Opinions needed...

[shane@detailedreflections]

Reaching out for opinions and thoughts...because sometimes other ideas come from nowhere and I like different visions people have. 
 

I’m considering wrapping my Lotus Evora. It’s orange with silver wheels as pictured here. 
 

 

My initial thought was to wrap it matte orange with a gloss black roof, a posts and mirror caps. I think I’m stuck on the black bits. Maybe even the door handles as well. 
 

The wheels and badging are all going black for sure. The caliper color is to be determined.  
 

Then the Mrs. asked why not change it all? Despite the extra cost of wrapping door jams and sills...

 

Enter the idea of a color flip wrap. 
 

Matte Aquamarine

 

 

Matte Turquoise Lavendar

 

 

Matte Ultramarine Violet

 

Matte Avocado

 

 

There’s so many options. I can pick from 3M, Avery Dennison and Oracal films. Like I said, definitely black wheels and emblems. I’m stuck on a gloss black roof, mirror caps and a-posts...maybe handles. That could be gloss carbon too as an option. Caliper color is open. And body color is open. 
 

The car will be coated in a vinyl specific ceramic when it’s done to lock everything in. 
 

Share some thoughts and ideas. I need help!

 

 

[tlbullet]

17 minutes ago, shane@detailedreflections said:

Reaching out for opinions and thoughts...because sometimes other ideas come from nowhere and I like different visions people have. 
 

I’m considering wrapping my Lotus Evora. It’s orange with silver wheels as pictured here. 
 

 

My initial thought was to wrap it matte orange with a gloss black roof, a posts and mirror caps. I think I’m stuck on the black bits. Maybe even the door handles as well. 
 

The wheels and badging are all going black for sure. The caliper color is to be determined.  
 

Then the Mrs. asked why not change it all? Despite the extra cost of wrapping door jams and sills...

 

Enter the idea of a color flip wrap. 
 

Matte Aquamarine

 

 

Matte Turquoise Lavendar

 

 

Matte Ultramarine Violet

 

Matte Avocado

 

 

There’s so many options. I can pick from 3M, Avery Dennison and Oracal films. Like I said, definitely black wheels and emblems. I’m stuck on a gloss black roof, mirror caps and a-posts...maybe handles. That could be gloss carbon too as an option. Caliper color is open. And body color is open. 
 

The car will be coated in a vinyl specific ceramic when it’s done to lock everything in. 
 

Share some thoughts and ideas. I need help!

 

 

Its beautiful as it is!! But if we are going with a change...since its already orange..cross the “matte orange” off the list!  I do like the orange (either matte or as is)  but if you are going to put in the time and expense,....GO different!!!
Cant wait to see your work! 
 

[Rich]

If you MUST wrap it,  I think the Lavender or Aquamarine would look best on your Lotus. Personally, I like it orange but would be old school and put chrome wheels on it.  Stay away from that ugly *** avocado.  🙃

[shane@detailedreflections]

11 minutes ago, tlbullet said:

Its beautiful as it is!! But if we are going with a change...since its already orange..cross the “matte orange” off the list!  I do like the orange (either matte or as is)  but if you are going to put in the time and expense,....GO different!!!
Cant wait to see your work! 
 

The wrap is beneficial because we don’t have time to keep up with making it look it’s best most of the driving season. Matte doesn’t show dirty as much and if something brushes I don’t stress with a polisher fixing it. 
 

I’ll make sure I document the coating. The wrap is being done by ACI Dynamix. They specialize in wraps and do a lot of exotic work. So I’d trust them to do it right. And I’ve had a working relationship with them for a bit, so I trust them to take the car apart as needed and assemble it.

 

They’re worth a follow on social media if you enjoy cars. 
 

The benefit in keeping with orange was not having to pay extra to wrap the jams and sills to make it look correct when the doors are open. But that cost is not a dealbreaker for me. 

 

11 minutes ago, Rich said:

If you MUST wrap it,  I think the Lavender or Aquamarine would look best on your Lotus. Personally, I like it orange but would be old school and put chrome wheels on it.  Stay away from that ugly *** avocado.  🙃

You picked my top two choices actually. With the first being aquamarine I think. I want it to be different and it’s time for a change. 
 

The wheels going black is mostly selfish...I hate cleaning silver wheels (even coated) and the brakes on that thing bleed brake dust like crazy even just street driving.  Black will hide some of that between washes. 

[tlbullet]

I didn’t think about the door jams! Def time

consuming and an added cost.  
I am all for wraps....I do like the matte finishes as well.   Wrapping it is best option for changing the feel for your ride with permanent ramifications.   I know they aren’t cheap when done correctly with the proper products...ive considering doing an “ice” wrap (transparent wrap that gives it a matte look to existing color) on my car.  I have a relative that installs wraps and his cost for product alone was in the 4 figures.  

[shane@detailedreflections]

6 minutes ago, tlbullet said:

I didn’t think about the door jams! Def time

consuming and an added cost.  
I am all for wraps....I do like the matte finishes as well.   Wrapping it is best option for changing the feel for your ride with permanent ramifications.   I know they aren’t cheap when done correctly with the proper products...ive considering doing an “ice” wrap (transparent wrap that gives it a matte look to existing color) on my car.  I have a relative that installs wraps and his cost for product alone was in the 4 figures.  

Not cheap is right. Honestly for this whole project the budget will likely be $4000-5000. That’s wrap, powder coat the wheels (with dismount and mount tires), calipers painted and all new badges/emblems and a ceramic coating.

 

The coating cost is small for us because of the business. But it still adds up fast. The car isn’t going anywhere though and it is total protection. 

[RayS]

I'm a Red car person, but that Matte Aquamarine looks sharp and I don't recall ever seeing a Lotus with anything even remotely similar to it.

[Rich]

It's going to look killer no matter which color you choose.

[Bscott94]

I'm a huge fan of the SS. Both the car and the color. I think I had a Lotus in that color on Need for Speed: Underground. That's when I was first introduced to Lotus and it was my favorite car on the game. 

[mc2hill]

I like the idea of a matte orange, but I like orange and yellow cars.  But since it is a Lotus, how about a matte BRG?

[shane@detailedreflections]

On 2/19/2020 at 9:58 AM, mc2hill said:

I like the idea of a matte orange, but I like orange and yellow cars.  But since it is a Lotus, how about a matte BRG?

I do like that look. After seeing this video, this might be the leader for me now. You can skip the first minute. 
 

 

The question is...satin so it’s got some gloss?  Or matte?  I definitely wouldn’t do that in a gloss finish. And I’m still thinking the black roof, posts and mirrors with wheels. Then just need a caliper color to set it all off. The calipers will be a color with the lettering on them a different color. 
 

 

[GXPaycheck]

Have you considered PlastiDip?

[shane@detailedreflections]

1 hour ago, GXPaycheck said:

Have you considered PlastiDip?

I have. The liquid wraps tend not to come off as well when you’re done with it and plasti dip historically has been a nightmare for us to work with when people have wheels done and all that. 
 

The plus side is they’re considerably cheaper than the vinyl. 

[GXPaycheck]

Only time I've had issues is when it wasn't applied correctly (by someone who shall not be named 🤐). Their stuff gets better every day!

[RayS]

I have saw some cars with Plasti-Dip that looked fantastic and if you don't like it within the first couple of days it comes of real easy.  Although, I did end have 4 wheels that had to be peeled, two came off with little effort, the other two were a bear - I have no idea 👼 who didn't prep them right.

[shane@detailedreflections]

Just an update...going down to ACI tomorrow to check out some films. I have a few ideas rolling in my head. I just need to see what they look like on the car and what I can see myself living with. 
 

Ordering the black badging and emblems this coming week. The appointment is technically the end of April, but they may get me in earlier so I want to have things ready to go. 
 

By the time the wheels are powdercoated, calipers painted and car wrapped it’s a big project. Then when we get it back it needs a coat or two of ceramic on it to really top it off. 
 

I’ll post progress pics as I get them when it happens and I’ll document the ceramic process for the forums!  Possibly shoot a nice video reveal when it’s done...

[Nickfire20]

Hey Shane, I like the current Orange but understand your pov.

 

I love a Super Snow White Car with the aforementioned black accents and black wheels.  I like orange calipers as opposed to the super popular red...Just my .02

 

2 Questions of curiosity for you...

-can you wrap over top of a coating?

-does wrap hold up on wheels?

 

[shane@detailedreflections]

11 minutes ago, Nickfire20 said:

Hey Shane, I like the current Orange but understand your pov.

 

I love a Super Snow White Car with the aforementioned black accents and black wheels.  I like orange calipers as opposed to the super popular red...Just my .02

 

2 Questions of curiosity for you...

-can you wrap over top of a coating?

-does wrap hold up on wheels?

 

The calipers will be done to compliment the color of the car. 
 

The car is coated currently. It makes it more difficult to get a wrap to stick. We did help them out by compounding the car before it goes there to rough it up a bit. 
 

The wheels won’t get wrapped. Some people do that, but I wouldn’t. I don’t think it’s durable enough for that. The wheels will be powder coated. 
 

@Nickfire20 you’re welcome to come check it out when it’s done. If I recall correctly, you’re local to me?

[Nickfire20]

2 hours ago, shane@detailedreflections said:

The calipers will be done to compliment the color of the car. 
 

The car is coated currently. It makes it more difficult to get a wrap to stick. We did help them out by compounding the car before it goes there to rough it up a bit. 
 

The wheels won’t get wrapped. Some people do that, but I wouldn’t. I don’t think it’s durable enough for that. The wheels will be powder coated. 
 

@Nickfire20 you’re welcome to come check it out when it’s done. If I recall correctly, you’re local to me?

Sounds good, thanks for the info....no not too close, I’m in Maryland 

[shane@detailedreflections]

So here it is...after going to ACI and playing with films, this is the plan. 
 

The color is Matte Sunset Shift from Avery Dennison. It’s an orange that shifts to almost a gold at one end, and red at the other depending on viewing angle. This will save the jams and sills from being attention. Since the film is matte, it will bring out the contours of the body quite a bit. 


 

The image is under fluorescent lights. Outside it comes to life. 

 

We are going to do gloss black on the roof, a posts and mirrors. We are also adding the lower accents of what would be the Lotus Black Pack. So the lower splitter, the lower rockers. You can see what the black pack is on this image. 
 

 

The calipers will be done in some color on the film spectrum. They are going to be painted and have black lettering. The wheels will be powder coated gloss black and I’ll have new gloss black lug nuts. 
 

All emblems will be replaced with black ones of the same. The hood emblem and wheel center caps will be black/silver logos.

 

To top it off, it will get a Viny/PPF specific coating from another manufacturer. Two layers on all matte film. A single layer and a gloss layer on the gloss films. And lastly wheels and calipers coated in a single layer (maybe two depending on time). 
 

Just have to wait for the NYC auto show and my car is first scheduled when they come back from that!

 

 

[tlbullet]

Sounds like a great plan. Cant wait to see the results! 

[shane@detailedreflections]

2 hours ago, tlbullet said:

Sounds like a great plan. Cant wait to see the results! 

That makes two of us. Need to let them get through the NYC auto show...

[shane@detailedreflections]

Update time...well, more of a stay tuned. 
 

I dropped the Lotus off at ACI Dynamix in Seymour, Connecticut today. The materials are ordered. My car was scheduled for April, but I have a client who’s stuck with the Cornonavirus stuff impacting work for him so we swapped appointments moving me up!  
 

In a week or two (probably closer to two), we will go down to see it. We are going to coat it right in their shop so it doesn’t need to be prepped again and while they have the wheels off. The wheels and calipers will be freshly powder coated and painted so it’s an easy prep. 
 

Then it just needs some inside love quick and will be ready for photos.

 

I will post pics as I get teasers from them!

 

 

[shane@detailedreflections]

Look what showed up today!  Means next week they’ll be able to start wrapping the car!  More pics to follow...

 

PS - I hate the fluorescent lights since they don’t show the color shift well at all. 

[shane@detailedreflections]

And here’s the first pic with some film on the car.

 

Matte and satin colors really pronounce body lines as you can tell. And when set against a gloss accent really brings out the details. 
 

As red/burnt orange as it looks under the fluorescent lights, it’s more orange in natural sunlight. 
 

[shane@detailedreflections]

The next update. Progress has been slow since I’m not in a big rush with the coronavirus and all. I agreed to let them take new work in as it comes to help a fellow business out. 
 

Here’s the latest pic to show what the wrap transforms. 
 

 

We settled on a caliper color. Initially it was going to be gloss orange with black letters.  That’s been changed to polished letters. The calipers will be sprayed in a three stage paint to make it match the film. 
 

And the wheels are now gloss black (I stole the pic from Instagram so don’t mind the lettering). 
 

 

I think this is going to look incredible when it’s done. We are planning to do our first video when it’s all done along with still images in different locations to showcase it.