Stick on Shields.. Your thoughts?

As it happens, Harry, the £160 ones, which are from the states, are remarkably similar to the £40 ones from India in fact the markings look identical. The guy selling them came on Fchat and when asked flatly refused to tell anyone where he got them from. I am merely reporting what happened, I'll let you come to your own conclusions.

 

I am not a big fan of the plastic shields. The color fades pretty rapidly and they turn ugly.
I agree with most of the guys that the Yoshis are the best. Yet, they are very expensive ($350+).
I have bought 2 sets for my 575 and 348 from 7scuderia on ebay. I find them to be of very high quality: metal, cloisonné, very thin (1mm) so they can adjust to any fender and pre-bent. They still have some for sale on eBay at $170.

 

It's unknown exactly when they became available and whether they were part of the fiorano handling package or separate, but they were available at some point on the 355.

 

Put it to rest!! I saw in my own hand today my purchased Shields from Super Tweaks :: European Performance Car Accessories Specialist and the US sold shields from eBay that were recently posted about..And here's a few assumptions I have made
1) I was under the impression those that buy a 80k sports car don't skimp
2) Unless you have factory scuderia shields which are a 8k option or aftermarket are 7500 for the fenders and 800 for the shields


DO NOT waste your time with anything BUT the Supertweaks shields.. deal with Ricky and he'll take money off and express ship for free (to me in CT from the UK in 4 days

They are just a much better built shield , held next to my friends fathers 355 with factory shields it is indicernable;;

Spend the extra money and just get what the car deserves..

I have to skin in the game other than seeing fellow owners get the right stuff for these rolling pieces of art

 

The shields differ a bit in the pictures he posted.

 

There are 2 distinct types of the legit shields - up to and including the 348 GTC then 355 and after. The Yoshis are extremely close to the 355 and after shields, to my knowledge no one has ever copied the 348 GTC and before shield (which would bbe easier to do looking at the detail.

Having seen most of these in the flesh and looked at some of them next to legit shields on everything from a 288 GTO up to and including a 458, the one thing that is obvious is that the Yoshis are (at present) the best aftermarket replica shields available. They are closer in detail to the OEM shields and are better made which you can only see if you get them in real life. If guys want to spend money on the cheaper options that's cool, no issue, but it isn't because they have looked at all the options side by side and found the cheaper ones to be as accurate and just as good because they aren't. No issue if they think the Yoshis are over priced - they are - but whatever you go for the only reason to get the cheaper ones is for the price. Everyone can do as they pplease though, not going to criticise anyone for their choice. Might correct peoople if they say "these are just as good as...." because they either don't know or are legitimising their own choice. I just wanted to give guys the info to make an informed decision.

Anyway, OEM on a 430 (in red), Yoshi (single on white background), Indian £30 shields (pair on white background), US £160 shields (pair on dark background) - you make the choice.
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p.s. Look carefully at all the detailing on the US £160 shield compared to the cheap Indian one. Now compare to the OEM (and Yoshi). The chap selling the US ones said they were not from the far east but wouldn't say where they are from. Taking him at face value it's pretty inexplicable why the US shield has all the same mistakes in the detailing as the cheap ones From the far east. Maybe they chose to copy the cheap ones rather than copying an OEM shield. Not sure I can work out why you would do that .......

p.p.s. The earlier shields are nothing like any of these, entirely different design.

 

How may horses do you need on your car?

you say "why certain cars have them" that's my point if it didn't leave the factory with them then it doesn't need them especially if it "really means something"

if everyone has some aftermarket stickers on their cars then what's the damn point? I will be the guy without them on his cars thank you.

 

The point is Johnny, you're slightly missing the point It DID mean something quite some time ago, it doesn't now. The 'factory argument' only holds any water if you're one of those people where everything on the car is, and has to be, absolutely as it left the factory, in reality very few cars are. People get all hot under the collar about Scuderia shields but bearing in mind they only really link the cars with the racing team these days (and Ferrari has always been all about the racing team) I don't see any problems. It's an option on any car now and even if you go back to the 348, looking at the car's development you could argue that if owners want to put them on, they can back that decision up if they want. Shouldn't have to but can if they want to. Each to their own maybe?


Oh, by the way, love the look of the new F355, especially from the rear. Big fan of the Challenge Grill, myself

(said in jest, my friend )

 

I realise this is very much a personal thing, but when I see a 355 without the shields I think it looks a bit naked. Mine had them when I bought it but if it didn't, putting them on would have been one of the first things I did.
I have no idea what sort they are but I suspect they are the factory resin ones (my car is a '98). Until reading this thread I had no idea how anal some people can be about this stuff!

As for the guy being aghast that someone spending $80k on a car could be so sloppy as to not have the perfect shields on... good 355s are $150k here. And to be honest I didn't give a **** what kind of shields were on my car. I was just happy it had them and I think they look great.

Having said that, thanks for planting the seed of doubt you lot - especially you Pete .... I may now have to look into those metal ones...
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Sorry Steve

I had the resin ones on before and although I said that they look like plastic, I did qualify that - it's because they're made of plastic. Nothing wrong with them. I personally prefer the yoshis, if they come off I may well go back to the resins. For me I wouldn't get the other enamel ones simply because if I want enamel, I want them as close to the OEM look as possible. There's a lot to be said for resins, though. If they start to look old you can take them off with 5 minutes and a hairdryer and throw a fresh set on.

 

No worries! Your analysis of this topic is interesting, if potentially expensive... But on the long list of things I'd like to do to my car, replacing the current shields with more "correct" ones is pretty low on the importance scale. I'm just happy that the car has shields at all.

Troublemaker!

 

I'm sorry, just get 'feisty' when people get on their high horse (excuse the punn) about Scuderia shields as if it's some form of crime to put them on the car - it's a symbol for crying out loud.

I could also have pointed out how wrong most people are as the symbol itself predates the road car division of Ferrari by almost 18 years anyway. Scuderia Ferrari was formed by Enzo in 1929 when he was racing Alfas and the symbol went on the cars from 1932 onwards. The Cavallino Rampante had actually been 'given' to Enzo in 1923 by the mother of Francesco Baracca, a WW1 Italian fighter ace who was killed in action in 1918, and who asked Enzo to wear the symbol on his cars. It actually represents sportsmanship, boldness and gallantry and in a very real way is Enzo's own symbol, almost a signature. You could say having one on your car is in a very real way doffing your cap to the old boy for what he achieved.

Or you could say it's just a silly sticker

Think I'm out, I say do as you wish

 

I guess I only like them when they came from the factory because the factory shields were recessed.


That's why I don't like the stickers.

 

Cool, your prerogative. A lot of the original ones the Scuderia used were not actually recessed, they were effectively stickers (or painted on earlier cars), but I take your point about the road going versions.

 

Phrogs, just seen something that is interesting at 1:20 - looks kind of like they're using yoshis-esque shields on the LaFerrari (though maybe just for the vid, ie for the mock up). If it's good enough for a LaFerrari then it's good enough for my 348

p.s. It's still a very silly name ..........

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFRYvMtQkQU]New Ferrari supercar LaFerrari : 963 hp - YouTube[/ame]

Edit: Actually looking at some high res images the LaFerrari on display at launch had shields exactly like a yoshi - ie thin and not indented - wonder if you can buy them. Funny thing is I wrote to Ferrari more than a year ago suggesting they make a thin enamel shield to sell as lots of guys wanted them but didn't llike the plastic ones. Total coincidence I'm sure but good to see all the same.

 

And lastly, saw this the other day. May not be to everyone's taste but certainly doesn't have anything other than a sticker. (It's a 599 Alonso Edition).
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Just a demo from post #71.........
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I am only referring to the usage on 348/355s not other models race car or otherwise, this is the 348/355 forum right?? that is only what I am referring to, the aftermarket stuff that people sell so the end owner can put them on their car, a car that did not leave the factory with shields.

That is it. I'm not saying you can't have them BUT the name of this thread is Stick on Shields.. Your thoughts?

I refuse to spend another $400 dollars on this car this month so stop trying to convince me!

 

Hey, not trying to convince you to put them on your car

You must confess your original post implied you wouldn't put them on your car *because* it didn't leave the factory with them, but trust me, a 95 Berlinetta didn't have a Challenge grill on either when it left the factory. But it looks good and allegedly keeps the bay cooler so win/win really.

Was just interested that on their new car Ferrari have gone for a thin stick on shield rather than recessed. Has to be because of design, no other reason I can think of, but it looks no different to the likes of a Yoshi. Wondered if they would sell them, that was all.

Your original post had the tone of shields shouldn't be put on if not on from the factory but they're no different to Challenge Grills, different carpets or interior, bling wheels maybe...... the only difference is they have a significance that has largely been lost, mostly because the current management have decided to put them on every car (as an option).