[Alain]

You did a great job with that edge. Looks OEM.

I agree with the other poster, most of us are capable of having constructive dialogues....... it would be great to know which brands were substandard.

[Rnovrit]

Correct. Pull the wheel and remove most of the fasteners from the inner wheel well liner. you can gently fold the liner back and easily get to all the clips. No need to take off the bumper.

Full story coming up next. Will be a bit of a long read. Hang tight.

[Rnovrit]

"The full story"


First off I want to make it perfectly clear that I am very picky about things and can be a pain in the rear customer at times (always nice and polite just ocd) so don't fault the companies I mention. They where all extremely nice, polite, understanding and a pleasure to deal with. This is just my personal experience as viewed by me.



Set 1:
Trufiber:


Ordered a set and they arrived no issue. Opened the box and discovered the holes on the backside. My first though was maybe these were for some sort of insert for another piece. Nope. Was later told is was for out gassing during the molding process though the hole appeared to be drilled in after the product was finished. Returned that set.


Set 2:
Adnderson Composites:


Called the company directly and spoke with tech about the issue I had with set-1. They assured me the canards were finished and molded exactly like the factory ones. (Keep in mind the factory sets are finished on the underside for the vertical sections.) I placed the order through one of their vendors and waited for the arrival. Figured the search was over. Nope! Opened the box and got one canard halfway out of the box. Backside was completely raw resin blobs painted flat black. Put it right back in the box and sent it back.



At this point I'm wondering if all the aftermarket canards are funky in some way and I should give up. I decided to keep searching. The quest must go one!


Set 3:
Extreme Online Store:


Contacted them and inquired about the finish on the back side. They confirmed they were completely finished. They were gracious enough to let me visit their warehouse that is not to far away from me to inspect the canards before purchasing them. (At this point I'm getting tired of shipping things back and forth.) They brought out a set for me to look at. Totally finished on all sides, no holes. Examined a bit closer and asked to see another set. (finish blemishes), second set.... third set.... fourth set... Winner! ( so I thought). I was in there office with old school florescent lighting. Once I got home, I pulled them out to look at them. What I found was when the carbon fiber was laid in, the edges were cut a tad too short in a couple areas and all you would see is the black tinted resin. I did not bother to return this set as I had already examined them at their place of business and accepted them as okay. Please note you need to get within 12"-18" to actually see what I'm describing.


Well fans, at this point I'm starting to really wonder if just keeping the stock canards on there is going to be just how things are. It has always kinda bothered me that GM did not use carbon fiber on these to match the wing but I totally under stood why they did not. Cost and damage from road debris being their location in front and down low.


Finally the light bulb went on and i figured out what to do.


Set 4:
TruFiber:


(Yep these guys again)


Procured set 4.



They arrived and looked just like set-1. Looking closely I could tell it was not the exact same set. Handed them off to my friend's body shop and we discussed how to make the holes less "holey". We ended up tinting some fiberglass resin and filling in the holes. Shot two coats of clear with a flex additive on them and they were done. Came out BEAUTIFUL! Put them on the car and all was great until the ding-dong in the BMW. (That would be the start of this thread.)





First pic is the back side of Trufiber set-1 with the holes. Please not the nice, well designed metal mounting tabs for the lower section.



Second pic is a tab from the EOS canards. You can kinda tell the finish leaves a bit to be desired.


Third pic is the back side of the finished set of Trufiber with the hole sealed off. (The lower hole is completely hidden by the rest of the car) In regular lighting, the hole is really hard to find. I had to take a bunch of pictures from different angles with different lighting to try and capture it clearly.


Fourth pic is top side and bottom side of Trufiber canards (set-1).


Conclusion:


Go with Trufiber. If you take the silly holes on the back out of the equation, they were as perfect as you could hope to get. I was going to re-clear whatever set I ended up putting on anyways, regardless of manufacture, to help with longevity and durability. The Anderson Composites were nice on the top and very light weight. The unfinished bottom was just not for me. The Anderson canards I believe to be fully carbon as the other two manufactures are a composite (carbon over fiberglass base). The EOS canards were finished well but I feel they lacked finer details on the molding process. I did not test fit any of the canards except the final set from Trufiber. Yes, I still have the ones from EOS and they are for sale if anyone wants a set discounted. Only requirement is local pickup only. (SF, CA area). What I consider "flaws", most people wouldn't car about or even notice.


Thanks,


Rod

[~Jb]

What was cost of each and the cost/work required to make them complete? I don't think anyone would be ok with unfinished bottom side, short ends, or holes for any reason. So at least in their stock form I think most people would have issues with the quality.

[Rnovrit]

Originally Posted by ~Jb

What was cost of each and the cost/work required to make them complete? I don't think anyone would be ok with unfinished bottom side, short ends, or holes for any reason. So at least in their stock form I think most people would have issues with the quality.

The cost of the Trufiber was just over $400. I had a coupon code at the time.

The cost of the refinish work I can't really comment on as the body shop is owned by a friend of mine and they did it for me as a favor. (I fix their spray booth when it brakes and don't charge them).



The unfinished bottom is very "race car" and would look at home on a track only car that is trying to save as much weight as possible due to they are extremely light and thin.


I think the short ends would not be noticed by most, though now that this thread is alive, and I have pointed out the flaws, anyone that has read it will be in my same boat.


The holes I can't justify even though I ended up with those. I held onto the EOS canards also because they might be fun to play around with and experiment on. Maybe with vinyl in various designs or painting sections black or body color. If I did another small vinyl strip along where it contacts the body, the two sets I have would be almost impossible to tell apart once on the car. Only exception is the Trufiber would have the tinny black spot on the back.

[Alain]

Thank you for sharing the names and the experience in a constructive way.

[waterman]

Originally Posted by Rnovrit

"The full story"


First off I want to make it perfectly clear that I am very picky about things and can be a pain in the rear customer at times (always nice and polite just ocd) so don't fault the companies I mention. They where all extremely nice, polite, understanding and a pleasure to deal with. This is just my personal experience as viewed by me.



Set 1:
Trufiber:


Ordered a set and they arrived no issue. Opened the box and discovered the holes on the backside. My first though was maybe these were for some sort of insert for another piece. Nope. Was later told is was for out gassing during the molding process though the hole appeared to be drilled in after the product was finished. Returned that set.


Set 2:
Adnderson Composites:


Called the company directly and spoke with tech about the issue I had with set-1. They assured me the canards were finished and molded exactly like the factory ones. (Keep in mind the factory sets are finished on the underside for the vertical sections.) I placed the order through one of their vendors and waited for the arrival. Figured the search was over. Nope! Opened the box and got one canard halfway out of the box. Backside was completely raw resin blobs painted flat black. Put it right back in the box and sent it back.



At this point I'm wondering if all the aftermarket canards are funky in some way and I should give up. I decided to keep searching. The quest must go one!


Set 3:
Extreme Online Store:


Contacted them and inquired about the finish on the back side. They confirmed they were completely finished. They were gracious enough to let me visit their warehouse that is not to far away from me to inspect the canards before purchasing them. (At this point I'm getting tired of shipping things back and forth.) They brought out a set for me to look at. Totally finished on all sides, no holes. Examined a bit closer and asked to see another set. (finish blemishes), second set.... third set.... fourth set... Winner! ( so I thought). I was in there office with old school florescent lighting. Once I got home, I pulled them out to look at them. What I found was when the carbon fiber was laid in, the edges were cut a tad too short in a couple areas and all you would see is the black tinted resin. I did not bother to return this set as I had already examined them at their place of business and accepted them as okay. Please note you need to get within 12"-18" to actually see what I'm describing.


Well fans, at this point I'm starting to really wonder if just keeping the stock canards on there is going to be just how things are. It has always kinda bothered me that GM did not use carbon fiber on these to match the wing but I totally under stood why they did not. Cost and damage from road debris being their location in front and down low.


Finally the light bulb went on and i figured out what to do.


Set 4:
TruFiber:


(Yep these guys again)


Procured set 4.



They arrived and looked just like set-1. Looking closely I could tell it was not the exact same set. Handed them off to my friend's body shop and we discussed how to make the holes less "holey". We ended up tinting some fiberglass resin and filling in the holes. Shot two coats of clear with a flex additive on them and they were done. Came out BEAUTIFUL! Put them on the car and all was great until the ding-dong in the BMW. (That would be the start of this thread.)





First pic is the back side of Trufiber set-1 with the holes. Please not the nice, well designed metal mounting tabs for the lower section.



Second pic is a tab from the EOS canards. You can kinda tell the finish leaves a bit to be desired.


Third pic is the back side of the finished set of Trufiber with the hole sealed off. (The lower hole is completely hidden by the rest of the car) In regular lighting, the hole is really hard to find. I had to take a bunch of pictures from different angles with different lighting to try and capture it clearly.


Fourth pic is top side and bottom side of Trufiber canards (set-1).


Conclusion:


Go with Trufiber. If you take the silly holes on the back out of the equation, they were as perfect as you could hope to get. I was going to re-clear whatever set I ended up putting on anyways, regardless of manufacture, to help with longevity and durability. The Anderson Composites were nice on the top and very light weight. The unfinished bottom was just not for me. The Anderson canards I believe to be fully carbon as the other two manufactures are a composite (carbon over fiberglass base). The EOS canards were finished well but I feel they lacked finer details on the molding process. I did not test fit any of the canards except the final set from Trufiber. Yes, I still have the ones from EOS and they are for sale if anyone wants a set discounted. Only requirement is local pickup only. (SF, CA area). What I consider "flaws", most people wouldn't car about or even notice.


Thanks,


Rod

Thanks for your comments here. The information and your opinions are greatly appreciated.

[Rnovrit]

Welcome. I prefer to leave positive feed back on the rare occasion I leave feed back. Unfortunately, this adventure had some less than optimal components. Just want to clarify that I did not have a bad customer service experience with any of the companies. Everyone was quite pleasant and helpful. The failure point was the quality/design/finish of the end product. Even being nice, this still unfortunately equals a failure.

[20Madman]

Looks great!

[Intimidator]

I have all Anderson Composites stuff...all of mine is Perfect. I'm a OCD Paint Guy!
My front grille and Splitter is PPF covered and is still like new.
My Z is my DD, even in Winter, it has 24K with the Carbon Fiber front.

[SliChillax]

You did all that extra coating and never once thought of covering in protective film instead? Would have protected from the rock chips.

[Rnovrit]

I don’t like the sheen the PPF or wraps have. Has a funky look to me. Also the edges and seams with clear coatings would bother me more than the occasional chip. I’m just weird that way. I know I will get rock chips and understand years down the line I may have things repainted. To me it is like those plastic covers your grandparents used to put on their couches. I would rather sit on the couch than keep it pristine for the next guy.

[Yessa]

Interesting and best of luck but what happens when a negligent driver backs in to your Z and destroys those beautiful carbon fiber Canards? Parts are so expensive these days, plus shipping. As I grow older, I see modding as a waste of money, especially exterior mods.

Enjoy in good health.

[SFV1LE]

The canards look great, but to those who track their ZLEs I've seen a couple get canard damage at the track. That and of course the splitter are the first things to get hit. My splitter already has a large flat spot from a cone that someone "moved" into dead center track on the middle straight at ACS--I hit it at 130. It also cracked my undertray, but luckily no mechanical damage.