redjetpack

anyone have one? my car came with the whole rear diffuser painted (area around exhaust and rear rotor emblem). just wondering if i am alone in the world or what the deal is with it.

Outlaws eXtreme

That's not common... perhaps it was fixed after a trade-in? It's not a new car is it?

truemagellen

never ever seen that before...it must not look soo good since the diffuser is an abs like textured plastic...show us pics from a far and close up

then go back to who you bought the car from and start fighting

redjetpack

i actually like the fact taht the whole back of my car is red, also its different.

buuuuuuut, on the flipside, yes the abs textured plastic does show its texture. when i first bought the car, i noticed it around the exhaust and thought it was distorting from heat, and figured thats why none of the new ones had a painted rear diffuser lol.

its an 04 btw and ive owned it for quite some time, but never really got curious about why mine was different. oh well, kinda interesting.

redjetpack

btw ill try to post some pics tomorrow, they wont be good ones tho, because all i have is a camera phone atm...

evilbada1

Rx8fan-01's yellow 8 also has its diffuser painted. I think it looks nicer than black plastic.

Jump120MPH

Here.

redjetpack

did he do that? or did it come from the dealership taht way?

glad to know im not alone...

truemagellen

hmmm I think I need to see it from several feet away to determine whether it looks good or not...so far not too bad...just interesting

Wankeler

On darker colors I think it'd look better painted if it didn't look as if it were textured... maybe from a distance. On the brighter colors I prefer the contrast of the black. An area I'd really like to see color matched instead of black is around our dang mirrors.

redjetpack

its not noticeable how textured it is, until you are cleaning the exhaust

mikeb

I think it would look good

I dont like the stock rear with all that plastic

joseight

i dont like all of the plastic on the car, period. it makes it a pain in the *** when im waxing.

Mugatu

iTrader: (1)

I agree that we need to see a shot pulled away from the car to be sure. From what I can tell from that photo, I'm on the fence for whether or not I like it.

msrecant

I always thought that was one advantage to the black body color ... the plastic trim matched.

Actually more than half the custom rear-bumper body kits are like this. They are painted the body color rather than being body color over black plastic. Checkout the pictures on http://www.japanparts.com.

redjetpack

that much i did know, but on a stock rear bumper i've never seen another like mine other than that yellow in the pic. i do have the appearance package, but i know that noone else has a painted rear diffuser, app package or not.

Outlaws eXtreme

But is your car new? Or was it previously owned? Maybe the previous owner painted the rear... did you notice that the other cars on that dealership lot have their Rx-8 rears painted too? Or just your's?

fredw1

I actually think that looks good from what the picture shows. I recently had my rear bumper replaced after I got rear-ended, and the body shop could have done that for me while they were painting the rest of the bumper (since it does not come prepainted). If only I had known.

I have been thinking about painting the faux mesh on the diffuser silver to match the car color and to look like real mesh. I have seen a few pics in one of the other forums and it looks good.

msrecant

Yes, you definitely have a stock diffuser that has been painted. Someone went out of their way to do that. I have not seen that done before on this forum but I am not a real follower of the "Exterior, Appearance and Body Kits" part of this forum. You may want to do some extended searching there.

In the picture and from a distance it looks good. As you have already noted, the texture of the material is not really suited to painting. If you have the time, I would love to see a close up picture showing a the two different surfaces at the joint between the bumper and the diffuser.

smrx8

iTrader: (1)

Dam i wished i would of seen this before i had my car emblems taken out.i would of done this in a heart beat

DARKMAZ8

me no likey

redjetpack

mine was pre owned, so i assume the previous owner did it, and ill post some pics when i can get my hands on a digital camera lol, im a po boy and i never bought one when i had money. i bought the 8 instead lol, and ive been recovering ever since.

oh yea, and the only portion of the diffuser taht has the abs plastic texture is the two pieces that go around the exhaust, the rest is smooth, so i assume they sanded it flat before painting it.

truemagellen

oh sanding...ah yes! that must be the answer (so simple I :o)

Jump120MPH

He had it painted. I like it alot. It looks really good. I am thinking of painting mine as well. I dont like the black at all. Here is another pic of it.

G8rboy

I'm sure it was the previous owner... I can't imagine a dealer wanting to put up with the pain of a customer complaining if that paint started to chip, flake or bubble up from the heat of the exhaust.

Mine is the opposite- my car is painted to match the rear diffuser :D