Was thinking of getting one for my car. What are your thoughts? Anyone have one on their silver CL? Can you post pix? Thanx

Jon

 

I don't like them, they tend to trap dirt and moisture and when you take the bra off the car looks like shit.

 

PM me if you decide to buy one from acura. I have a brand new acura front bra for the 01-03 CL that is still in the box. I put the versus kit on my car and it won't fit.

 

I don't like the way it looks. I'd only use it for road trips. I would much rather have a "clear" bra on my car.

 

what good is it if used for road trips only.............?
well make it could act like a bug deflector or something....................................ehhh

 

ugly.

 

Road trips = sustained highway speeds = prolonged eposure to rocks, bugs, other misc debris that at 65-85 mph that will easily damage the paint.

That's what good it is only for road trips.

 

I like the bra. I think it depends on what color car you have mostly I have a white car with blacked out windows and tails so it matches. It does add a lil dirt to the front of your car b/c it traps it but you have to wash it ne way. Dont leave it on all the time. But it is all in your personal pref. good luck in your choice.

 

I own the bra and only use it on long road trips. Works great but doesn't look good for everyday driving.

 

Good for trips, otherwise, leave it off and don't ride peoples asses

 

The Acura car bra is pretty good, try to put it on before going on the highway. After 45k my front still looks really good, and it has preserved my paint from lots of damage.

My car is anthracite, so the car bra blends in better than some cars. Sometimes I only use the hood piece if I'm lazy and am in a hurry to get on the highway.

 

Good! it protects your front end from road debris and paint chips. It easier to replace the a bra than to paint the front end.

 

DO NOT GO WITH A BLACK VINYL BRA. It will only damage your paint under and the car discolors differently.

Go with a clear 3M bra. No appearance change, if instlled properly you cannot even tell it is on there and it will not damage the paint. It is UV stabilized (3M is, not all of them are), so the sun penetrates through it and discolors paint under it just like the rest of the car. And best off all, it keeps you rock chip free.

Let me know if you will have any more questions.

Mark.

 

a vinyl bra will not damage your paint or dis-color it if only used sometimes. i.e. roadtrips or left on for only a day or two. Please do not mislead the man.

Now, a vinyl bra will start to damage paint if left on for weeks or months at a time while getting wet and road debris gets caught up in it.

i've owned bra's for most of the cars I have owned and have never given me problems. As long as you maintain it properly and are aware how to use it they work great.

 

I agree with above. I NEVER had any problems with car bra's. I have left them on for weeks at a time. Not so much on the CLS though cause Acura's is a pain to put on & take off. I use the one for the Acura for only road trips. It protects that front end.

 

90 percent of everything downloaded on the web is braless,,, ever wonder why that is

 

I just think our man mark 3M is trying to get around paying Vendor Fees if you know what I mean

 

bras are great for roadtrips id rather my car look gay on the freeway then have shitloads of chips in my paint after a roadtrip ( our cars will look gay but will still smoke alot of other cars out there haha ) but leaving a vinyl bra on for more then a month in the sun will kill your paint though

 

to all the guys responses above...

Go find RockBlocker and buy the CL kit if you want to protect your paint.

 

Couple points:
1) look where I am and where all the posts come from -- no way I will go to NY or Miami to install a bra for anyone
2) if you think that I may want to sell you a kit, so you can do it yourself -- read my other posts and you will see that I am against self installs and recommend buying the kits from people who will do the installs for you.
3) I wrote, contact me with more questions, not to buy one
4) I am an Acura owner and use the forum for sharing and gaining information
5) no, I did not get offended by the post i am replying to

As to the vinyl bras:
Why would you want one that you will have to put on and take off. If one thinks that you get rock chips on long trips and highway only, one may be on drugs or something else. You can get them on any road and any speed. Therefore, if you want 24/7 protection a clear 3M bra is the way to go. If you want protection from time to time, then you can mess with a vinyl bra. The sun does not penetrate through a vinyl bra, therefore it will create a 2 tone car, no question about it. Again, if you think otherwise, do a reality check.

There are 3 choices:
1) do not worry about rock chips, just the nature of driving
2) mess with vinyl bra - put on, take off, clean, etc.
3) put a clear bra on and forget about it

Take care and stay chip free, Mark.

 

The vinyle bra itself will not necessarily create a two-tone car. If cars are garaged at home or office this should not be an issue.

Roughly how much is the purchase and install for a 3M Clear Bra? From my recollection, the material is called Scotchcal, and costs several hundred dollars.

A couple months ago, I was involved in my first bumper collision. As a result, my vinyl bra ate most of the damage. The bumper of the car infront of me was virtually untouched, my bumper cracked a couple inches, and the bra has a hardly noticeable small cut... I never have had a 3m clearbra, think it's an interesting idea, but prefer my vinyl for the protection and cost.

 

I'm sure your front bumper looks alot better than mine and Kevin's

I'm gonna need to repaint this spring probably.

 

Yes, the clear bra will run you $450 up to $700 or more installed (bumper, hood, fenders, mirrors) depending on the part of the country, installer (and their overhead), etc. It is not the cheapest solution, but... some feel the best, some feel there are better solutions.

In case of a minor accident, the clear 3M bra will take most of the abuse. On my wife's Jeep, the film was messed up, the paint under was not even damaged, so we only replaced the film, no paint job needed. I can bring a lot of different examples where the clear bra protected the car from repaints and body work in an accident. I assume just like the vinyl bra would.

As to the preference, that is why there are different choices on the market. If one asks for an opinion, I share mine and I am glad others do too.

Take care, Mark.

 

mark are you a vendor yet ? because your pitchign yourself off to sound like one and if you are and havent paid the fees then yea, you have no right to talk about it

and how the hell does the black vinyl/pleather bra hurt our cars? Acura designed them to fit our lines and preserve the paint/body of the car. The material on the inside does what its needed to, prevents anything from rubbing or causing abbrasions.

No offenese but what the hell would you spend upwards of 700 dollars for a freakin clear bra. Do the math, 189 (if you can get a discount for the oem bra) and you can take it off whenever in about 2 mintues and put it on in about the same time.

Your inferences that the 3m bra will take most of the abuse is an issolated incident. Im not coming down on you, but the fact is you didnt even say why the film was messed up in the first place. Thinnk about this, the vinyl/pleather bra has some give in it so if something drops on it, no scratcj, possibly no dent. Now the same thing happens to a clear "3M BRA" you are fucked because now the film needs to be replaced and there is a much greater chance the paint will be damage because there is 1. not as thick a layer 2. a lot more resistance to stretch and will give less cushion to the impact. Im sorry but your story of "the film was messed up" doesnt cut it. A minor accident meaning that a shopping cart hit the car? Because you can apply simple physics to this, if its something as minor as a bumper tap, something that has some give in it will move before it catches. The 3M bra has no give and will instantly become damaged as well as a possibility of the being.


No offense to you Mark. Your reasoning and effots (quasi advertising i guess?) just arent justified enough for you to say that the clear bra and 'safer' then a vinyl one.

We are both subject to our opinions as you said afterall

Jordan

 

Also 3M will eventually discolor over time as with everything else. However you are talking about a film now. This film, even if it is transparent is still blocking a good amount of rays from the sun. The 3M layer or whoever makes it will be obscounding (i think thats the word) the paint underneath the levels that the non covered paint are recieving. This will ultimately give you a two tone effect.

Whereas the Vinyl bra is removable when needed/neccessary, and lets say you use it for 14 days total out of the two years you have the car ... i dont think that will amount to anywhere near the same amount of paint fade as the clear bra would

another 2 cents

 

willdogs .. i agree with you

 

the vinyl bra will not discolor your paint unless you leave it on for many weeks and it goes through cycles of being wet/dirty and allowing the bra to dry on the car with the sun. That will screw up your clear coat and making it hazy/dull in no time. Again it comes down to attention to detail.

 

Jordan,

Read my post titled "Avoid Fees?" to get the answer on me being a vendor or not.

Yes, I can do the math and I did several times. Like I have mentioned, there are different choices on the market and we both have a different preference. I am not here to prove to you or nobody else that it is the best product as to paint protection. Therefore, I did not elaborate in detail on the accident or such (it was about 20 mph running into a car to keep it short).

No offence to the Acura owners (as I am one of them), if you look at the high end car market such as Porsche, BMW, Ferrari, etc. more people go with the clear bra rather then the vinyl bra. Maybe you cannot tell, since they are not really visible, but read some of the discussions on forums for those cars. Once again, 24/7 protection not just 2 weeks out of 2 years like I believe you mentioned in one of your posts.

As to discoloring the paint, the material is UV stabilized allowing for the sun to penetrate through it and discolor the paint under the film at the same rate the rest of the car is discolored.

Once again, I am just presenting another point of view, not trying to sell you one or force nobody to buy one from anyone.

By the way, no offence taken. I have been around the product for about 7 years (I am in Recreational Vehicle industry where it is very widely used on full body paint coaches over $200k or so) and it took me about 3-4 years to start really believing in the product. When you first look at it, if seems like nothing, when you see the abuse it can handle and how it holds up, one may change his/her mind. Yes, I am not very discreptive here, but I do not care. I do not want to chance you mind, just present a different point.

Stay chip free however you choose to do it, Mark.