SmokinGTS

I drove my Boxster S in Europe on clean roads for 4k miles and the lenses on the headlights looked like they were sand blasted with tiny particles. Protect your investment get a bra......

///MMB

Before my GT3 I had a 2013 Carrera for about a year, I put about 20k miles on it and didn't clear bra it. Wen I went to go trade her in for the GT3 the front felt rly rough and there were a lot of paint chips. So then I def got the clear bra on the gt3 since it seems Porsches paint is quite thin.

Mike in CA

According to the owner's manual (page 211):

Headlights
Risk of damage to headlights due to abrasion and
excessive temperatures. Do not affix any coverings (e.g. “stone guards”
or film) close to the headlights.

I've also heard that most installers won't use film on the headlights because of concerns about the film damaging the UV coating on the plastic lenses if it's ever removed. Disclaimer: I've had no personal experience with this.

As to the general topic of the thread, in almost 50 years of car ownership I've NEVER had film on a car for exactly the reasons Macca mentions above; it always seemed like putting plastic on grandma's couch. That said, for this car I put film on the bumper and hood after getting a couple of chips. It's a completely invisible custom job and it gives me a little peace of mind when I come up behind a gravel truck or what have you. TEHO.

996toomey

I have had them on cars I own but not on my current car as it is a lease.

I know a RL member who does not use clear bras, drives his GT3 (s) more than anybody I know 40,000 plus miles in 3 years, uses them on his farm etc and his cars always look great when he gets rid of them.

rockitman

I did front bumper, full hood, front fenders and mirrors. My first clear film car. I will have piece of mind not worrying about road debris from other cars as much.

Haku

I did get a lot of the car clear filmed including the entire front, whether it is worth it or not will depend a lot on luck.

The areas I know for sure that take a pounding from stones and road crud are the rockers and a large section of the rear fenders/wheel arch. The rear area I refer to is far larger than the factory film covers. Thankfully I had that covered and the film has already got many pock marks which have protected the paint.

I'm glad I got the film.

ipse dixit

No wrap for me.

I'm a big natural paint guy.

Car will age, naturally, and the natural patina that builds over time lends character to the car.

I just enjoy the look of unwrapped paint. Moreover I enjoy the feel of naked paint (wax and/or nano tech coating notwithstanding).

The car will get dirty. It will get dinged. I've come to accept that.

Will it bother me when it happens? Yes, not going to lie to you. But like with all things in life, that feeling will pass.

And like with all things in like, there will come a time when I will part with this car. When that time comes, and had I spent upwards of 5k to 10k or more to wrap, I would've felt like I was doing it only for the next owner.

Life's too short. Enjoy it in the flesh. Just like with se x ... Never mind, wrong forum.

That's just me, of course. To each his own. No right or wrong way about this.

Ronan

I once tracked an M6 pretty much straight out of the factory (2k on it win first week) and then to the Nurburgring. Basically stripped massive amounts of paint off in a week. Lesson learned.

If you do not track , then not strictly necessary...I have non track cars with no cleat bra and no problems.

Macca

I travelled 200 miles on Euro roads, no sand blasting. To get the front of a car peppered with rocks you need to be travelling close to ghe car in front. I always leave a 100m gap between myself and the car in front even when going on our regular Sunday back road runs with some buddies I do Tarmac rally with.

If there is advice I can give folks about the areas that get chipped on the 991 GT3 it is:

1) behind front wheels on wheel arch (this is alloy panel)
2) behind rear wheels on rear bumper/arch (this is plastic painted)
3). On dimpled steel rocker panel directly below OEM rear clear guard liners (this is steel and gets rock chipped easily).

If I had my time again those are the only three areas I would do along with the headlights (which I did not due to the specific warning in the handbook that Mike in CA points out).

For those worry warts who must wrap everything in fear of a bit of patina, I hate to tell you this but after about 18 months and 6-10000 miles your wheels are going to need entirely respraying due to the rash and chips that the design and paint lend them-self too like a magnet! There is a completely separate thread for that with pictures. Not sure you can "wrap" wheels I suspect the plastic will melt on the track LOL.

P.S. I have just ordered matt black rear fender rock guards to place over the clear plastic (yellowing) guard protectors on track days because I cant be arsed spending an hour on my dodgy knee trying to clean off the tire marble marks after each track day :-). $65 well invested....

MJones

I concur, no wrap for me, nor have any of my previous cars had it

nycjwi

Im wrapping the entire car. outside of gravel etc it protects that car from swirl marks etc from bad washes, valets who knows what!

Macca

Dont for get the wheels & brake callipers LOL!

Plastic is softer than lacquer (clear coat etc). If you own dark car like me (993) you will know that plastic swirls on clear film show up like bollocks on a dog :-). Then there is the fade factor (for white/Red/Yellow) where a after a few years of having film on the car you can see where its been when its taken off. No think about tree sap, pollen and bug splatter. After 12-18 months of some nice fast summer back roads that clear film on the front of a white car will be filthy.

bigkraig

man, if you leave 5m of space between you and the car in front of you around here someone will shove their way into it. must be nice!

rockitman

Exactly...hard to find clean air in front of you with traffic.

Alan Smithee

I didn't put film on my black 997, and after four years and 40k of daily driving and pushing hard a few track weekends each year, the front was quite sandblasted, with one nasty chip - more of a gouge, really - 3/4 up the hood after collecting a rock at 100mph+ from somebody in front of me dropping a wheel off at the end of the front straight at Streets of Willow. Other than that, the car was perfect and sold quickly.

With my silver Spyder, I decided to give film a try - had one of the (if not the) most respected Rennlist vendors wrap the entire frunk lid and bumper the day of delivery. That car only saw 5k miles of empty Sunday morning canyon runs in three years. No visible marks in the film, but the film annoyed me every time I walked by the car in the garage. The (admittedly bright) fluorescents brought out dullness and texture compared to the bare fenders. None if the prospective buyers seemed to care it had an expensive film job.

I am leaving my most recent sports car (non-Porsche) bare. After 2k miles and a track weekend, there are a few very small nicks if you look very closely. But they vanish when you stand back and you see the glossy paint. OP, you are not crazy.