I am looking to buy Voltex replica wide-body (double-arched) fenders, and possibly front bumper.

For track car that will get "man handled" it seems wasteful to go with original Voltex.

Some of you have had experience with the kits, could you please advise, what brand and source (online store or other source), is recommended or best fit and finish?



Background:
I was advised by good friend that

• Rear quarter wide-Replica fenders are "all" poor fit, and that in his view original is best to go with
• same friend advised all Voltex-Replica parts had rough/big strand fiberglass parts, while Voltex makes fine-strand nicely finished parts that fit with well as is, and are finished not requiring much if any finishing for paint.

Weight is also of concern, would be nice to purchase/install strong, yet light, wide-body kit.

Your input will be much appreciated.

 

ahhhh the olde purist mate that pushes his own agenda despite facts.

I bought a set of genuine voltex guards. cost me an organ or 2 to buy. had to re drill half the bolt holes as none of them lined up. finish was average and required work before painting.

Ive also bought plenty of replica stuff. some of it shocking some of it great. They all come with big strand chop fibreglass underneath normally as its the cheapest way to build mass. any decent replica will have a nice layer or gel coat to finish.

Where you do lose out with replica stuff is when u buy carbon its normally their fibreglass piece with a layer of carbon over the top of it where as the genuine item will be only carbon.

Consider duraflex stuff. i got the APR rear fenders from driven by style and they were perfect, lighter than fibreglass and easier to work with.

Totally agree also about justification for not going genuine. ive been through 3 front bumpers and done numerous repairs on my guards. downside to door to door racing. no way i would put a genuine kit on a race car and i dont know many who do

 

I've struggled with this for YEARS too. In my case I haven't destroyed the fake pieces due to car contact as much, but more so their in-ability to stay in once piece at speed. A learning curve I wasn't happy to have but now that I know, I would Still buy genuine Voltex. Let me explain.

IF you are going to mold the parts onto the car and/or paint - then yes by all means get the cheaper stuff because the labor is a "while your in there" more so then it is an extra week of fitting/finishing - specifically on the Duraflex stuff. I however refuse to use their front fenders, hoods, or bumper. All of these pieces fit so poorly and require a metric ton of re-enforcement, further adding the their already "heavier then genuine" issue. These pieces are extremely difficult to make, and the genuine Voltex gear is a 500% better fit and finish and it's exactly the same every time. If you get the FRP stuff you aren't really paying that much anyway as compared to other makes/models wide body. For the bolt it on and forget it my money is deff doing the real deal from now on.

 

Thanks guys,

I had the same feedback, that Voltex simply fits, and is reasonably light well made, to not require for race car much prep work and fitting.
In contrast, aftermarket stuff generally has issues in all areas of fit, finish, and weight too.

For me no body contact, but still, price/cost is of concern.

If anybody did purchase a specific replica that fitted well and had good quality finish, perhaps you can share the source/brand?

 

I had a set of duraflex rear replicas last winter up till early this summer. They are copies of the voltex kit that is made to match up with the JDM bumper and lines up with the USDM bumper like crap. There are small section that are fragile and crack easy considering the high resin weak chopped mat layup. I spent time working to see if it was the right direction but after trying to get rid of them I broke them into pieces and put in the trash.

Basically wasted money. Will not buy again.

 

Took the sawsall to mine lol.

 

Thank you.

It all looks like Original Voltex is only way to manage "overall cost", the price is higher, but without additional hassle, and no risk, in the end its better value.

I really love Brad Jesson's and Ken Twaits rear flares. Superb solution, unique functional clean, somehow looks really good to me.
I think I may start there, rather than go Voltex rear.
Front is easy, Voltex on front looks just perfect.

 

alpina im brad jesson haha. And those are from carbonplusoz.com and are replicas

i duno how it is for you guys but we get such good copies out of china if you know the right suppliers the fitment is just as good if not better than genuine.

As i said earlier i bought genuine voltex and the fitment wasnt great. they required just as much work as the chinese stuff i normally buy.

the duraflex apr overfenders i bought were also fine but i cant comment on their bumpers etc.

Its all about finding a good supplier who has good moulds cause thats the key.

Also for a race car a lil something i was told once which has stuck with me is when a graphics guy was fixing up a car for a team owner of one of our pro series cars and wasnt quite happy with how it was looking. the owner said "can u notice it at 200kmh, if not who cares"

 

Was speaking with Jon Ripple (tre) about that yesterday and he made a good comment. For the Evo, aka a DSM, we have always been "geeky" owners. Dudes that have Honda's or GM's or Ford's and all these other makes that race they aren't NEARLY as **** as we are with our cars. We like all of the complexity and attention to detail to make it all work, which spreads into the rest of the look/feel so as not to make it seem incomplete. The "successful" DSM was made for OCD car people lol.

 

Brad,

Since you have some knowledge of good suppliers out of China, can you give us a few names making good/best fitting Voltex replica parts.
Than we can find a local source.


Cheers,

 

i use a local source in new zealand who has the suppliers in china so no direct link could possibly price it up through my guy here and see if it can be shipped direct to you guys but id imagine it probably wouldnt be very cost effective.

There must be some decent importers in the states with good fitting replica kits?

 

Thank you Brad.
Knowledge is sparse: most get 1-shot to try, and do not install themselves, so objective experienced feedback is rare.

 

I guess we are really lucky to be quite a dense country/community down here.

I have bought some stuff from carbonplusoz.com and their stuff was good quality. i just found it expensive compared to the stuff i get locally. But it may work out decent priced for you?

Our stuff locally is quite cheap to buy but shipping would be the killer i guess.

 

Bee - For curiosity sake, if you were to get say the normal Voltex street front bumper, real Vs china - what do they charge you there?

 

fibreglass bumper would cost like $600nzd, The circuit version voltex from rhdjapan.com is $3500nzd + shipping. (the genuine one has a carbon splitter the chinese ones i get a fibreglass, but the chinese one comes with canards and endplates)