Paint Protection Film Where to Apply

[St Pete Viper ACR E]

Hey there,

My Gen V is arriving Monday and I immediately want to take her to get some track day condoms put on.

Apart from the obvious front fascia where should I have them applied?

I was thinking:

Front Fascia
Mirrors
Vent opentings over the front wheels

Where else would you recommend?

Thanks,

[Martin]

I forget - what color is it? That's becoming an important point - if it's a color that's impossible to get fixed without sending back to Prefix, then getting the whole thing wrapped along with a double layer of protection behind the wheels, plus stone guards, is a must. If it's white, you might want to consider not putting the wrap near the first cat - that's where they virtually always yellow and bubble up. Furthermore, if it's white, you might end up seeing your paint yellow with time, and there's a chance FCA will not warranty your paint with the wrap applied. If it's an easy color to repair at the local body shop, the areas you noted should be good - along with having the roofline and wing wrapped, and of course stone guards to protect the sills a bit.

Getting the wheels and calipers ceramic coated will save you a ton of trouble keeping things clean. With the ceramic, grime and dust just rinses off.

Also, seriously consider getting a couple layers of protective film put on your windshield. The windshields on these things are expensive... I have a double wrap on mine, and when a rock hit it, it just left a little divot in the plastic but the window was fine. If I didn't have the film, the windshield would definitely have gotten a ding in it.

[swexlin]

Cost for whole car is prohibitive. I did Front Fascia, Wheelwells, Rockers, rear quarters.

Should have done the hood as well.

[Vipes]

The whole car if your car is black, worth it's weight in gold. Most people just do the front bumper, 1/3-1/2 of the hood, mirrors and the area behind each wheel (lower part of side still and lower rear quarter panel). Also, boomerang rock guards are a must in these cars, especially with your ACR's sticky tires that likes to grab and sling small pebbles.

[Dr.Ron]

I have black & I did a custom piece behind the rear wheels, side skirts, behind the front wheels, the front splitter, nose and 1/3 of the hood, and I think a piece in front of the rear wheels as well.
I have the front stone boomerang guards too. Full car paint correction & ceramic coating, including the wheels.. This seems to be working.

Ron

[BlknBlu]

Front bumper, side sills, behind rear tires and mirrors. Also have mud flaps on front and rear

Bruce

[Dr.Ron]

Front bumper, side sills, behind rear tires and mirrors. Also have mud flaps on front and rear

Bruce

Oh yeah, I did the backs of the mirrors as well!

[ViperJon]

Ceramic coating has ZERO to do with paint protection in the sense the OP is talking about.

[blingnoring]

The whole car if your car is black, worth it's weight in gold. Most people just do the front bumper, 1/3-1/2 of the hood, mirrors and the area behind each wheel (lower part of side still and lower rear quarter panel). Also, boomerang rock guards are a must in these cars, especially with your ACR's sticky tires that likes to grab and sling small pebbles.

could not agree more. my car was wrapped as Vipes mentions since new from the previous owner and the car looks brand new. (2014 GTS with 12k miles on it now). the wrap covers about 1/3 of the hood. if it was up to me, I would have done the whole hood cause gts-r blue is a darker color and some people can notice where it ends. I got the Jack B stone guards and they not only look great but they definitely take a beating, to me those are also worth their weight in gold.

[St Pete Viper ACR E]

It is a custom color pearlescent white which is difficult but not impossible to repair.

Thanks for the feedback Martin!

- - - Updated - - -

It is a customer color pearlescent white which is difficult but not impossible to repair.

Thanks for the feedback Martin!

[ViperNC]

I just picked up my '16 1 of 1 car back in April with a custom color and the PPF that was on the car was crap. Just had it redone with Xpel PPF for the front fascia, entire hood, A pillars, the front 18 inches of the roof, and side mirrors. The problem is that it looks so good, I'll probably wind up spending more $$$ to get a few other areas done as well.

[Martin]

I figured I may as well do the whole car. On my Gen IV ACR, the black center band looked like hell after a couple of years of really minor wear and tear. Just putting on and taking off the car cover would leave micro-scratches in it. It drove me crazy to say the least. With the whole Gen V ACR wrapped, my only complaint are the visible seams. So far, I'm the only one that sees them, and others only see them when I point them out, but they kind of bug me. That said, with the Suntek and a ceramic coat over it, all I have to do is spray the car with water and everything comes right off. I can use a leaf blower to dry it, and don't need to touch it with a towel. Any scratches or imperfections that I've seen in the Suntek have gone away once I park the car in the sun for an hour or so.

It's great stuff, but I am still a bit worried that twenty years from now it will cause problems. Oh well, twenty years from now someone will have probably inherited the car anyway.

[Bruce H.]

Do the whole car. Big outlay but worth it when it's not a garage queen. So nice not to be constantly worried about scratching it that you'll find you want to drive it more.

[98intrigue]

Where are you taking it to? I highly recommend Auto Paint Guard in Tampa if you are still shopping.

[Voice of Reason]

If you have TA splitters get those wrapped. I didn’t initially and at 20k miles they’ve taken a beating. I just had them wrapped to return some of the gloss that’s been eroded and provide protection going forward.

I don’t get the mud flaps though. With PPF what’s the point? Maybe on a dark car but on white they’d stand out.

[TheMadMachinist]

Mite be over kill but I had the underneath of the hood just over the two wheel wells done. The bottom side of your hood is the inside top of your front wheel wells.

Martin what product did you use for your windshield?

I don't know what it is about Vipers, but the three GEN's that I have owned all ended up with just a ton of window divots. My old GEN 2 got so bad I could hardly drive into the sun and see where I was going.

[Caldermw]

My suggestion is to do the entire car. No worries about paint looking different on a covered panel vs. an uncovered panel. No inadvertent scratches on a panel you thought was generally "safe" - there is no such thing on these cars. Every panel is subject to abrasions whether due to rock chips, road debris, or human causes (walking too close and rubbing against the car with a purse, set of car keys, grocery bag, etc.). It's a significant investment, but it is still way less than paying to repaint the car.

[eseery]

I went with the front fascia, 1/3 of the hood, mirrors, and behind the rear wheels. Also have the boomerang guards as well. Couldn't be happier with the protection. I skipped the windshield protection though as my insurance has awesome glass coverage.

[GTS21]

I did a full wrap, along with the stone guards and ceramic coating on top of the film. For the stone guards, I had them wrapped in a carbon fiber looking wrap to match the carbon fiber aero bits

[eseery]

I did a full wrap, along with the stone guards and ceramic coating on top of the film. For the stone guards, I had them wrapped in a carbon fiber looking wrap to match the carbon fiber aero bits

Never thought of wrapping the guards in carbon fiber, but that's a great idea. How has the wrap held up? I've used the carbon fiber wrap on some interior components, but never on the exterior.

[Martin]

Mite be over kill but I had the underneath of the hood just over the two wheel wells done. The bottom side of your hood is the inside top of your front wheel wells.

Martin what product did you use for your windshield?

I don't know what it is about Vipers, but the three GEN's that I have owned all ended up with just a ton of window divots. My old GEN 2 got so bad I could hardly drive into the sun and see where I was going.

I'm 99% sure I went with two layers of ClearPlex - the installer gave me a few options, and I think that's the one he installed. Of course, I'll never know for sure because it was almost an afterthought and he worked with a number of different ones. My question to him at the time was how it would hold up to a situation where I had grime on the windshield and then turned my windshield wipers on. If the film was going to scratch, I was going to pass. So, he told me about a few different ones, and I'm pretty sure I went with ClearPlex because it was the least likely to scratch. That's also why I went with two layers - if it did scratch, I could just peel off the bad layer.

Keep in mind that on the Gen V, the windshield is asymmetric due to the vent intake on the right side. This makes it extremely difficult to do a good window film install. Mine has a few areas where it's wrinkled at the corners - but they aren't noticeable unless you look really close from the outside.

On an ACR-E, I would almost say that hood, window, and roof wrap is a must. When the County graveled my road, it was like a rainstorm of gravel coming down on me. Without the wrap and film, it definitely would have messed up my paint and put divots in my windshield.

[sharmut]

If you have the budget and lazy about how to wash the car properly, do the entire car.

The ACR-E currently has the front end (Front Facia, Full Hood, Headlights) done and will have the remainder completed later this month. It's tracked often and the door sills accumulate plenty of track rubber and can be difficult to remove once they're baked on.
Considered adding on a side skirt from ExtremeSupercar, which extends far enough to block most of the debris, but didin't want to change the aero characterics.
54517154_2256798621063884_8628101393674141696_n.jpg

[Purple Haze]

People forget the "Door Grabs"-handle indentation area- as I call them. Scratches from fingernails are common after a few months. It's just a tiny piece but worth it. I have all my cars done there...

[St Pete Viper ACR E]

People forget the "Door Grabs"-handle indentation area- as I call them. Scratches from fingernails are common after a few months. It's just a tiny piece but worth it. I have all my cars done there...

AH Yes you are correct, my GFs nails will tear through that paint like a angry cat on your skin. Then again she points out that she shouldn't be opening up her car door anyway.... LOL

[GTS21]

Never thought of wrapping the guards in carbon fiber, but that's a great idea. How has the wrap held up? I've used the carbon fiber wrap on some interior components, but never on the exterior.

So far so good, though my car only has 1,500 miles so far. I figure the guards could be re-wrapped once they get torn up