and now your adding ceramic for your protection.
Yeah black is a PITA but it sure looks good when it’s detailed!
Congrats on the Cayman and enjoy in good health!
Amen, I agree full front will protect 90% of the possible damage from stones. You hit the nail on the head all this ceramic stuff and paint correction has become insane. I know guys that get full ceramic, paint correction, full clear bra and trade the car in a year .....that 12k is never recouped and the next owner just received a Xmas present for free. My 458, and Spyder full front no issues. Funny my M4 is the only leased car I have and I didn’t wrap it and it’s perfectly fine in 3 years. Enjoy the Cayman, and yes Black is beautiful and will drive you crazy .......my wife’s AMG 63 is Black and collects dust parked in the garage.
You should also get the rocker panels and area in front and behind the rear wheels done. That area takes lots of abuse from road debris. I have Xpel Ultimate on my mahogany metallic 981 GTS and have been very satisfied with it. The only areas not covered are the rear deck, rear bumper and rear quarter panels.
I have XPEL Ultimate as well. Only uncovered areas on my car are the doors, rear deck, rear bumper, and back half of rear quarter panels. I'm very satisfied with it, although I understand the newest 3M product is excellent. I use Zymol detailer on the XPEL only (contacted them for advice), but I suspect that a non abrasive wax wouldn't hurt. No real reason to wax over the XPEL IMO. .
I have a Black GT4. Have Suntek over the front bumper, full hood, mirrors, head lights, front fenders, A pillar, full roof, rockers up past the air intakes and the portion of the rear bumper behind the rear wheels. Only reason to do the rest of the car would to ease paint maintenance - which is a good reason with Black. My car is not a DD so it stays fairly clean. A full wrap of a Black DD is ideal but the cost, length of ownership, etc. should be considered. Xpel may be the most popular brand, but others are comparable. My installer prefers Suntek (but will do either) and recommended Suntek for a Black car due to slightly better clarity (not that I would know the difference).
Lot of great comments. Looking to do a wrap on my recently acquired MY16 911 C4S in Rhodium Silver. Any opinions on getting a paint correction done prior to the wrap?
Lot of great comments. Looking to do a wrap on my recently acquired MY16 911 C4S in Rhodium Silver. Any opinions on getting a paint correction done prior to the wrap?
Thanks in advance for any feedback.
phefner,
Unless your paint has a lot of orange peel texture to it, you don't need to do any paint correction. The adhesive of the film will fill in/mask fine scratches and swirl marks in the paint. It will not get rid of them, it will just hide/mask them while the film is on the car. So no real need to spend money on paint correction unless you've got a lot of orange peel.
07-05-2018, 08:08 PM
Xpel Clear Bra on black 981? Need advice
