So about a month or so ago we had a small hail storm pass through... and I went ahead and filed a claim with Progressive. Total damage was estimated at ~$1490 so I got a check for $900 (after deductible) for the repair. Most of the damage was on my hood and 2 small dents on my driver's side front fender above front wheel. I got a quote to repair those 2 dents for $150 using PDR... so I'm left with the rest of the money to repair the hood.

A new hood from the dealer would cost $500 or so, OR I could simply order a CF hood. I used to have a VIS CF hood on my turbo gst back in the day... so i'm not completely sure if I want to go CF again.

Anyone wanna post pics to try n convince me? hehe...

What would you do??
(by the way I have about a $500 budget cuz I had to spend some of the money on other stuff).

Thanks fellas in advance!!

 

oh, another question was ... what does this do to the car's value if I decide to trade it in at the end of the summer?

 

If you are thinking about trading it in, I would get the factory hood because a dealership isnt going to look twice at it with a carbon one on. They want the car as factory as possible in order for a quick sale.

If you aren't wanting to trade it in, I would go with a carbon hood if you plan on adding supporting mods: Wheels, front lip, side skirts, rear, anything.

 

No on the CF hood. Go with OEM.

 

Mods will not add any value to your car. I think a CF hood would look good on a Ti Gray only with a CF front lip,side skirts and wing

 

My opinion

It may look good but you need full CF to do that
But if your considering trading in with a dealer don't waste your money


Mods:
Dealer loses value
Private Sale gains very little value

 

yeah, i think it would look good, even w/o any other cf on your car...but if you're not totally convinced on keeping it, don't do it.

 

Dont do unpainted cf body panels. They never fit right.

Plus the weight difference is a wash between OE and cf hood.

If you are going to do cf, go for high quality cf and then have a pro fit and paint it. Total waste of money in my opinion (and I have had a cf hood.)

 

you're saving almost no weight going CF; just get the OEM used from someone and spend the rest on something nice

 

just wait to you guys see My CF AutoExe SE02 hood,,,

 

^ i wanna see

 

hah! I was absolutely not even considering the weight loss by going CF... My racing/tuning days are wayyy over. I used to spend ever last dollar on my DSM back in the day...

Only reason I am considering it is because I do somewhat like the look of the CF hood and if its cheaper than OEM (as far as I know) ... then why not?

Sucks that I am not completely sure about trading in the car or not. Just got a new engine and I love the power behind it (again). I do have my eye on a 328i conv though... just dont know if I wanna start over on car payments for another 5 years!

 

Personally, I sort of like the carbon fiber hood. No I am not saving any weight, but doesn't really matter to me. If I get tired of the look I can always get it painted over. fwiw, I also have the sideskirts, lower lip and rear lip in c/f. Here it a pic so we can make this an official thread in the Multimedia/photo gallery section.lol

 

hey any close up on those headlight eyebrows?

 

I like the hood, VIS?

 

unless u plan on painting it to match the rest of your car...

just say no to CF anything...

 

Nope, that's Seibon

clmantis21---
Just go with CF hood, dont worry
there are tons of people willing to trade their stock to CF hood
lets say the CF hood and the stock both cost u $500
but by the time you sell yr car, u can trade your CF to stock with the members here and earn $200 more, what a good deal ^^

I think this Seibon hood do make a big difference of the 8

 

if you plan on getting cf get a vented one. the oem style kinda blens in with the car too much.

 

I say do it.

I did it. But then again, my car has more CF on it than most. I too am a DSMer and can't shake the habit. RX8s performance wise just haven't done it for me.. Its purdy though.

I have the Seibon TSII:

newer


older


As I was saying, my trunk, gas lid, handles, and my Aero kit are CF as well (bunch of CF interior crap too):



CF lip is a must, HUGE difference. The ones with out the CF lip look kind of "not finished"

 

The hood is VIS, and no I don't have any good close ups of the eyelids. I am planning on trying to get some good shots of the car soon. When i do I will probably post in the the calling Ti-gray thread.

 

cool do you remember where u got em? or what they are called?

 

TREX... your pic in the parking garage is sick! Great camera man!

I do think I may go with the CF after all. Now I'm thinking what CF matching accents to get? I dont want to do anything crazy big like a truck... but something tasteful to go with it would be nice. Depending on how it behaves over the summer will determine on if I keep it for a while or just give it up and trade it in for a new car.

BTW, what DSM did you have? And were u on DSMtuners?

 

I have had a few 1g Talons, a couple 10s ones and I am working on a 8s auto street car right now. And yeah I am on Tuners "TSimage" but I have mainly been on DSMTalk.

 

CF hoods have big gaps and fade big time.

Buy it if you like it, not what others think.

 

My hood has no extreme gaps and doesn't fade if you take care of them...