do you think that sunlight silver fender strakes will look the same as aluminum on a nordic green rx-8 and their about 70 to 100 dollars less

 

close enough.

beers

 

Just how close? I want to know if Howard's strakes are worth buying when the sunlight silvers look similar and cheaper. Anybody have pics of sunlight silvers on a VR?

 

Raptor2k - I've got Howard's strakes if you want a comparison. I don't know of anyone who has the SS on VR...

 

I seriously considered getting these for my winning blue. But found a good deal on the OEM strakes on eBay. I think Howard's strakes are very shiny compared to OEM or the SS ones.

 

OEM are aluminum, so they look like brushed stainless. I don't partcularly like the shiny chrome look.

 

I saw this on eBay:
"Taking your fender vent with them"?!! Zoinks!! Is this for real?

 

very possible they are heavy little things...i just put them on last week and i feel like i have to keep checking to see if they are there. now that i installed them personally i know how easy it is to yank them off or how the fender insert could pop out on its own with that weight.....but as long as you flip the little metal flange down during install they should stay in pretty good.....the top one is easy to do but theres no room for your hand on the lower strake.....anyone who has had to install these damn things knows what i mean. buttt i like the ones from mazda....very professional looking.....

 

Some pics of the sunlight silver strakes on VR. The sunlight silver matches the color of the wheels pretty close.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...4/0a0e4184.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...4/6fd402d8.jpg

Sorry for the Z car content, but the Elise should make up for it.

 

lol the Z and Elise are nice cars too


The strakes look good, not as shiney obviously, but I think they'll do fine. I'd rather pay $70-80 for four metal bars than $150.

Thanks dhead

 

Great, they aren't showing up on ebay anymore

 

I like the way you put it, "very professional looking". And add, they don't rust. I also find it hard to imagine them just popping off, if they were installed properly. I tug on mine when I am washing the car, to make sure they are snug, and they don't budge.

I'm an OEM guy generally. This includes Mazdaspeed. You may pay a bit more, but you usually get what you pay for. There is generally not a question as to the quality of the item.

 

I just installed the Mazda strakes this weekend. It really wasn't that hard to do and the newer ones have a key to align the strake in the side vent and then a clip than is rotated down that picks up the metal cross piece in the fender to help hold the strake and the side vent to the car. I was said before and I can definitely agree, the lower one is a royal pain because the clearance for hand and wrench is small. The side vent does seem to be tighter fitting now that the strakes are installed due to the added 2 clips, so when done correctly, I don't see how they would come off. I have heard that the original factory strakes did not have the clip and that a couple people had them come off, no an issue any more. It really adds some character to the sides.

 

I had mine for about a year. But in the beautiful California weather though, so it looks exactly as it did the day I bought it. I just checked a minute ago. Yup, still shiny and still stuck there like glue.

 

Again, anyone know anywhere I can get sunlight silvers?

 

ebay. and before you say they are not there. you have to look about 4 or 5 days out. he seems to sell them 1 or 2 pair at a time and when the buy now price is hit the strakes are taken down. i saw 2 different colors out on the 15th dont recall what they were.

hope this helps.

beers

 

Coming up on a year and the OEM look as good as new. As for pitting, I can see that happening due to road salt. I can't comment because I don't drive the car much in the winter and especially not in the snow.

 

Thanks. I emailed him anyway, and he said he'll get more in 1-2 weeks. I also remember seeing them on a few weeks ago but didn't think about buying them; I wanted a good look at them on the VR first, which dhead recently provided.

 

I have the stainless steel strakes from the guy in England.

They are like platinum don't look like they could weigh as much as they do.

That said, I love them they have never tried jumping ship and they use the bolt through the vent and 3M on each end. Still solid after 10 months.

I purchased these after the mention of some possible pitting with the aluminum OEM strakes.

What color are the painted strakes if the paint chips off?

I like the idea of lighter on the wallet and the car.

 

Underneath the paint the plastic is white. The parts are very light weight. It helped installing them with the provided 3M tape to reduce any alignment issues. The back of the strake is flat with a screw hole, no tabs going into the grill to keep straight or lock them in place.

 

Actually, the latest version of these strakes now feature a locator pin to make sure they are level and that there is no chance of rotation.

 

Just got the Strakes from Howard very good quality, can't wait to install them this weekend.

 

At our meet last Saturday here in Minnesota I was able to see OEM strakes on Fray's 8 that had been on for over a year. The coating on the strakes was wearing through and the aluminum underneath didn't look good.

I showed him the SS strakes and mentioned that I had ran them all last winter without any visual damage.

I also mentioned the painted plastic strakes as another option but I am very happy with the stainless steel strakes.

Can anyone comment on how the paint holds up on the plastic strakes?