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My 2019 Grand Sport has 3000 miles on it and before I put any more miles on it, I am considering a ceramic coating and also a clear bra. I'm curious as to what others have done. Are you happy with the coating and or bra? Is it worth it? I expect to track the car several times/year so I see the bra as a necessity. Thanks.
I did it, love it, if I ever get another car that is worthy of such treatment, id do it again in a heartbeat... why?
-makes washing 100x easier, crud just comes off, never hard to wash (xpel'd most of car and not just front bra)
-prevents swirls, micro scratches, the dangers of potential poor washing habits over time
-makes you feel a little more comfortable at track days at protecting your baby's skin
-it just pops the gloss to another level
but that's just me.. some say overkill, some say do one, not both.. your choice. I just present one mans opinion :p
at a minimum do the forward facing panels/areas/ with PPF (and bite the bullet do the full panels not "halves"). you can ceramic coat the car. i've done it to all of my cars and i guess it works? who really knows lol I do know that only the top tier ceramic coatings make a noticeable difference over TIME.. the cheaper ones work for a while but nothing like a Ceramic Pro with multiple coats etc. but you're paying ALOT for that...
for as much as i actually drive my car and leave it outside (6600 miles in a little over 2 yrs) i could've been fine with any paint sealer or poly (synthetic) wax (do not use any Carnauba type waxes as they will turn color on edges of PPF and in cracks) would have worked fine.. It's like a security blanket in case something hits the paint like bird bombs and you didn't get to it for a while on a hot sunny day etc.
I did the Adams ceramic coating on my 17 over two years ago. It really is an improvement over waxing and less maintenance, no more waxing. It's easy to apply. I'm in the middle of my winter project of compounding it to remove it to reapply again. It really makes the paint pop and water runs right off. I still got some minor chips on the nose, so I guess clear bra is the way to go for that.
My 2019 Grand Sport has 3000 miles on it and before I put any more miles on it, I am considering a ceramic coating and also a clear bra. I'm curious as to what others have done. Are you happy with the coating and or bra? Is it worth it? I expect to track the car several times/year so I see the bra as a necessity. Thanks.
Tim - you may want to consider something like TrakTape if you're going racing. Its thicker and offers more protection than a clear bra PPF. It's only temporary so you need to apply it on track day. Clear bras can get dinged up on the track and can pierce the bra.
I had my C-5 ceramic coated (triple black) and on a black car it really makes a difference on staying clean looking, even if it isn't. I drove it I in the rain yesterday and it didn't look like a typical black car following such a drive. My night race blue C-7 has the nose wrapped, (no ceramic) but it certainly doesn't pop like the C-5. I'll likely get it (C-7) done one of these days.
Ceramic is like a really long lasting, good looking, wax. But doesn't offer much protection against stone chips, etc.
XPel and similar products give moderate protection against stone chips and bugs come off somewhat easier, but it's not like the bugs fall off on their own. Bugs will mark the film if not removed, just not as quickly as they will on the paint.
Our 2017 Long Beach Red got XPel on the bumper, hood, fronts of fenders (leaves a visible line), rockers, and rear spoiler; within a hundred miles of new. Now at 20k miles.
It's working fairly well but still requires washing/waxing, and stones that would leave a medium chip in the paint will leave a scratch or small tear in the film that looks almost as bad, so the advantage is not great. Replacing the film is expensive.
Some people say you're better off to put the money you would spend on XPel in a bank account and get the chipped areas repainted when necessary. I might have done that but figure getting a good match on the LBR could be difficult.
I don't see how you can go wrong with both. I don't have the coating, but do have a 3M clear bra, etc. 85,134 miles on the car and very few tiny blemishes on the clear bra. Nothing has penetrated it. Would do it again for sure.
I used CQuartz ceramic coating. I applied it myself. The cost of the various products came to under $200. Correcting the paint was the biggest part of the job. Took a total of about 20 hours. I would recommend XPel for those areas subject to stone chips and ceramic over the XPel and rest of car.
Last edited by cumbercr; Dec 15, 2018 at 01:34 PM.
Reason: Add info
I have clear bra and ceramic coating and can only echo the good points others have made.
I've got the entire front clip of my car covered with clear bra and don't forget to do the black A-pillars; they scratch easily and clear bra really protects them well. Also, rear view mirrors and just in front of the rear tires.
The key is finding a great installer for the invisible bra. I recommend Xpel but others have their own favorites. It will be pricey. Check with local corvette Clubs and go to car shows and ask around. Ceramic and quartz(hydrophobic) coatings can be applied over the bra. Look at YouTube for both bra and coatings applications for the Vette. There's also a "Car Care" section here on the Forum.
I just had my 4th Vette done in Xpel and my '09Z got through many track days with no problems. They even can cover you windshield now for $400-450.
I just got my car 5 months ago and went with XPEL and Ceramic coating. After you install the ceramic pro get Car Pro relaod on line as a spray to use after washing as a touch up. I was sold on the Xpel for sure but decided to try the ceramic coating to minimize the need to detail as I have a bad back.
I went both routes and very happy with the results. Did the two layer ceramic coating plus the clear film on the front of the car. As advertised, water and dirt pretty much roll right off! I use some Adam's waterless wash for quick cleaning, done in minutes. Where I had the coating done came with a life time warranty, so I just need to bring the car in once a year for refresh. I should note the main reason I had it done, the car stays outside. So anything to help under the Florida sun is a big plug. I know the coating does provide a level of UV protection as well.
Ceramic coated and clear PPF on the front.
Last edited by bassmobile; Dec 15, 2018 at 05:41 PM.
Reason: Update
I'm very pleased with mine = I had "C-Quartz" professionally applied (C-Quartz authorized shop). I also had the same shop have the clear plastic professionally applied to the front end and headlights.
Last edited by blkvet6; Dec 16, 2018 at 05:57 PM.
Reason: Added the "clear plastic" sentence.
Ceramic coating
