Installed: Stillen V2 front bumper, brake ducts, and side skirts
#1
Installed: Stillen V2 front bumper, brake ducts, and side skirts
Hey all. I haven't posted for a long time and thought I'd post some pics of the Stillen front bumper, splitter, brake ducts, side skirts, and rear window spoiler I had painted and installed a few months ago by Richie Bhawan at Discovery Auto Collision in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Richie did an amazing job with all the prep, fitment, and paint work, and as some of you may know matching a pearl paint isn't easy even when it's an OE color.
Anyway, enjoy the pics. I think they more or less speak for themselves, but what I will say is that the urethane construction of the Stillen pieces have proven to be extremely durable. I hit a big trailer tire on the highway (wasn't able to dodge it since I had cars on either side of me at the time) and I thought for sure the front bumper and passenger side skirt would have been destroyed because it sounded like a bomb going off when I hit the tire (which probably weighs a good 50+ lbs) going 120 km/h. I pulled over immediately, and to my amazement the front bumper just had a scuff on it (that buffed out thanks to the thick clear coat Richie sprayed it with) and the side skirt just had some paint damage in a small area behind the wheel. This really impressed me, because I know from experience how easily fiberglass body kits shatter.
Other than that, I will say that the fit on all the Stillen pieces were very good, but Richie did have to do some massaging around the headlights to get them to fit absolutely perfectly. Nothing out of the ordinary though, and the kit has certainly changed the look of the car quite a bit. People either seem to love or hate the front bumper, but I personally quite like it because of its functional brake ducts and splitter combo. Gives it a track-oriented look, and I do take this car to the track regularly, both for testing purposes and for my own poops and chuckles.
Anyway, enjoy the pics. I think they more or less speak for themselves, but what I will say is that the urethane construction of the Stillen pieces have proven to be extremely durable. I hit a big trailer tire on the highway (wasn't able to dodge it since I had cars on either side of me at the time) and I thought for sure the front bumper and passenger side skirt would have been destroyed because it sounded like a bomb going off when I hit the tire (which probably weighs a good 50+ lbs) going 120 km/h. I pulled over immediately, and to my amazement the front bumper just had a scuff on it (that buffed out thanks to the thick clear coat Richie sprayed it with) and the side skirt just had some paint damage in a small area behind the wheel. This really impressed me, because I know from experience how easily fiberglass body kits shatter.
Other than that, I will say that the fit on all the Stillen pieces were very good, but Richie did have to do some massaging around the headlights to get them to fit absolutely perfectly. Nothing out of the ordinary though, and the kit has certainly changed the look of the car quite a bit. People either seem to love or hate the front bumper, but I personally quite like it because of its functional brake ducts and splitter combo. Gives it a track-oriented look, and I do take this car to the track regularly, both for testing purposes and for my own poops and chuckles.
Last edited by Modified Dave; 08-20-2009 at 05:32 PM.
#3
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rockstar1292 (02-10-2012)
#7
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#8
Anyway, the car is now for sale since I'm done building it, so if anyone here is interested in the car as it sits or would like to buy individual parts, feel free to shoot me a PM. Keep in mind I'm in the Toronto area and shipping across the border can be an expensive PITA.
#9
Hah...Stillen was a major sponsor on this build, obviously. I'd never used any of their parts prior to building my G, but overall I was impressed by the performance gains from their bolt-on power adders, the fit and quality of their parts in general, and the very durable urethane construction of the body kit. I hit a truck tire on the highway at about 75 mph and thought for sure it would have destroyed the front splitter, cracked the front bumper, and tore up the passenger side sideskirt because it sounded like a bomb going off when I ran over it. I immediately pulled over expecting to see major damage and a flat tire, but much to my amazement the only damage were some scuff marks on the bumper (which buffed right out), a loose corner light (which I easily popped back into place) and some paint damage to the sideskirt. If this kit was fiberglass, it would have been game over, so I'm definitely a fan of their urethane stuff. Super super durable.
#13
#14
Other than that, I will say that the fit on all the Stillen pieces were very good, but Richie did have to do some massaging around the headlights to get them to fit absolutely perfectly. Nothing out of the ordinary though, and the kit has certainly changed the look of the car quite a bit. People either seem to love or hate the front bumper, but I personally quite like it because of its functional brake ducts and splitter combo. Gives it a track-oriented look, and I do take this car to the track regularly, both for testing purposes and for my own poops and chuckles.
In terms of testing, what results did you see with respect to temperatures, aerodynamics, handling, ect.? The visuals are awesome, just wondeing if you had any actual gains or differences.
I'm if it provides some sort of gain outside of the aesthetic
#15
Saw a drop of over 100 F when we hooked up the brake ducts for a lapping day at TMP. With the big AP brakes on the car this wasn't really necessary since we weren't overheating them without the ducts, but if you've got stock brakes then the Stillen brake ducts will do you a world of good if you track the car (because the stock brakes overheat in just a lap or two).
Without shock sensors to measure suspension compression being generated by downforce there was no way to objectively tell how much impact the front splitter was having, but from a purely subjective standpoint the splitter is mounted securely enough that it must generate some downforce and it also should help smooth airflow under the car. I did not do a back-to-back track tests to look for a lap time differential, only because TMP really only has 1 corner where speeds are high enough that aerodynamics will have an effect. Around Mosport or any other high-speed circuit, aero is a much bigger issue and I'm confident this splitter would make some front DF. The question is, does the car make enough rear downforce to balance it out or will the car need a rear wing to work well with this splitter? That I do not know and unfortunately will not be testing since the car is being parted out now.
Without shock sensors to measure suspension compression being generated by downforce there was no way to objectively tell how much impact the front splitter was having, but from a purely subjective standpoint the splitter is mounted securely enough that it must generate some downforce and it also should help smooth airflow under the car. I did not do a back-to-back track tests to look for a lap time differential, only because TMP really only has 1 corner where speeds are high enough that aerodynamics will have an effect. Around Mosport or any other high-speed circuit, aero is a much bigger issue and I'm confident this splitter would make some front DF. The question is, does the car make enough rear downforce to balance it out or will the car need a rear wing to work well with this splitter? That I do not know and unfortunately will not be testing since the car is being parted out now.