Full Front Nose Mask

[Xenon]

This is mostly directed at FLIPSPEED, but everyone is welcome to discuss or bash me if you like on this topic...

I was thinking of getting a full nose mask (Part # 0000-8G-L03) for my car to put on during the winter months and long trips. In the winter there is significantly more crap on the road that could fly up and chip the paint at the front of the vehicle.

My question is: How much would the full nose mask cost for a Mazda3 Sport? and do you think it is a worth while investment?

I thought about sratching of the paint due to the mask, but I do have Llumar protecting the front of the car, so I\'m not too worried about that.

If I do get a nose mask, I will put it on my car only during the winter months (say, whenever I have snow tires on) and on long trips (like when I drive down to Florida). That way it will prevent all the bug guts from going on the car and the added possibility of high velocity stone chips hitting my car\'s nose.

Obviously the largest arguement against, is how it looks. But during the winter my car is almost always dirty anyways. I just thought it would be a worth while investment for my car\'s \"winter mode\".

[FLIPDADY]

I was debating on the same thing when I was driving to Michigan. Another thing the bra does is protect the bumper from parking lot scuffs. Anyways it will cost you $176 plus taxes for the bra.
It looks pretty good on the car IMO.

[bluntman]

I\'ve seen one on a TiG hatch. It makes a difference in the appearance of the front end, for better or for worse I don\'t know, but it makes it look different. I had a full 2 piece bra on my first car, I thought it was a PITA, not only to maintain, but also to remove and replace. I ended up using the hood portion of the bra most of the time instead of the bumper portion.

I was always under the impression that bras were for summer use not year round use. Once snow or any moisture gets trapped underneath the bra between it and the paint, then you\'re only asking for trouble.

[Xenon]

Originally posted by bluntman


I\'ve seen one on a TiG hatch. It makes a difference in the appearance of the front end, for better or for worse I don\'t know, but it makes it look different. I had a full 2 piece bra on my first car, I thought it was a PITA, not only to maintain, but also to remove and replace. I ended up using the hood portion of the bra most of the time instead of the bumper portion.

I was always under the impression that bras were for summer use not year round use. Once snow or any moisture gets trapped underneath the bra between it and the paint, then you\'re only asking for trouble.

See the thing is... During the winter, granted it will get stuff trapped underneath, but if you are thinking mold or anything like that, it\'s too cold for it to grow. In addition, I will be removing it for the summer, and then I can wash the nose of the are and the inside of the bra.

If you are talking about scratches, I\'m hoping the llumar will help out there. it may be a PITA to install and reinstall when winter comes around, but if it means stopping those rock hard salt pellets from chipping the front, it might be worth the trouble.

[bluntman]

Not mould, but sand, dirt and grit. Of course you do have the 3M bra so that should help out with things.

[Xenon]

well my main delema is is it worth forking out the money for one? Not really dollar for dollar, but more like dollar for personal satisfaction. Just knowing that all the crap that hits the bra doesn\'t touch the car...

Stones especially. and on long trips, it sure helps keep the bugs off of the front end.

[///M]

How about the bug deflector? It\'s looks better (imo) and there\'s less chance of stuff getting trapped underneath. Granted, it probably doesn\'t offer as much protection as the full bra, but some protection is better than none.

[Xenon]

Originally posted by autoexe


How about the bug deflector? It\'s looks better (imo) and there\'s less chance of stuff getting trapped underneath. Granted, it probably doesn\'t offer as much protection as the full bra, but some protection is better than none.

Well I was looking at the bra because it would protect the flat portion of the front, which is most likely to get hit, and if it does, it would be hit the hardest.

[car_demon]

Bras are good! Especially when you have the option of just using the lower piece. Even if you use the top piece the bogus complaint of some paint fade ain\'t that bad. If you take car of your car\'s exterior with good stripping, claybarring, polish and sealer in the spring and fall you should be fine. Of course regular car washes bi-weekly or so in the summer is normal. Ain\'t the lower bumper ABS plastic anyways...might as well protect that too.

I say I\'ld rather slight paint fade than stone chips and body work..

[car_demon]

And NO! Bras didn\'t go out with the 80\'s:p

[Coaster]

I drove for about 5 years with a full mask on a 91 Protege that I had several years ago. As I recall in the end I was happy with it because it did help with the stone chips, but there are draw backs. I don\'t know if the new one has elastic straps, mesh, steel hooks, or clear plastic sections, but on mine the straps lost their elastiscity, the mesh ripped at a seam, the hooks rusted, & the clear plastic cracked in the cold. It was left on all winter & probably did more good than bad. It does collect a lot of sand & crud & it\'s impossible to get all of it out of the felt backing. The result of that was fine scratches in the paint in certain spots. The worst scratches were actually on the turn signal lenses that were behind the clear plastic.

I would be worried about using it over a Llumar clear bra because the sand could act like sandpaper & scuff up the Llumar. I would also worry that the trapped moisture will turn the Llumar cloudy. BTW my Protege was a light blue colour & after a few years you could easily see a line where the hood section was & the paint was a darker colour under the bra.

And it is a PITA to remove & clean every week when you wash the car.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[Xenon]

Thank you all for your input. I will probably go this winter without it, but next year, when my snow tires go on, I will buy a bra for my car too.

In regards to Crusher\'s post about scrathing up the Llumar and clouding it up... Scatching it up may be a possibility, but the clouding up? any trapped moisture in the winter will generally be frozen, and I\'lll remove the bra when everything starts to melt in the spring, so actual liquid moisture would be kept to a minimum (I hope ;))

again, thanks for your input tho :D much appreciated

[car_demon]

It\'s sort of funny, I get two schools of thought on bras.
I\'ve heard some guys prefer it in the winter, while others claim it is for summer. Are there any all-round users.

And yes, it is a PITA to remove it everytime you wash your car. I couldn\'t afford the $257.00 dlership one for my P5 so I went to http://www.saddleman.com or something like that to get it from the LeBra company outta UTAH. Go on-line and get the up-t-date serial number for you car if they make it as yet and then let WALMART AUTO DEPT do the rest. I specialty ordered it through WALMART for $97.97 before taxes and let them call me in 4wks.

It was a breathable synthetic kind of leather thingy and it was held in by plastic hooks and eylites that used the screws securing your wheel wells. The only shitty thing was that it had to be bolted behind your licence plate. I guess I had the option of cutting out the stencil of my licence plate for easier removal. The dealership OEM one had embossed logos of Mazda and the backing was a higher quality polyfill matting material, but that too could harbour objectst that would make minute scxratches.

The LeBra one was more simple and the backing was a breathable synth-leather which was of a cheaper grade but effective for the price.