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I'm planning on wrapping the car soon and because I couldn't find any decent comparisons between 3m Vinyl that costs an arm and a leg and vinyl you can buy from China I thought I'd lay them out next to each other.
The main point of interest between the two would be the price. For the 3m vinyl it costs $600 to cover a car the size of the 3g.
For the Chinese vinyl that is a little thicker, darker, lacks metallic flakes and is not matte, its $200 for enough to cover 2 cars.
So I bought the Chinese one so I can get rid of it later if I feel like it.
Here are some shots showing the differences.
This first sample was sanded with 3000 grit sandpaper. Makes the vinyl lighter so that's not an option.
4000 grit which doesn't change much so not an option
Plasti-dipped with transparent matte finish. Looks splotchy from different angles so not an option either.
3m Vinyl reflectivity or lack thereof
Chinese Vinyl how it is
The chinese vinyl still is a smooth surface so it can be scratched. The 3M vinyl can also be scratched but it suffers from other issues. Its super thin so an imperfections in the paint is magnified. It does look beautiful but for the price the cheaper one wins hands down. Also with the 3m having a true matte surface it will bond to contaminents easily and any scuffs will essentially glaze the vinyl.
The cheaper vinyl is a little better in those regards and if you have scuffs on it just buy another role and a panel again.
Now I can attest to the fact that 3M holds up against UV. My front bumper has been wrapped for a year and a half now with no fading. Will report back on how the cheaper vinyl does.
So update on things, the vinyl is crap and has no air channels cut in it so its next to impossible to work with. Even flat surfaces are a pain to wrap. So I might look at a different brand to see if they have something better that works.
The RSB is set to the stiffest setting possible and in the snow or on ice generates oversteer. Its very controllable if you flick the car but can be surprising if traction conditions change. Gotta stay awake to drive the car a little fast in the snow.
Hmmm...interesting take on it...I would say that it also helped with understeer.
and I was rooting for the cheap vinyl. You get what you pay for, I guess.
After lowering the car the rear has a lot of traction with the toe set to zero. The front tends to under steer in the dry and when there's low traction it oversteers quickly.
The cheap vinyl from this supplier isn't good. I just need to find a different one to try out. I want to sell the vinyl in the mean time though so I'm waiting for that to go before I try to buy something else. Plus its winter so will just have to wait.
For sure, man...
I know that set at full stiff (rsb) I could confidently take my old highway offramp exit about 15 mph faster without the understeer slide starting.
Update since the last time. Got rid of the vinyl and bought some used TSW's for restoration later on. Decided to fix my Volks since they needed a good caring repaint. Was a paint to strip the old paint but put in a lot of work to get it done.
TSW trackstar's for a later date to be fixed.
In the middle of stripping the paint.
All clean
Primer
First coat
Base coats all done
Car had to sit on jack stands overnight while I finished the wheels.
Running 235 40 ZR18 Sumitomo HTR Z III. I'm um... running it close. Slight rubbing on the fender liner. Will have to see if it can be trimmed.
Will be taking better shots today after I polish the lip. Didn't take any pics after clear coat.
Last edited by d1sturb3d119; 02-20-2015 at 10:06 AM.
I've had a lot of trial and error before this. Just goes to show good prep goes a long way. Took 5 days to sand the first two wheels then 3 days for the other two. Finally did the coats slow. Had some issues after the tires were mounted where the paint peeled. Don't have any place to bake the paint. Had to repair the paint again and blend the paint. Learned a lot and picked up a few interesting paint tactics!
Nah, powdercoating is for steel and involves heat treatment. Steel has no issues with that. Aluminium on the other had tends to anneal. Which basically means it ages and gets brittle. On forged or cast wheels you increase the possibility of stress fractures from repeated use of the wheel. That's why any major wheel manufacturer will void your warranty if you powder coat their wheels.
Anodizing on the other hand is cheaper and uses acid to clean the wheel then oxidize a thin layer of the metal with whatever color you want. It doesn't damage the structure of the wheel and gives you a different look.
Mine had salt damage which aluminium wheels are susceptible to. No one in Utah anodizes wheels so had to go the paint route.
At the right height preset when the suspension was bought the car had understeer. I got another alignment done with it set to 0.05 degrees of toe out on the rear and the car still understeer's on corner entry. I tried to compensate with stiffer dampening on the rear but even with the increased hydraulic support the car would understeer.
I finally had no choice but to increase the rear ride height. The car doesn't look great since the rear is riding almost at stock height now. However the driving dynamics have greatly improved. It's tendency is to oversteer now which can be fun but has its consequences.
I may need to reduce the sway bar stiffness to compensate and allow for better traction through a corner. Will have to see.
Overall though for anyone wanting oversteer characteristics, raise the rear ride height. The car will corner much much much faster. I can't believe how much fun the car is now.
Yeah, I'll do it tomorrow. I need to try and reason out why driving dynamics outweigh looks. Feel bad but it drives so damn well. Little too crazy to be honest.
Front an rear. Sits pretty high on the front. Is a bit sad to see but the car is very lively. Wish it could be raised only half an inch instead of having it go up a full inch.
Nope. Unfortunately to cure the understeer issue this is what needs to happen. On a track or through a bigger canyon you'd never feel on. However for autocross it needs to be more aggressive which is what it is right now.
Lol you're not the only one feeling the pain. As an owner I notice it quite a bit. Its lost the negative camber it had on the rear now. I looked at the Yawsport TL to see how they manage to cure understeer. Can't figure it out. They're slammed to the ground.
They might be running really soft springs on the front vs the rear or even very agressive toe. Not sure. Right now all I know is at an even stance front to back gives me bad understeer on corner entry at low speed. Which for autocross doesn't bode well.
When you're running aggressive toe it makes sense. However at Autocross I can't really see a justification. Driving on track would make sense but I'm not sure how fast that TL really gets.
Have you tried to play with sway bars to under steer / over steer?
Its currently set to the stiffest setting on the rear with toe set out at 0.05 degrees. I have the progress sway bar on the rear. The front is still running the stock one since I want it to be a little softer to encourage as much oversteer. It does have very good turn in now. It is a little unnerving since the car tends to tighten the turn as you get on the gas. Feels like an RWD and there's no understeer at all. Only downside is the ride height at this time. I might need to upgrade to coilovers at some time. Also as a side note the rear of the car is completely stripped. No back seats, carpet, and nothing in the trunk.
10-09-2014, 03:04 PM
I was rooting for the cheap vinyl. You get what you pay for, I guess.
