Just bought a 2010 XR demo. I think I got a good deal. Anyway, it's black and I'm concerned about stone chips. Anyone using a clear bra or have opinions on them?
Thanks

 

Oops, sorry, read the thread title but mind went in a totally different direction.

 

Not a problem, quite understandable. I was going to title it "front end protection", but that would have openned a whole other can of worms.

 

I looked into doing this as well as I cover 90mi/ day of almost all highway with lots of those lovely 18wheeler trucks filled with rocks and dirt from all the local North Texas natural gas "frac" wells.

However, you can NOT cover a ~4"x10" area in the center area of the front bumper as the ACC radar box sits immediately behind the bumper skin. Jaguar specifically states in the Owner's Manual that anything placed on the bumper may interfere with the ACC functioning.

 

So I assume you didn't do it. I'd be interested in knowing how you are doing with paint chips. Its been suggested at the hood is not a big problem because of its angle.

 

I assume you're talking about the Paint Protection Film that can be applied to areas of the car like a clear vinyl wrap rather than those horrible (sorry if anyone has got one) black things that seem so popular over there?

I've wondered if this film was the answer to the problem of stone-chips but never actually seen it on a car.

 

I asked that same question a few months ago. The thread got moved to the detailing forum. Here's a link.

I'm still pleased with my choice and my adaptive cruise works splendidly, by the way.

 

Just read your clear-bra thread AirCav and have to so I'm very impressed.

Barely noticeable unless the seam is pointed out, unlike a bumper full of stone chips!
Looks good.

 

Just saw the thread with the pix. Thanks, looks great. I just saw one applied to a Porsche that went halfway up the hood. The covered and uncovered areas of the hood look identical to me and you had to look for the seam to see it.
May be the way to go.

 

Thanks. Also, as I mentioned in the other thread, I was intentionally trying to show it in a bad light to expose any deficiencies. That seam you see is on the lower sides and really unobtrusive. The installation was well done. The only remaining question to be answered is long-term durability. I have no reason to think that's a problem but a number of people seem convinced that it is.

I still intend on getting some better pictures of the "bra" since it seems to be a rare and misunderstood addition around this community. Those posted in the other thread were hurriedly done on a dirty car.

Yeah, there are a couple different options as far as coverage. I decided to just cover the most vulnerable section, the bumper cover. That also provided a convenient body seam to help camouflage the film.

I'm not opposed to repainting the bumper cover of a car periodically but the celestial black paint has a lot of metallic and I suspect that it would be a bitch to match. I think I'm better off trying to preserve the factory paint on this one.

If you decide to try it, do your homework on the various brand options and make sure you find a quality installer. I suspect that is where most of the problems come from.

 

A good "pro" bra article over on the 6Speed "Aston Martin" forum:

clear bra "yellowing" and other bra questions - 6speedonline.com Forums

 

interest in clear bra. will paint fade in sun over time if remove later?

 

I had a clear bra applied to my Celestial Black XKR last year. The installer was referred to me by my local Houston Jag Dealer. He did an excellent job and I have been very happy with it. It still looks great one year later. I did learn one important lesson. About one month after installation, I observed two small smudges where a stone had bounced off the bra. I decided to "polish" them out. I read several articles on the internet about how to do it and one Saturday morning, with some very fine polishing compound in hand, I began the process. Two very small scuffs were my targets. After about 15 minutes, I was very happy with the first one so I started on the second one. I must have been a bit over zealous on the second one because the more I polished, the larger the scuff became. Finally, about an hour later, i had made a real mess of the situation and I decided to remove the largest and most complicated piece of the bra. I took it back to the installer and he was quite happy to replace this section for three quarters of the original price. Despite all this, the bra looks good one year later and seems to have protected my paint. I am very careful when washing the car and I don't try to polish minor blemishes. By the way, I think my problem was a result of rubbing to aggressively and heating up the material.

 

What about these?

Jaguar XK 2010 Clear Bra Bumper Cover | eBay

 

I had clear bra professionally installed on my new Audi A5 and it did do a good job with avoiding rock chips - my advice is that I would not go with the pre-cut ones you can buy on eBay - my impressions it's much harder to install than they make it out to be.