Paint Protection Film, which one?

Here's my other jewel also with XPEL.
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Had my new 650S Mclaren done with SunTek as well. Had the full front,sides, rear bumper roof. Almost the full car done. It's very hard to tell anything is on the paint. I feel it's a must.
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One more pic.
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wow, beautiful cars!

 

I'm loving the blue on both and feel rather mundane about my rides now

 

Don't feel bad. You 458 sounds better than the McLaren, and your Porsche is faster than mine! That McLaren blue is really, really beautiful, though.

 

Anyone have experience with Miller Motor Cars ( ferrari of CT) installing paint protection on the front of their ferrari?

 

Their installer does a fine job.

 

Just had my car (Rosso corsa) paint corrected and applied opticoat all over, and am planning to get clear paint protection film all over (the paint is so soft)

Some have recommended then opticoating again over the clear film ?

Does anyone do this extra layer of coating on the clear film and is it necessary ? Thank you

jkay

 

Here's something I don't quite understand, and don't agree with from personal experience.

The film is supposed to be the clearest of these films according to you. But also according to you, it will hide swirl marks and fine scratches etc. How can it do that if it's completely clear? That's like saying clear glass with hide imperfections. I've had both Ultimate and SunTek on my cars, and NONE of them hides the small scratches, buffer trails, haze, swirl marks and what else interesting things Ferrari paint jobs come with. In my experience they simply trap the imperfections underneath.

 

Got to do paint correction before you apply the film. I assume most places to this as you have to clean the car and strip all wax etc before you apply it.

That said, one of our high end installers is now doing STEK Dino shield film. It's supposed to be hydrophobic as well so no more wax or coatings are needed. Has anyone actually used this and how does It compare to XPEL?

 

Undeniable logic in that comment, not sure it can be argued the other way, it either provides the transparency we want or it doesn't, and if it does, then paint correction should be part of the process.



Jim

 

All films and coatings have optical properties. Any interface of materials of differing densities diffracts and refracts light. When the coating or film is applied to curved surfaces it acts as a lens and furthers alters light reflected from the underlying surface.

With exposure to sunlight and oxidizing agents in the air, films undergo change in their optical properties, generally with degradation that results in further distortion of the appearance of the paint beneath the film.

 

This is all true, but it does not change the fact that the paint errors show through the Ultimate and SunTek films.

I wonder if anyone here has actually had an experience where the film did hide the flaws?

My view is this. If the film is thick enough to break up the light in a way so it hides the errors, I'd say it's also thick enough to alter how the paint looks. If things show through, the film should be more "neutral". If the film altered a lot, this would be disastrous on a tri layer paint.

 

Some films are bad in this regard. I saw a cali that was a triple layer white (italia) that had been partially wrapped in a 3m wrap. In the sun where the triple layers are the most striking, the wrapped parts looked dull. It was super noticeable. I'm getting a Fuji spider this spring and I want to wrap it to protect the expensive paint job but I certainly don't want this issue.

 

I have me entire scud wrapped on Xpel. I'm super happy with it.

 

I just had my car wrapped in an Eastman product. Not sure what it is called but I had 3 cars done in this and 2 of them white ( the most recent my Bianco Fuji ) and I have never seen such amazing clarity on any wrap. Way better than Expel IMO. I had a car done in Expel and you can definitely see the difference. The film is completely undetectable.

 

Can you please ask your installer the name? As you know, I'm getting the same color shortly. Can't wait and good news on your wrap. Your car is so stunning I made it my screen saver until I get my beauty.

Edit|. I think it may be suntek that is an Eastman product?

 

Yes. SunTek is a subsidiary of the ECC.

 

Llumar is an Eastman product as is Suntek

 

I had 3M on my white R8, yellowed and had to have it removed. I have Xpel on both the R8 and white 458 with no issues

 

True. I've never met anyone who used LLumar or even seen it.

 

Looks like the Xpel is getting the better response. But down here in Australia the Dealership recommends 3M and there are several installers in our state of Victoria.

With Xpel there is only one licensed installer and he hasn't even done a 488 yet. Interesting note he claims of Xpel a better product is that they finance all their research into films hence better BUT ALSO Xpel has much better pattern cuts ?

So to be a guinea pig or follow dealership recommendation ?
A

 

3m is the toughest but it also yellows the worst.

 

After a brief test between Xpel and Suntek, I went with Suntek. They were both very similar, but the Suntek was a little easier to apply, especially in wrapping the edges, which I required because I do not like visible edges. I found any trade-offs in actual protection (I think the Xpel is about 3ml thicker) were negligible, and the Suntek was less visible on my 458, to my eyes. I've had it on long highway drives (2,200 miles round trip, twice) and not scratch on any part of the protected front end. Works for me.



Jim