Do they use the same paint? FR-S and BRZ?
 

Hello all. I just moved to LA. It was my intention when I arrived to buy an FRS. I test drove one back home and liked it.

I got out here and test drove one on the LA streets, which aren't as even or as often paved as the ones back home, and I found the FRS had an overly harsh ride. I'll give it another go next week, just to make sure I didn't get a bad one or drive it on a bad day, but I took a BRZ out the same day, and found the ride less harsh then on the scion. I haven't chosen yet, and I'll take them both out again, but right now I'm leaning towards the Brz.

So, my question is, do they use the same paints? I went around back home and looked at the scions in all shades, (have a fine arts degree. Shades of colors are important to me.) I noticed the asphalt shade had a textured feel. I was leaning towards black. If I go to the BRZ I might have to rethink my color choices, and there don't seem to be a lot of BRZs in the LA area.

Different paints for each? Or same factory/same paints?

Same exact paint for BRZ and FRS, they are made in the same factory, the only differences are the colors which are exclusive to each car like Ignition Silver( not to be confused with Argento) and Hot lava is only to the FRS, the BRZ has it's World Rally Blue. Scion just likes to name them differently to differential themselves.

Same Subaru paint for all the cars. The textured feel that you noticed is orange peel, which is essentially imperfection of the paint due to its composition and application process.

I thought that textured feel was intentional? It's only on the asphalt grey, and it's very very even, so I imagined it to be by intent.

It's not intentional.. The same day I test drove the FRS.. I went to check out the cayman.. Same orange peel on Porsches as well.. It didn't used to be that way on the older P cars... The way of the world

A lot of people have been saying the paint is the same, but when my mileage was only 500, I paid a visit to a local Scion dealer who happen to have a Red FRS in the lot. I parked my Red BRZ next to the Red FRS, I noticed that my BRZ has a brighter red to it compared to the Scion.

If they truly are suppose to be the same color, then either my eyes were playing games with me, or someone at the factory screwed up mine or the Scion. I have yet to hear from other members to see if they ever did the real life comparisons themselves regarding red.

EDIT: I did swap my stock trunk with another BRZ member and the color does match, so I am guessing it really has to do with the different batch of paint that they use on the Scion.

Maybe different batch of paint, lol. Red is a pain to match...

I work at a body shop, and the painter showed me these cards he used. He was painting a Honda Odyssey. Over 5 cards were same color code except they had extra letter attached to end to differentiate the variances. I tried to match... Then thought I had better things to do than stare at color cards all day...

the germans get more money for their "orange peel" because it's well,"'special"
orange peel,it's porsche orange peel. it's engineered to be better!..ehe! he! he!

Temperature and humidity often play a role in how the clear coat dries. Even though the plant is supposed to be a controlled environment, a slight change in the mix (thinner/reducer), a failure of an air handler or environmental control and you end up with a drying process that is little to be desired.
There are other factors such as film thickness, pressures of the fluid and air mixture at the nozzle, wait time before recoating, etc.
A slight orange peel is considered to be commercially or industrially acceptable.

When I had asked about the orange peel, with my wrx which had the same. They told me it was intentional as the orange peel paint is more scratch resistant. Not saying this is the truth, just what I was told.

Can we merge these for a future FAQ? If anything I'll start one up so we can have these great answers in one sticky. Link the sticky to a PM when members sign up. Great feature I saw on another forum I recently signed up on

Maybe its due to the fact it has metallic flakes?

I think the optigaurd removes this and/or clear bra

I was gonna start a wikia soon for the forum just need to start it otl

Neither opti nor clearbra will remove orange peel. Every color frs/brz i have seen has it, its just harder to see on some colors. Take a tube light over the surface in a garage and ull see it. Only way to get rid of it is to pay for a good paintjob

really? at what price point?..may i ask?
at any price point?..seems odd!..just sayin'

really? wow! sounds like a "shit storm" to me!..just sayin'

Gents, I don't believe we are talking about the same thing. I googled orange peel and auto paint, and that physical texture is not what I'm talking about on the dark grey scion.

Here is an image, if it uploads correctly, to show what I mean. What I'm talking about, in art school terms, is that it looks like the car was peppered and then clearcoated. It's even, and has all these flecks in it, and that is what I mean by 'textured appearance.' Not a physical texture in the paint.

Sorry the image is upside down and um.... huge.

EDIT: Partly fixed it. Cut it down and rotated it. Need to reinstall photoshop so that's easier to do. The above image should show what I mean by 'textured.' Does anyone know if the dark grey BRZ looks like that?

That is called a Metallic Flake. It is often used in modern metallic paints to add depth and make it a generally more interesting color.

I know WRB, DGM, and CBS have tons of flake, which IMO looks great when cleaned and in the right light...

Ooooh.... The metallic flake. It is mixed Into the paint. This should be pretty much uniform in all the cars unless more/less was added into the mix...

Pearl and metallic paints are slightly different. Both use flakes, but different types... Metallic is more metal shiny looking while the pearl uses mica to give that sheen of a pearl. also, pearl paints sometimes look different depending on angle....l

Ohh! Okay, that's a wet ground Mica, not metallic flake I believe.
The Mica refracts light rather than reflect it for the most part. That's why you get that prismatic effect. This can create different shades from different angles.
That can also be referred to as 'flop' since it can produce a different look based on the angle you view it, and the light direction.
That is also why this type of paint is a challenge to match, especially in lighter colors.
Look at it with a magnifier, and it looks like a mountain range.

LOL, not sure I understand the question. Unless that's a bit of sarcasm.
If the latter, its free of charge. :P

Wouldn't they call it Mica then, instead of Dark Gray Metallic? Just curious, since I've seen plenty of manufacturers use ___ ___ Mica in the past.

FYI OP, all of the colors have this "texture" or flake to them with the exception of red, which is a plain gloss.

Sounds like "Business as usual" to me. I can't go to any dealerships nearby and find a orange-peel free finish.

Even wrb?

Fyi the whiteout is a pearl, so it would vary from the other colors "flake" a bit as well

I think he means at what price point (msrp) does orange peel become unacceptable(?)

I will say higher end cars tend to have much better paint jobs, my AR is300 did not have orange peel, nor did my supras or svx. Though my impreza 2.5rs coupe and now the fr-s do.

You would think, but it's just a name. Of course, I could also be wrong.
One way to prove that out would be to compare a few colors with the magnifier. But from what I've seen of that color, I could have sworn I've seen that prismatic multicolor effect. It could be aluminum too.
I'll keep my eye loop available so I can stop by the dealer on the way home. There was one in that color there this weekend.

I heard it from the dealer and over on the WRX forum. Again not saying its true, just wide spread, weather that wide spread bs or wide spread truth i cant attest to, never attempted to scratch two cars and see the difference lol

The above pic is of an "Asphaut grey" scion. Does the BRZ dark grey use all that flake?

Looks identical to my co-workers '08 WRX and my other co-workers '10 STI.

Or at least I can't tell the difference.
:bonk:

I re-read the OP, GreySaber refers to "textured feel". Are you referring to the very slight wavyness seen only when viewing a reflection closely or at a low angle, or are you looking at the colored/metallic flecks embedded in the paint? The photo posted above clearly shows both... The wavyness in reflections is orange peel, not the colored flecks.

THIS!

Colors are sprayed at the factory with the same guns/robots. When there is a change of color, the guns are 'cleaned' out, but residual tones/paint exist which cause slight variations in the color as it is sprayed on several cars.

Also, you (OP) may notice the variation of the 'sparkle' or flakes in multi-tone paint (whiteout, asphalt) when it is sprayed over metal vs. plastic of the bumpers.

The argento/asphalt is the best for dirt over the raven. Do a search of owners driving themselves crazy (or not) keeping the black cars swirl-free.

The biggest difference b/w the twins is the suspesion tuning. This is the first post I have read that expressed these differences, but I haven't read all the posts about this on this site. The FR-S is a bit more stiff, and you just shared to what degree they are different, thanks!

Eric G

and yeah, its orange peel. This excess can be color/wet sanded and buffed out to a mirror finish. While the FA major may help ID'ing different shades/tints/tones, the physics class you took also will come into play when understanding why the same color/tint/shade 'appears' different in different conditions.

I love how my customers ask why the bumper doesn't match the body of the car perfectly... I tell them "see... I have this 2013 Subaru BRZ, you probably never heard of it, and it has brand new paint from the factory and it's slightly off. "

I think mica paints used mica at one point. Now, I think that it refers to a 'metal flake' type color that isn't simply 'silver' in color. Micas usually have a bit of copper/gold in the flake reflection, rather than the simple silver.

Eric G

The Toyota, Subaru, and Scion versions are literally made side by side by side in the same factory which belongs to Subaru.