What Are Frp Body Parts? Are They Good Quality?

[Anees]

Hi,

I've been looking for a few subtle bits to do to the Aristo, such as sideskirts, a rear skirt and a front lip. Quite a lot about!

Prolex also do some vented wings and a bonnet that looks great too, but those I think are not subtle enough.

Anyway, the majority of these items are made from FRP which I think is Fibre-reinforced plastic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber-reinforced_polymer

When I first got my IS years ago, I made the mistake of buying a bodykit made of Fibreglass and it was :tsktsk: :tsktsk: with it costing a fortune to have fitted because of all the extra work needed I ended up sending it back and I learnt to avoid fibreglass bodyparts at all costs! I eventually got the original lexus TRD kit which I don't know what it was made of but looked and fitted great.

Should I be weary of FRP? Does it crack or bend like some fiberglass? Is is more like the proper lexus bodykit material?

Thanks,

Anees

[Rolex]

apparently FRP is supposed to be better then fibre glass but not a good as poly urethene, if you are after a poly bodykit JP Vizage do one here is is

Click here

also you can get the Greddy front lip for the GS300/aristo which is also made from polyurethene

[Anees]

Thanks for the link mate, that front lip is a bit too over the top for me, but the side skirts are not bad :)

So OE stuff is polyurethane? On same sites where the item is made of fibreglass it says "Made with OEM-Quality fiberglass", but that is just marketing I assume? Its confusing this stuff.

Has anybody got experience of FRP?

[Dave-Ellen]

Best to go for TRD/TOMs/C-one as they will all fit and are not so in your face as the others IMHO

[Anees]

Best to go for TRD/TOMs/C-one as they will all fit and are not so in your face as the others IMHO

Dave, since you sell FRP bits on your website, does this mean that you have not had any problems with items made from it?

Can you get (like you could for the IS200) a lexus bodykit?

Thanks

[yemgi]

The bodykit on mine is FRP, it is a bit more flexible than fiber glass but will still break the same if it hits something

[Rsarin]

I know what you mean Anees.Im looking for lighter bits for my supercharged M3.Ive seen the bootlid im after in 2/3 different materials and the part manufactured in FRP seems to be the cheapest, every time.The price differences are so vast that it does make me wonder what the quality of these parts actually are.

this is a pic of the frp bit.It looks identical to the real thing,but im just wondering if its gonna be cheap and nasty,if you knwo what i mean.The above part is £349-the real thing sells for £1100.

[Anees]

I know what you mean Anees.Im looking for lighter bits for my supercharged M3.Ive seen the bootlid im after in 2/3 different materials and the part manufactured in FRP seems to be the cheapest, every time.The price differences are so vast that it does make me wonder what the quality of these parts actually are.

this is a pic of the frp bit.It looks identical to the real thing,but im just wondering if its gonna be cheap and nasty,if you knwo what i mean.The above part is £349-the real thing sells for £1100.

Hope your car is coming along nicely Raj :)

I suspect the FRP products are (generally speaking) cheap copies, so I would treat them as if I were buying fibreglass (i.e avoid!) No point having a nice car in your case and then spoiling it with a nasty bit of cheap looking plastic - it would remind me of those Nova/Saxo drivers that drive around with cracked fibreglass bumpers and lips.

I'm still trying to decide what kind of look I want from the Aristo yet; don't want it too obviously "done up", but I don't want it looking too plain either.