porschepath

Hey everyone, I’ve begun thinking about exterior colors and it is obviously a dilemma. I’d like to get a technical analysis or just your opinion on the colors and what to consider when picking them. Why do the metallic colors look so much better than standard? What is the effect the special colors achieve? It’s close to metallic but there’s a difference I can’t quite put my finger on. My best guess is that it has to do with light reflection and how the shadows on the car appear. Also considerable is the climate the car will commonly be in.

Colors can get really technical, and that’s what I’m looking to learn about. We can save how this relates to interior colors for another day… lol.

rouxeny

Don’t overthink it. How about just get the color that you most like?

Ull

CWM shows up as either white, grayish white, goldish white, bluish white or some combination of the above in addition to looking a bit pearly at times - all while maintaining shadow 'integrity', on my car at least. Saffron Yellow, another nice metallic color also looks like it changes color depending on weather/lighting/etc. 3 pictures of the same car on rennbow but the car is yellow, yellow gold, and gold in each respective picture.

I think to understand why the metallic paints look so different depending on primarily lighting but possibly other factors, you also have to think about the angle that light hits the paint. The angle of approach from say sunlight will vary greatly from sunrise to sundown. If you're dealing with LEDs then it gets even more complex, color temperature is generally not the only consideration involved when thinking about how a certain metallic color will reflect the available light. Color temperature is important, but if you took a 3500k Nichia 219b, 3500k Nichia 519a, 3500k Nichia 519a dedomed, XPL HI 3500k (or whatever), each of those LEDs will actually have a slightly different tint. If 219b is the baseline, a dedomed 519a will output rosier light than a regular 519a which itself is rosier than the 219b, in comparison to the slightly green (if I recall correctly) tint outputted by the XPL HI - even though "technically they output the same color temperature". (Assuming HIGH CRI LEDs from the good bins for comparisons sake, allowing for top level color quality when comparing light and how it reacts to color, might be slightly different using not so perfect 219b or etc)

Flat paint lacks the reflective inclusions? required to 'react' to incoming light at various angles, if I had to guess this is the primary reason why Metallics have such a wide array of possible color appearances on body.

To make things easier I'm uploading two videos to help illustrate some of what I am talking about, wrt color temperature only. I don't have any 219b in the same temperatures currently, but I may order some more lights soon, I'll update with another video comparing color tint @ the same temperatures if I do.

2700k dedomed makes CWM a bit more gold, whereas 5700k dedomed still has a rosy tint but the CWM paint is noticeably "bluer"

Also threw in a 660nm (deep red) comparison to a ~3500k tint mix using multiple 519a, should help illustrate how red lights (street, tail, etc) would show up in comparison/conjunction with a warm-medium white light

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FFjjjSOwTtQ

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/D4Q90DE0yuE

Alternatively, if you have 3M reflective fabric nearby you can just compare that side by side with a regular piece of clothing, by far one of the best examples of reflectivity

You mentioned environmental factors, location is an important factor when using sunlight as that will impact the color via (minute) differences in the angle of approach for available sunlight.

Seasons would also play a role in that same vein, considering the earths position in relation to the sun's position varies with the seasons.

IF I ever get the chance to order a 992 3/2RS I will most definitely be bringing a smorgasbord plethora of flashlights with me and requesting a dark room with all of the color chips when doing color selections

detansinn

Get the color you want. It's one of the configurator options that isn't technical.

Staffie Guy

Metallic colors are more difficult to match if you ever need a part repainted especially the lighter color-the angle of the flakes during a repaint cannot replicate the angle during the factory application and thus reflect light differently. So said the body shops in the 1980s when I went to small claims court over a poor repaint. That is my technical .02. Bottom line get the color you like best.

rk-d

I prefer solid colors to metallics on GT cars.

Ull

Replaced

Ull

CWM is a complex color, to say that it is just "shiny white" is incorrect. To say "just pick a color from the configurator" seems like a logically incorrect choice to me knowing that the configurator will never accurately display a cars paint.

How will someone ever create a perfect garage for the perfect car if they don't have the details planned out ahead of time? The configurator will never show you what wavelengths of light or temperature of light or LED will best accentuate your cars appearance in a garage setting. Just one of many reasons I personally dont agree with the logic of "pick a color on the configurator its not that technical". That may be acceptable for average car buyers but for people searching for perfection that is inadequate.

A lot of 911s spend a lot of the time parked, color theory could open the doors to new and improved ways to display a 911 or etc. when parked. We own a flooring store and before foraying into garage offerings I'm planning to redo my own garage (including lighting, white lights are so boring and overdone) so as to best display my 911. Some of yall might not see the point but thats not really my issue haha

Same car, a few seconds apart - only change was light availability and angle of approach

porschepath

I just wanna say that your input has been fantastic, and this is exactly what I was looking for! I am indeed looking for the perfect color "for me". I'm doing some research on the terms you used to learn more. I'll compile a proper response with some questions soon. I don't wanna waste your time explaining something that I'd find easily by googling. Nonetheless, feel free to write more about lighting, angles, and color theory and how they relate to 911s. And just to confirm, these pictures are of CWM?

rk-d

When I was picking out a color, I got a 6 month subscription to autogespot.com. Multiple pictures, different times of day, lighting, cameras, processing. That probably helped me more than anything.

Some colors are impossible to capture in a single picture. Chalk requires pics taken at different times of day and different kinds of cloud cover. The color looks radically different in overcast vs bright sunny vs late afternoon sun (ie gray in overcast light, off white in bright sun and tan colored in late afternoon).

I have Oak Green and the color looks like dark green in overcast light and mossy green with gold flake in the bright light. In fluorescent light, it’s almost like a light olive and gold. Some colors are just tricky that way, particularly metallics and three stage paint colors (I don’t believe any standard Porsche colors are three stage, but they do offer Nogaro Blue as a PTS color which is 3 stage)

Ull

Yes, my car is CWM - it reflects other colors very well in general which adds to the dynamicness? of the color

The skys blue and the buildings tan reflect very well in the shadowed area side shot


You may be able to find some more "specific" information about lights from candlepowerforums or budgetlightforums, as well as the flashlights or hanklights subreddits some of the hobbyists there experiment extensively with lighting

Also great idea rk-d about subscribing for as many pictures as possible to understand how the color looks not only in showroom color chips but on actual 992s

Rennbow is another source to find color pictures

My plans include picking up a small assortment of colored LEDs [example: various whites from various manufs, and various colors such as deep blue, azure, pink, green, gold, etc and possibly in various colored/metaled/shaped housings] I have heard that the flashlights physical paint color or metal sometimes can affect light color as well

Should see some interesting pictures of CWM here in the future haha (color mixing will be very interesting)

Orca911

I walked into the dealer today to finalize an allocation. I was 100% going Agate Grey. But then I got the sample plates, started messing around in direct Sun and in the shade.

And did a TOTAL game day pivot to CWM.

Loved the nuance of it and they way it was offset by some of the stock trim and CF options.

point being go look at the paint sample plates and cars on the lot. And pot calling the kettle black (see what I did there) don't over think it. There's no wrong answer.

Ull

Pink and Purple lights at night go far on CWM, maybe one of the most "ambient lighting" friendly shades

This is using two RGB smart outdoor bulbs, and one Amber street light

The Orange-Gold hues are from mixing amber from above with pink/purple from in front, probably the right headlight is one of my favorite light combinations. Recreating it in my garage will be a bit of an experiment, impossiblw to tell what bulb the street light is using

Ull

Posted these in the pics thread but they're for this thread,

Neon Blue and Neon Pink, if I had to guess real Neon, I didn't bother to check...

The hood can turn straight bars into an infinity sign from a certain angle, pretty cool

Interior shot has a certain ambiance that's nice, im sure other color combos would work as well on the slate gray leather

One thing that will need to be worked on is lighting areas that arent hit with "shaped" light (beams or tubes or etc vs. Flood) - should be able to mix flood and beams to get rid of any unsightly reflections

Ull

3500k/4500k mix, 2700k/5700k mix, 6500k, deep blue

3500/4500k mix, 2700k/5700k mix, 6500k, green

BLUE: Lots Of Light GREEN: ew i can see everything clearly

BLUE: Lots Of Light GREEN: ew i can see everything clearly

Brightness levels are all different im not a robot

The mixes are flood optics, the colors and 6500k are thrown optics, this is a color comparison, none of the LEDs are the same model