FF clear bra

since FF is typically a DD for most owners. how much clear bra protection is necessary?

 

Sort of depends on what your daily drive entails. If its just a city car, its hard to imagine need for any. If you frequent winter resorts, or other locales where you're likely to encounter roads/highways covered with ice, and as is done here in the PNW, gravel scattered liberally across the road surface to counter that ice, then I think its a must-have.

I opted for the full front end, side lower rocker panels, and the area just behind the doors before the rear wheel wells (rocks thrown from the front wheels just hammer that spot mercilessly).

One winter several years ago we drove our brand new black 612 through the mountain passes in Northern California/Southern Oregon on way to Sothern California in a big snow storm and had not put clear bra on. A week later the car had to go into the paint shop for full re-spray of the full front end and side panels. It was so badly sand blasted the front of the car looked like it was grey not black, and in places the paint and primer were chipped off. Had chips all the way up the hood and fenders, most damage done on nose obviously, and the side rockers. Since then we've had one form of clear bra or other and have had little to no rock chipping.

 

i live in houston texas so there wont be any snow. however, the rock chip is a huge issue on the freeway. im also concerned about door dings as well.

 

I for one can't stand the line made on the hood when the choice is made to utilize a clear bra to protect the front of the car - I had it on my 458. Although mine was white so the line was negligible. If you are looking to use a clear bra then I would suggest wrapping the entire hood to prevent that obvious line - do the fender and mirrors. IMO, in a 458 the sections behind the front and rear wheels should be protected but not necessary in an FF.

 

I totally agree on the line thing, and opt to cover whole surfaces where possible. One small problem: the hood of the FF is too big for the products out there, at least two years ago when I had mine done. They heated the film, had four guys stretching at the four corners, and got the film to cover with much work, but the wrinkles and resulting stretch marks never would work out. Had to remove and in the end, put on a film with small corners at the edges towards the windshield patched in. Still left small little lines, but at the far edges, not in mid-hood, so its less noticeable. And of course, the car is usually pretty dirty, so one never notices.

I don't see much chipping behind the wheel arches, so have never had it applied there. Worst damage I see on the recent 2+2 cars is in front of the rear wheel arches. Rocks thrown from the front wheels real give that spot a work out. Had this on our 456s, 612s, and now the FFs. Pic below is our 612 after a few months of winter driving.
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I did the whole car in Xpel. This is because we take the car through desert areas where high winds blow stones and gravel around like missiles.

As noted above, the hood is longer than the widest sheet. So there is no completely satisfactory solution. I opted for grafting two small triangular sheets against the main film sheet that covers about 98% of the hood. Initially this looked pretty good but over time one of the triangle joints began to show a small amount of dirt that penetrated the crack. The photo below illustrates the effect but is somewhat exaggerated due to my adjusting the lighting conditions to bring out the crack. The white paint also brings out the crack line -- against a dark color it would be invisible. Oddly the triangle on the other side of the hood remains essentially invisible. Eventually I will just remove the triangle and go "bare" for that small section. For now I am not really offended by it; it is a desert car.
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Wow that's brutal

 

After 46,000 miles in NW Ohio including 2.5 winters the bra is not necessary. I've had six stone chips that DrColorchip.com fixed easily. One of those was on a rear fender top, two were on the passenger door! One on the hood and one on the front bumper.

It helps to drive fully woken up and pay attention to the world around you ... meaning do NOT drive behind a truck dropping stuff for more than 4 seconds, go down a few gears and blast around them or back WAY off.

I equate stone chip protection on a Ferrari just like wrapping Saran Wrap on Jennifer Aniston's nude body, yes it still looks good but always looks better without the extra layer of plastic

 

I equate stone chip protection on a Ferrari just like wrapping Saran Wrap on Jennifer Aniston's nude body, yes it still looks good but always looks better without the extra layer of plastic [/QUOTE]

 

Careful ... Some guys have a Saran Wrap fetish ... Not me of course, just sayin' ...


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It takes one to know one ... and I don't know what you are talking about

 

Dallas is hard on finishes. My Nero FF got a hood rock chip going to get wrapped! My first Xpel wrap was bad, now I will give the installer a second go at getting the wrap done right. He wrapped the hood with the seam in the middle - not good. Most sections had dimpling. I was surprised to learn that Xpel doesn't offer rear quarter panels so I will be exposed to door dings there.

 

Dr. ColorChip Automotive Paint Chip Repair Kit - Dr. ColorChip: Automotive Paint Chip Repair Systems works really well

 

Some advice.

The FF hood is slightly too long for the widest Xpel strip. So try doing the hood in one strip, which will leave only two small triangular sections near the cowl unprotected. That should not be too offensive. If you like, the installer can graft on two triangular strips to fill out the hood but that is overkill IMO.

Also a custom installer should be able to do the rear quarter panels no sweat.

 

i find this advice the most sound and accurate

 

I have my wrapped but will probably remove it, I am a super careful with driving behind the "stoners" - more so then anything I can start to see the stretch marks on the hood. Its the widest hood they have every done - Go V12

 

[/QUOTE]

For scientific reasons we're going to need to see said photo.

 

For scientific reasons we're going to need to see said photo.[/QUOTE]

rick will you make it come true? lol

 

I clearly see it in my mind ... as clear as wrinkly Saran Wrap can be