Front end mask for GT?

I'm thinking about front end protection for the winter months. The salt/sand use around here is judicious to say the least. Thin paint + winter roads = me pissed in the Spring. I'd rather not do a clearbra if I can help it.

 

I know you can't use the full front end mask (2.5i) on a GT. But I was thinking about buying the full front end mask for the 2.5i and just using the lower half (bumper cover), and complementing that with the GT hood deflector.

 

Thoughts...? Any reason why the lower half of the mask would be a problem on a GT? As I understand it, airflow to the hood scoop is the only reason you shouldn't use the full mask on a GT. It'll probably look goofy, but during the Winter, who gives a rats a$$.

Why don't you want the clear bra?

Yeah? Grit gets under a vinyl bra and scratches the paint.

^$$$$ and I don't get the point of putting a clear protectant on the front end that itself will just get all dinged and scratched. Sure the paint won't get scratched/dinged, but the clearbra will instead....no?

Yeah, my clear bra is dinged. Better that than my paint. I have had a vinyl bra on another car, so I know first hand what happens. You have to be meticulous in keeping it clean underneath. Most people (including me) aren't.

I rmb someone on here asking why there isn't a bra for the LGT. got an answer along the lines of that it affects the perf. cuz of the hood scoop

Yeah, my clear bra is dinged. Better that than my paint. I have had a vinyl bra on another car, so I know first hand what happens. You have to be meticulous in keeping it clean underneath. Most people (including me) aren't.

 

That's my thing with the clear bra. It's dinged and not something you can just easily take off so what's the real difference between that and letting the bumper getting dinged? The bumper's not going to rust anyway, it's plastic. And it's not like when you pull that off the bumper is going to be pristine underneath.....or will it? Aside of the fact of the cost to reapply another one later on. If they were $50 a pop, I would put a new one on every season.

 

I hear ya with the regular bra too though. They can wreak havoc over time. I would only have it on when the weather was at it's worst as much as I could help it. It's really a "lesser of two evils" kind of thing. I prefer to not have to do anything of course...

 

I don't see how just the lower half of a reg. bra could effect airflow to the IC in any way.......

 

I need to move south

 

Another thought... What about covering most of the front end with this stuff for the season??? Vinyl sticker "stuff". No room for crud to get behind there and it's pretty cheap. Hmmmm..

http://www.stickercity.com/store/product.php?productid=20969&cat=359&page=1

That vinyl stuff doesn't look too bad. For that price, you can afford to apply/remove it each year. I just wonder how easy it is to peel off.

 

I decided to go with the clear protection film and purchased a custom kit (Lamin-X) from a vendor on this forum. Doing it myself will save me around $300 but it should prove to be an interesting job.

 

It took me a while to convince myself that I needed this protection. The thing that convinced me in the end was a quick glance at some Subaru's in my area which had the clear protection vs those which didn't. The ones which didn't have any protection looked as though they were fired upon with buckshot! The paint was chipped off and the texture felt like a golf ball in some places. The ones with clear protection did have some marks but it wasn't nearly as bad since the paint wasn't chipped underneath. In fact, I was almost tempted to get the entire hood and bumper covered since the difference was so great that one could tell where the "border" was between protection and no protection. Luckily for me, my car is SWP so it won't show as badly as an OBP.

 

FYI, Calgary is one of the worst places for cars. Our city uses gravel and rock (instead of salt) on our roads because our winter temperatures are too cold for salt. It's not uncommon to go through at least one windshield per year either.