Paint Protection Film (PPF) and Wrap for your Emira

[TomE]

Agree with all here.. I have never PPF'd a car but plan on this being my first. I'll likely ceramic treat the PPF as well - a few Youtube videos really call out the benefit of this (though it seems strange to me initially). Effectively you get super hydrophobic surface with ceramic coated PPF making the car easier to clean on the regular, but you still benefit of the self correcting PPF for swirls, micro abrasions (with a little heat applied).

What about the underside? I certainly don't plan on driving in salty winter weather but where I am, the roads are dusty salt well into spring. If I'm not mistaking the underside is panelled or flat... can anyone confirm? Would the underside warrant any type of undercoating or "bed liner" type coating for real long term protection? Folks with existing Lotus?

The main purpose of PPF and/or Ceramic is to protect the surfaces you can see. There's a very small secondary benefit in terms of preventing actual corrosion, but the paint protects from that unless it is breached and even then it's a composite panel not steel underneath.

The underside is completely flat apart from the aero vents under the front of the engine bay and then the diffuser. I assume the undertray is anodised (like other Lotus cars) and the diffuser will be anodised or powder coated. Chassis components are usually anodized or powder coated. There's not a lot of benefit in doing further protection and instead just do a regular wash of wheel arches, suspension etc during the winter and in the spring.

The things that corrode are often where steel fasteners have been used. We don't know details yet for the Emira but on the Evora there were some of the undertray bolts and the fixings used for the mudflaps. People quickly identified those and aftermarket firms produced stainless steel versions if people wanted to replace them.

 

[ADC]

Protecting the underside is actually an interesting idea... I wonder if some PPF there would survive a trip into a gravel trap
The annoying thing would be having to flip the car over to apply the film

 

[mr_joshua]

The main purpose of PPF and/or Ceramic is to protect the surfaces you can see. There's a very small secondary benefit in terms of preventing actual corrosion, but the paint protects from that unless it is breached and even then it's a composite panel not steel underneath.

The underside is completely flat apart from the aero vents under the front of the engine bay and then the diffuser. I assume the undertray is anodised (like other Lotus cars) and the diffuser will be anodised or powder coated. Chassis components are usually anodized or powder coated. There's not a lot of benefit in doing further protection and instead just do a regular wash of wheel arches, suspension etc during the winter and in the spring.

The things that corrode are often where steel fasteners have been used. We don't know details yet for the Emira but on the Evora there were some of the undertray bolts and the fixings used for the mudflaps. People quickly identified those and aftermarket firms produced stainless steel versions if people wanted to replace them.

Excellent information as always @TomE - I now know exactly what to look out for.

 

[TomE]

I know nothing about ceramic coating or PPF. When I get my Emira it will be a daily drive but I won’t be doing excessive mileage per year (5000-7000 miles) , I’m just wondering on what would be my best option and what kind of prices am I looking at? TIA

This is one of my local(ish) firms and it gives you a good overview of benefits, application and pricing:

XPEL Paint Protection Film | Könings Detailing

Make the most of our expert application of XPEL paint protection film. We're leading experts based in Hampshire and can keep your paintwork looking brand new.

www.konings.co.uk

Car Ceramic Coating Near Me | Könings Detailing

Our expert ceramic detailing service uses high-quality Nasiol products to deliver the best shine and protection for your car in the Hampshire area.

www.konings.co.uk

On a daily driver I'd reckon on either part PPF (front and sides or "full front + performance pack" in the above link) and ceramic for the rest, or full PPF. Local to you look for a firm that uses Xpel or 3M PPF and is used to doing sportscars and supercars and has a controlled environment to apply it in.

If you're buying your Emira through a dealer they should have a local recommendation and be able to arrange getting it done before you take delivery.

 

[mr_joshua]

Protecting the underside is actually an interesting idea... I wonder if some PPF there would survive a trip into a gravel trap
The annoying thing would be having to flip the car over to apply the film

Well most underside wouldn't be film but rather rubberized "paint" like sprays. I'm thinking skid/protective plates like on trucks (which are often visible). I've also seen some high quality restorations where they clearly paint the frame and under side panels with bed-liner like material (which are super protective). But per @TomE description, sounds like the underside is covered with panels that would protect naughty stuff from getting into to the underside..

Also.. I kinda had my steel frame Tacoma in mind, but the Emira is a whole different ball game being an extruded aluminum frame. Not really the same things..

 

[ADC]

sounds like the underside is covered with panels that would protect naughty stuff from getting into to the underside

I know you can't see it, but my OCD cannot cope with stuff like that... I don't want scratches on my shiny new tub!!

 

[TomE]

Protecting the underside is actually an interesting idea... I wonder if some PPF there would survive a trip into a gravel trap
The annoying thing would be having to flip the car over to apply the film

The lengths some people will go to in order to protect the underside...

Joking aside (no one was injured), this shows the underside of an Evora. Flat panels and rear diffuser for great underbody aero, plus ducts for aero and cooling.

 

[Pegasi]

I've been told by several pro detailers that you either go with PPF or you go with Ceramic. It doesn't make sense to do both.

I actually did both PPF and Ceramic. The thought was PPF protects from physical objects like rocks and Ceramic protects from contaminants like bird crap and pollen. I then apply a Ceramic Boost every 3 months. I don't have a garage and I have a heavy tree canopy so I opted for admitted overkill. If I had a garage I might skip the Ceramic. The treatment has worked well though. I will do both for the Emira too.

 

[mr_joshua]

The lengths some people will go to in order to protect the underside...

Joking aside (no one was injured), this shows the underside of an Evora. Flat panels and rear diffuser for great underbody aero, plus ducts for aero and cooling.

1. Super happy no one hurt
2. But yes this is the best look I’ve ever seen of the underside. Absolutely fantastic. Not much I would do here (assuming those panels are all aluminum) Besides maybe grease the bolts to protect from rusting.

 

[Johnson]

I've been told by several pro detailers that you either go with PPF or you go with Ceramic. It doesn't make sense to do both.

That‘s interesting… it was a question I posed on a number of detailing forums myself. My thought was that the ceramic coating could possibly undermine the PPF by making it brittle.

However, consensus was that almost everyone who’d done PPF had also done a ceramic coat, with no ill effects (to date). Most did ceramic to increase the shine of the PPF.

 

[CanadianEmira]

I've been told by several pro detailers that you either go with PPF or you go with Ceramic. It doesn't make sense to do both.

Underside wise - you may not want to hear this, but when I lived in Connecticut (where my M2C was ordered and delivered in July 2019), once Winter hit, the car was basically in storage until the following Spring.

Having another car as a daily to do the errands, winter driving, etc made sense to me, and thus I keep a 2 car garage.

That said, I hated not being able to drive my weekend M2C for near as makes no difference 5-6 months out of the year (due to NY, CT, MA always being HEAVILY salted), so I went to the extreme and moved down to Georgia, where winter (and all that it comes with) isn't really an issue.

Respect the effort made here for the car lifestyle.

 

[Green]

It seems like many people are going to wrap their car for protection. It also seems a lot of people are having color hysteria! It seems like a very simple solution is to color wrap and get whatever color you want while protecting the factory paint. That is my plan. Verdant and if it is not exactly what I want then color wrap. Color already selected Inozetek midnight green.

 

[PaulP]

Wrap doesn’t last as long that’s my issue. Otherwise I would get a bright orange wrap

 

[Green]

Wrap doesn’t last as long that’s my issue. Otherwise I would get a bright orange wrap

i get that but if you are going to clear wrap it has the same life expectanc.

 

[PaulP]

i get that but if you are going to clear wrap it has the same life expectanc.

I think ppf lasts significantly longer. It’s much thicker.

 

[Mike-engel]

One other thing to consider if you do ceramic coating, either alone or with ppf (which is indeed thicker than most color wraps), is that it has a propensity for water spots. Modern coatings with graphene added tend to lower surface temperatures to reduce spotting. I will do full ppf with a graphene ceramic coating and a topper every 3 months or so. Adams makes a nice ceramic coating with a companion topper. Both have a UV tracer included so you can track thorough application with a black light. There are many fine products for paint protection these days. The smart thing is to use them and use their durability as a guidepost for maintenance applications.

 

[Green]

After reading comments I realized I did not know squat about PPE vs vinyl. I found some good info at

The Real Truth About Paint Protection Film

There are some PPF companies out there that you have seen online or some sort of marketing campaign, and probably left you with questionable “truth or lies” on what PPF actually is and its limitations. ‍We're going to explain exactly what PPF is and more importantly what PPF is not. We want to...

www.vive-houston.com

Scary stuff thinking someone might cut up your new paint.

 

[4GIV8M3]

@Green just like anything you need to find a competent installer. PPF + CC should be a no brainer for everyone unless they plan on selling the car in a couple years.

 

[Evotion]

It sounds like a bit of a minefield. One has to ask he right questions and do due diligence on the supplier/fitter.

Look at:

• the set-up, cleanliness, technology
• Reviews of the service by previous customers
• the quality of the PPF or Wrap that they use - do research

 

[scoates]

With regards to ceramic coatings on PPF or wraps, Gtechniq make their Halo ceramic coating which is specially formulated to be flexible and work the best on PPF/wraps. I'll likely be getting it put on my car on top of PPF for that little bit extra protection.

https://www.gtechniq.co.uk/shop/auto/ceramic-coatings/halo/