Hey guys I am looking to replace my strakes, but am not sure what color they are. I will either get the satin chrome ones or the silver alloy ones. Does anyone know how different these look? Based on the pics, they seem to look the same. If anyone has any info that would be great. Thanks.

 

Hi Rx8 Fanatic,

They're both ABS strakes. The satin chrome is true metal plating with a matte (not too shiny) finish.

The silver alloy strakes are painted and color-matched to the rims and clear coated. They have a gloss shiny finish.

Hope this helps you make an informed decision.

 

Get real metal strakes if you want the best looking, highest quality strakes, that's my advice.

 

Some people do stand by "all metal" strakes as being superior, like our Stainless Steel version. But, other than weight, there's not really that much difference between them. Our ABS strakes are plated with real metal exactly like you'll find on many new cars' front grills. It's very interesting technology that bonds multiple layers of metal (the same as triple-chrome plating on metal products) to a special ABS material.

Dave (standing in for Heather)

 

The differences I've noted are that the finish chips off very easily and the plastic does not mount very securely, which is probably why you see so many crooked strakes on so many RX-8s.

 

The RX8Strakes have alignment pins so it's nearly impossible to mount crooked. Very secure mounting. Also, I've not had any chipping on painted plastic strakes in over two years now.

Great outfit that stands by their products. Buy with confidence.

 

The metal screws don't always remain anchored in the brittle plastic, especialy if you've installed them more than once or overtightened them even just a litle bit. When this happens, they recommend double-sided tape or larger screws. I'm glad your plastic strakes haven't chipped, but it can happen quite easily. Another reason why I like metal strakes is for the rubber mounting surface against the paint finish of your fender. When I saw how cheaply made the plastic strakes were, they would not let me upgrade to metal because I had already installed them once (and they were crooked because I overtightened them). I should have known better. I will buy from them again when there is not a higher quality alternative. But real metal strakes are definitely higher quality in my opinion.

 

Unfortunately Robrecht was not a satisified customer as you can tell and we agree to disagree. It does happen from time to time. He and I had several exchanges over this topic and he was obviously not happy we would not take back his purchase. This is no way meant to be disrespectful to Robrecht.

I must say that we've never heard mention of our plated strakes chipping and would have certainly taken back a defective product had that been the situation.

Rest assured that we at RX8strakes.com do stand behind all of our strakes -- metal and ABS.

The strakes we currently offer went through rigorous rounds of prototyping and testing to make sure that they fit well, and could withstand the elements and normal wear and tear. These were some of the complaints we heard over the years regarding Mazda's strakes and other aftermarket renditions, including some of ours. We took those learnings and spent a lot of time and money to come up with a superior product, all at low cost to our customer. And, that's what we sell today.

Poor Rx8 Fanatic probably didn't realize he was going to get involved in such a lovely exchange. :-)

 

Hi, Heather.

Which ones did I get, satin chrome? Did I never mention to you that part of the finish chipped off very easily the first afternoon? Sorry, forgot to mention that.

BTW, are you planning on changing the name of your company now that the 2009+ RX-8s no longer have strakes?

 

Thanks for the info guys. I will probably get the satin chrome ones. Can I just clear coat them to protect the finish from being chipped? Thanks.

 

Yes, I've read about other people doing that here. Good luck!

 

You do not need to clearcoat any of our plated strakes. Again, the process used is not a spray-on or vacuum metalized system, but a true metal plating system. Chipping will not be an issue.

Dave

 

GTFO Spammer!!!!!!!!

 

Heather could you post me some close up pics comparing the two? The one's one your website don't do justice. I don't care if the pics have the strakes still in packaging. I just want a better idea of the colors so I can order them soon. Thanks.

 

Hi,

Can you tell which strakes you're looking to compare? I'll see if we have any closer pictures for you. :-)

 

Eeek. I just read that you were originally looking at satin chrome and silver alloy.

Color wise, if you're looking for a shinier finish that's probably more like your rims, then silver alloy would be the way to go. If you're looking for more of a matte aluminum finish (not very shiny), then satin chrome is the way to go.

We don't have any closer pictures of silver alloy and they're already packaged up, but here is a more closeup picture of satin chrome:


Decisions. Decisions.

 

Great product. Bought mine in satin silver. Then after upgrading my wheels the color did not match well so I painted them black. Very easy to do with the material.

 

Queeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeestion:
For the shiniest strakes, which would you recommend?
Thanks!

 

Hi,

The shiniest strakes are probably the chrome plated strakes here:
http://www.rx8strakes.com/index.asp?...ROD&ProdID=359

 

Thanks much, will be ordering a pair of these soon

 

Would gunmetal look good on a Titanium Gray 8?