For those of you who have, or are planning on getting, the OEM appearance package with the side aero flares, I have a suggestion. I noticed that the side flares on my RX-8 were showing signs of stone damage on the leading end (i.e, the front, pointy end of the flares). And that was after only a few thousand miles. So I ordered some clear mask material and fashioned/installed a piece to cover the front 6-7" if the flare.

I also applied some of this material to the front sides of the rear view mirrors since I had some left over. If you decide to do that, don't expect to be able to "bend" the material around all the rounded sections of the mirror. At least I wasn't able to do it and had to abort my first attempt. I just did the front face with a slight wrap around the curvature on each end.

This stuff is a bitch to work with, but it is nearly invisible if installed correctly. A little practice goes a long way here. The material is similar to the clear material installed at the factory on the front side of the rear fender as well as on a couple of locations around the rear door. One source for bulk quantities of this material is www.clearmask.com, but there are other vendors on line as well.

This material is identical to that used in the clear front mask available for the RX-8 and other vehicles. There is a DIY in the Tech Garage section of the forum on the installation of this material if you want to see how it's done. There is also an instruction sheet that comes with the material that I purchased.

Good luck.

 

good idea....i am installing my OEM flares in the spring....i will be sure to add that....
Thanks!

 

Sure, glad to help. For what it's worth, if I had not gotten the OEM side flares, I would have gotten the MS side flares which I like a lot better.

 

you have to heat the mask in order to bend it properly...

 

That may be, but there is nothing in the instructions or the member's DIY to suggest that.

 

it's an installers trick...it won't be listed in the instructions..when you work with cars as long as i have and installed numerous appliciations of "masking", etc....you learn heat in small quantities can be your best buddy...:D

 

this method goes for just about anything...hahaha

 

I am installing the front mud guards which I believe should eliminate some of the road debris being kicked up into the flares.

 

Thanks for the tip! I'll give it at try the next time I do an install.

 

Maybe. I have the front mud guards as well, but I'm not sure if the dings happened before I installed the guards or after. I had driven about 1K miles with the flares on before I installed the mud guards. In any case, as you say, it should eliminate "some" of the dings.