Honda Car Forum

I do about 35 high-speed freeway miles a day and am catching a lot stuff on
the front of my new RSX. So far no dings from rocks - mostly just bugs and
crud.

I saw another RSX with a pretty well-made and fitted dealer installed bra
and wondered if it would be a good idea to protect my investment by getting
one. (My local Acura dealer cut me no deal at all when he took my $23,500
for the pearl white RSX TypeS I HAD to have ;-) I plan to drive the car for
about 3 years and get a new one.

I guess my concern centers around what happens to 'wash water', rain.
debris, etc. that seeps under the bra. Does the bra do more damage than
good? Do you have to take the bra off when you wash the vehicle? If 'sandy'
textured debris get under there, does it 'grind' the paint surface?

Anybody have any experience in this area?

George

Yes, in my experience, bras are good to cover up pre-existing damage. If
you put it on a new car, esp if you drive fast 70+ the bra will rub the
paint. Even the best fitting one will mess up your paint, not to mention
trap sand/dirt.


"George" <gmenzie@charter.net> wrote in message
news:vnrkjtivtu7g17@corp.supernews.com...
> I do about 35 high-speed freeway miles a day and am catching a lot stuff
on
> the front of my new RSX. So far no dings from rocks - mostly just bugs and
> crud.
>
> I saw another RSX with a pretty well-made and fitted dealer installed bra
> and wondered if it would be a good idea to protect my investment by
getting
> one. (My local Acura dealer cut me no deal at all when he took my $23,500
> for the pearl white RSX TypeS I HAD to have ;-) I plan to drive the car
for
> about 3 years and get a new one.
>
> I guess my concern centers around what happens to 'wash water', rain.
> debris, etc. that seeps under the bra. Does the bra do more damage than
> good? Do you have to take the bra off when you wash the vehicle? If
'sandy'
> textured debris get under there, does it 'grind' the paint surface?
>
> Anybody have any experience in this area?
>
> George
>
>

Bought my '90 Integra RS with a bunch of extras (@50% off at time of
purchase) .. . bra, tonneau cover etc. Excellent results from each.
Disagree that the bra is good just covering "damaged" sections. The front
area protected by the bra resisted not only salt & snow but UV as well.
Just periodically remove the bra and wash inside out and underneath .. . dry
thoroughly. Highly recommend.


"George" <gmenzie@charter.net> wrote in message
news:vnrkjtivtu7g17@corp.supernews.com...
> I do about 35 high-speed freeway miles a day and am catching a lot stuff
on
> the front of my new RSX. So far no dings from rocks - mostly just bugs and
> crud.
>
> I saw another RSX with a pretty well-made and fitted dealer installed bra
> and wondered if it would be a good idea to protect my investment by
getting
> one. (My local Acura dealer cut me no deal at all when he took my $23,500
> for the pearl white RSX TypeS I HAD to have ;-) I plan to drive the car
for
> about 3 years and get a new one.
>
> I guess my concern centers around what happens to 'wash water', rain.
> debris, etc. that seeps under the bra. Does the bra do more damage than
> good? Do you have to take the bra off when you wash the vehicle? If
'sandy'
> textured debris get under there, does it 'grind' the paint surface?
>
> Anybody have any experience in this area?
>
> George
>
>

In article <24lfb.209850$mp.130019@rwcrnsc51.ops.asp.att.net> , AV
<abc@abc.com> wrote:

> Yes, in my experience, bras are good to cover up pre-existing damage. If
> you put it on a new car, esp if you drive fast 70+ the bra will rub the
> paint. Even the best fitting one will mess up your paint, not to mention
> trap sand/dirt.

True, that's *if* you leave the bra on for too long a period of time.
I've used a bra on all my Hondas (even my NSX) for years with no paint
damage whatsoever. The key here is to use it only on longer trips and
remove it when you don't need it (like driving around town).

Since you drive every day and could use the benefit of a bra on your
car, I'd install it and then remove it on the weekends when you're not
doing a lot of highway driving. Make sure you clean the inside of the
bra of any debri. Put a fresh coat of wax on the area covered by the
bra.

I've seen cars damaged by nosebras but those were as a result of the
owners being to lazy to remove them. They just kept it on the car
permanently. I've seen some cars that had brighter paint on the nose
of the car with the rest faded, a clear indicator that the bra was
probably never removed from the car until it finally broke apart and
fell off.

Bottom line: If you don't want to fuss with taking the bra off the
car, don't get one. You'll do more damage to your car leaving the bra
on for extended periods of time. The dirt and debri that will
accumulate underneath will act like sandpaper and damage the paint. A
wet bra may case the paint to start clouding.

Another alternative may be the new clear bras. I believe 3M makes it.
It's form fitted to many styles of cars and should be professionally
installed. It's a clear see thru film that's applied to the car. This
type of bra stays on the car permanently unless you don't want it
anymore where it can be peeled off. I've seen this film installed on
many cars such as Vipers, NSXs and Ferarris when I visited the Concours
in Pebble Beach this year.

Hope this helps you out.

Paul

I could never understand the logic behind the bra.

Make your vehicle look like crap to save yourself from dings which make the
vehicle look like crap.

Never, ever, will the dings look as bad as the bra makes your car look.

Over in England, I knew a couple of folks who would leave the plastic covers
the seats of their new car for years, to save wear on the seats. Imagine
sitting on a plastic bag for a couple of years.

Cars have a limited life span. Accept it, and accept that the occasional
stone chip will not shorted this span. Save the nose from UV fading? what
about the rest? Why not cover the whole vehicle in masking tape - maybe
leave the windows free?

Bras a silly! Real men do not wear bras!

Sorry about the sarcasm. Please don't spam me to death.

Bill


"Bill Freeman" <bfree@netzero.net> wrote in message
news:blkpt6$dmsnk$1@ID-82447.news.uni-berlin.de...
> Bought my '90 Integra RS with a bunch of extras (@50% off at time
of
> purchase) .. . bra, tonneau cover etc. Excellent results from each.
> Disagree that the bra is good just covering "damaged" sections. The front
> area protected by the bra resisted not only salt & snow but UV as well.
> Just periodically remove the bra and wash inside out and underneath .. .
dry
> thoroughly. Highly recommend.
>
>
> "George" <gmenzie@charter.net> wrote in message
> news:vnrkjtivtu7g17@corp.supernews.com...
> > I do about 35 high-speed freeway miles a day and am catching a lot stuff
> on
> > the front of my new RSX. So far no dings from rocks - mostly just bugs
and
> > crud.
> >
> > I saw another RSX with a pretty well-made and fitted dealer installed
bra
> > and wondered if it would be a good idea to protect my investment by
> getting
> > one. (My local Acura dealer cut me no deal at all when he took my
$23,500
> > for the pearl white RSX TypeS I HAD to have ;-) I plan to drive the car
> for
> > about 3 years and get a new one.
> >
> > I guess my concern centers around what happens to 'wash water', rain.
> > debris, etc. that seeps under the bra. Does the bra do more damage than
> > good? Do you have to take the bra off when you wash the vehicle? If
> 'sandy'
> > textured debris get under there, does it 'grind' the paint surface?
> >
> > Anybody have any experience in this area?
> >
> > George
> >
> >
>
>

"George" <gmenzie@charter.net> wrote in message
news:vnrkjtivtu7g17@corp.supernews.com...
> I do about 35 high-speed freeway miles a day and am catching a lot stuff
on
> the front of my new RSX. So far no dings from rocks - mostly just bugs and
> crud.
>
> I saw another RSX with a pretty well-made and fitted dealer installed bra
> and wondered if it would be a good idea to protect my investment by
getting
> one. (My local Acura dealer cut me no deal at all when he took my $23,500
> for the pearl white RSX TypeS I HAD to have ;-) I plan to drive the car
for
> about 3 years and get a new one.
>
> I guess my concern centers around what happens to 'wash water', rain.
> debris, etc. that seeps under the bra. Does the bra do more damage than
> good? Do you have to take the bra off when you wash the vehicle? If
'sandy'
> textured debris get under there, does it 'grind' the paint surface?
>
> Anybody have any experience in this area?
>
> George
>
>


I personally dont like bras (for cars or girls :-)

To me is like covering a beautiful leather couch with sheets or something.
It is such a beautiful couch you dont want to mess it up or get it dirty so
you cover it....but then you never see this "beautiful" couch because its
covered so whats the point.

Also....car bras strike me as a last 80's early 90's fad....(I dunno, thats
just me)

:-)

Gabe

Thanks to everybody who responded top my original post!

Based on your feedback (and my own feelings) I have decided not to get a
bra.

I'm going to drive the hell out of this car, just like I have done with
every other car I've owned and take my chances with the re-sale value when I
cross that bridge.

So let the highway hazards come. I'll just wash the car more often and
consider the dings and pitts that come may come in the same way I think of
the various scars and imperfections on my face and body... as marks of
experience and character.

Next I'll be asking opinions on waxing....

George