Are the koshi carbon fiber interior bits just snap or glue on or do you have to risk breaking the car taking it apart?

 

I have order a couple of interior parts and have several others on order. Most of the parts are on-lay or overlays, but some are replacement parts. A great resource is TMC Motorsports which is a retailer of Koshi parts. TMC includes a description of the parts and how they are installed, overlay vs replacement. Furthermore they quantify the difficulty of installation. The parts I have installed are a bit pricey but the quality speaks for itself.

 

Thanks, I bought a bunch of it and am no mechanic by any means. I was under the impression it was easy like the site said.

 

I have most of the Koshi carbon trim pieces in my car. It is a bit tedious but well worth it. They recommend using very thin 3M double sided tape. It just takes time to cut the tape for the a/c vents & door handle trims. I also agree TMC is the best place to purchase from as they accept Paypal. If you go direct with Koshi they want a bank transfer.

 

Thats good to know. Thanks. Jeeze, for the price of this stuff youd think they could supply the tape. I found a company called madness motorsports in the U.S. they had most of the parts I wanted except the one I wanted most the door handle cover. Thos stock plastic door hsndles are awful. I guess tmc will be used for the rest then.

How long have you had it, and how is it holding up?

 

Just want to mention that you can get any Koshi part from Madness too. Recently I contacted Damone Rippy at Madness and he was able to get several interior parts including the vent covers, seat control covers, window switch covers, Seat inserts and the Instrument Cluster Rings. Their price was $80 more than TMC after a shipping discount. I chose to pay the difference because of the benefits of dealing with an American based company, much easier to return a defective part and also I was not clear on if I would have to pay tariff for things imported from Europe.

 

Thats funny I talked to him today he is getting the other parts I needed that werent on their website. I figured it was worth it dealing local too. So what thickness 3m tape did you use? I saw some online that was .7 mm what thickness did you go wiith?

 

Ive seen their website also - if you’re willing to - give them a call and ask about a small group buy. If they can order your parts and mine maybe we can each save a few bucks. I was going to order sometime soon and work in it over the winter but if we get a good deal, I can pull the trigger now and I’m planning to get at least 8-10 pieces. If not, no biggie, I’ll just call myself.

 

Have you considered contacting a vendor like 1016 industries for some bespoke carbon replacement pieces? It will be pricey, although depending on the level of interest they receive for the platform, perhaps they would be willing to give you some sort of protyping or group buy discount.

I ask because those koshi carbon bits look fairly expensive already, and frankly, the slip-on ones seem like a waste of money. You're essentially adding weight (not much, but still) for a high performance veneer, and it can look pretty tacky if the cf cover doesn't adhere properly and starts separating.

To each their own, obviously, but if it were me, I'd much rather spend that money on lighter wheels/brakes/batteries, etc.

EDIT: just saw you've already purchased pieces. Make sure you post pictures of them installed to see if you can change my mind!

 

If anyone has pictures of the koshi bits installed, I’d greatly appreciate it!

 

Based on the photos I’ve seen and feedback from those with koshi carbon pieces, the quality appears to be fine - what I cannot possibly wrap my head around is the comment about weight savings. If you ordered every part they made, it might add 5 pounds to the car - not like it’s going to add 2 seconds to the quarter mile time. Some people like visual mods, others performance, and some both, but a couple pounds isn’t going to make or break anything related to performance. Wanna cut weight, run around your neighborhood in a trash bag for 30 minutes and lose 5 pounds. Do that every day for a month and you’ve accomplished the same thing as you would spending $6k on forged wheels.

 

Tabling any discussion on your valuation of time, I understand what you're saying. It's less about the actual weight or impact to performance for me (and you are correct, there will be almost none), and more about a general sense of misrepresentation. Seeing a car dripping in carbon pieces that actually is no lighter than standard is somewhat analogous to putting an amg badge and body kit on a c300.

Not trying to tell anyone how to mod their car; go for it if it makes you happy (and I hope it turns out the way you want). I just think for me there are potentially better uses for the money.

 

You spend the majority of your time with the car inside it. The carbon looks good to some and the black plastic door handles especially look like something from a yugo. As far as weight goes the weight of all these pieces is one less big mac a week.

 

 

I’d be dead if I lost 40 lbs. Good forged wheels can be had for half that price.

 

you only have to lose 5 to offset the weight.

 

So what double tape are guys that have installed this using? What is the thickness,? this carbon is thin and some of that 3m double tape looks thick. Any particular brand and specific model of tape?
im assuming the thinner the better.

 

I used VHB tape 3mm, parts are really good!







Ordered more parts, key cover, steering, shift paddles,etc , perhaps going to try the koshi carbon spoiler and mirrors. photoshopped rear on black just to give an idea and i'm not yet convinced...

 

I think that looks great. Definitely a nice uplift to the F-Type's interior. Do you happen to know what model number of VHB tape you used (or have a link)? There's so many different ones I'd just want to make sure I get an adhesive that works alright. I have the carbon overlays for the centre console and passenger grab handle (which I messed up trying to get rid of the stickyness) and would love to fit those this week. Cheers!

 

Actually is 0.5mm, looks more. 4905F is the one i saw everyone use on car parts... maybe isn't the best! but sticks really good. I also applied primer on the metal handles