Hey all.

I thought I'd share a little project I'm working on as there were a few people interested on the is300h EU Facebook group I'm in.
This is the overall style I'm going for.



I've templated the arch and have tried flaring out the guard in different sizes 5,10,15 & 20mm oversized and I settled on 10mm oversized as they stick out enough to be noticed and serve a purpose without running the risk of snagging on anything or looking excessive.
I've been 3D printing templates to fine tune the design and getting the hole alignment with the 3 fixing points perfect because nobody wants to drill into their car that's how we get rust & rot down the line



I'm hoping that 0.5mm carbon fiber will have enough natural flex to allow the 3 fixings to hold it in place and conform to the curvature of the wheel arch however if it doesnt work I have two options and 1 is to add a rib on the inside of the sheet on the inner side of the arch and fiberglass it in place to hold the sheet to the correct curvature otherwise I'm going to have to wet lay the carbon fiber on a negative mound of the wheel arch and that'll be a lot more work to prep so no fun but we will see.
Any feedback and suggestions welcome.

 

 

Interested to see how the come up, keep us updated - if they come out looking as good as the ones on that Focus RS color me intrigued.

 

i think they should be as dramatic as the ones on the focus. I don’t think 10 mm is going to cut it. I would prefer they flare out from maybe 0.5 cm to 2.5 cm and go all the way down to the bottom of the wheel well or drop down a 1-1.5 cm below. Don’t worry about them snagging. If we get our cars that close to something we’ve got bigger problems, and if we do happen to only snag the flap we just get to spend more money with you (:

 

I hear ye on the dramatic flare I might give that look a go next and see how they turn out.

Next step for these was done today. I cut the templates in Acetate so that with the clear material I can address any misalignment with the holes and fix that up. Once I've got all the holes PERFECT changing the design wont be too much work.
I've also sprayed one of them black so I can get a feel for what the contract and the overall look will be like on the car.

 

Definitely interested in these

 

Don't you hate it when other people are right @ScytheDC may have been right and the dramatic flair is needed
I fitted my design this morning after the paint dried and it looks underwhelming. They do look sleek but I think they are missing the edge.







I pulled out the panel to be in line with the vertical line of the wheel so that it matches the original line of the wheel and follows the lines on the car (the wheel) and ScytheDC was right it does look WAY BETTER!!!
Dont mind the holes being in the wrong place now they are the original design just mounted to see how it would look so ill move everything into line.

 

Assuming you'll be experimenting with matching rears..?

Joe Z

 

Coming a long nicely! I agree, I’d be interested in a rear set

 

I think it would look better with it starting at 0 and tapering out.

 

can't wait to see the final product!

 

Do bears **** in the woods?

You might be onto something I don't think I'd taper from 0 but probably do something like 2mm extrusion and then taper at a shallow angle.
What I have seen from looking around is that the use of a slot would allow the end user to adapt these as they wish. With the Lexus we have 1 hex bolt with a waster and then two fixings in the middle and top so what I would consider doing is putting a slot in the middle and bottom so that you could pivot the whole thing around the top fixing and set your preferred angle or maybe just a series of 3 holes so that you effectively have a setting so you make sure left and right are identical even tough nobody would notice.


And to answer some other questions Rear's are definitely on the list just one step at a time :P
Here's my first pass on a bigger flair it goes from just a rounded angle at the top to a 51mm flair at the bottom. I just eyeballed this but really I should probably line it up with the wheel so might do that tomorrow.

 

Exactly! I should have mentioned the slots (pictured it in my head). If you can add adjustability, that's the ticket as long as the "widest" setting doesn't expose the slots.

 

Having adjustable mounting is a very nice idea!

 

Are these ready? I think a sponsor is already trying to sell some