Best Material for Lips/Skirts/Spats?
 

TL;DR:
What is the best material for lip kits?

Daily-driven FR-S in Alberta, Canada (~+30C/86F to -30C/-22F, with potholes). There are plans for a ~1” drop via TRD Springs, so ride height will be a factor.

I have a number of lips/skirts/spats picked out. However I lack the knowledge on the materials they are constructed of. I have encountered polyurethane (pu), polypropylene (pp), carbon fiber (cf), ABS, and fiberglass (fg).

My understanding (please correct me):
• PU: Inexpensive, may “wave”, durable (flexible)
• PP: Rugged, that’s all I got
• CF: Looks AMAZING (IMO, but expensive) and may not stand up to snow/ice as a lip (hoods seem to be okay according to my research)
• ABS: Again, little knowledge. Is this the same material as the stock “diffuser”?
• FG: The only material I’ve had very limited experience with… cracks easily, I’m not found of it

What is the “best” lip/skirt/spat/diffuser material for a winter driven Twin?
Thanks again FT86Club!

They all have different uses.
more flexible (pu)
easier to work on/mold/repair (fg)
stronger (cf)
cheap (abs)

and then you have hybrid type like frp.
There is no best, it depends on your application.

I am looking for a set & forget application that will not loose it's original look (within reason of course, I understand that things fade etc) while being exposed to hot/cold temperatures, UV (no garage, forgot to mention that), snow/ice, gravel/rocks, and potholes.

Overall I'm hoping to gain a better understanding of how these materials react to the elements and how they stand up over time:
PU - Flexible: more forgiving if it takes a bump, paint may flake from flex, most likely to withstand abuse from pushing snow/ice after a storm or getting pelted by rocks. But will it look the same after a few years or does it become wavy?
FB - Repairable: Would there be seasonal repairs from rock damage (probably would never use this material, but still want to learn what I can)
CF - Stronger: How strong is strong? Is it capable of taking a little bump without cracking, say a pothole at 60kph/40mph? Cracking CF is my biggest concern as it (to my knowledge) cannot be restored to "new" if it's unpainted
ABS - Still trying to familiarize what this material feels like, I imagine it's your typical hard plastic.
FRP - This would share the characteristics of CF/FB, just cheaper to make because it's wrapped around plastic.

Please note that I'm not stating fact, the above is my personal understanding and I'm hoping that others may chime in to let me know if I'm on the right path or point out any errors.

Best choices are pu or cf. Oem uses PU so that is your best bet for a long life. There is a flex agent that body shop can put in the paint to make it flexible with less chance of chipping/cracking from being bent. Cf will crack if hit hard enough. Pu will bend but the paint will crack. Either way, none will survive if hit hard enough. Most cheap kits that advertise PU are not pu, in other words pretty much none except oem(or jdm) are real pu. The pu material itself has similar cost to cheap carbon fiber. Cf will fade over time as the clear coat is cheap clear coat to just get it out of the factory. You will need cf to be painted if you expect no fading.

This helps a lot, it solved my debate on which material (pu) to go with, thank you very much!

Also... pu is mostly for lips where flexibility is needed.
PP (Polypropylene) are what most bumpers are made out of.
Not sure what side skirts are made out of. :D
They are different types of plastics and formulations.
Your best bet is to buy from the original manufacturer with the original mold(best fit) as they are most likely to use the best materials for that specific style.
Good luck :lol:

So that would make the front and rear bumpers (color matched pieces) polypropylene (PP), would this include the back "diffuser" (the black piece surrounding the exhaust/reverse lights)?