Benefits of a Rocket Bunny Kit?

[Zan]

I've been doing research on this, but have not been able to come up with a solid answer. I've been looking into the RB V1 fenders, because when they are molded to the car, it gives the car a clean look, but the things I can not seem to find and I have been wondering are the following:

Does it live up to its name as an Aero Kit, or is it simply made for show cars. Is anyone actually tracking the car with this kit for Autocross and Track time, and with all the additional pieces needed (wheels, tires, possible suspension, etc.) how does it handle?

On the same note, how does it feel for daily driving? Does it still feel like the spirited car in the mountains most of us have come to know and love, or does it feel like a behemoth in a small package, where its uncomfortable to drive in canyon roads and isnt the little sporty car we've come to know and love?

The kit doesnt seem to add that much width to it, and with the added power of a FI set up, one would think that the extra width to give it some tires without going to crazy with camber would give it some benefits, but with new pros, comes new cons.

Every thread I've seen start going somewhere and then the haters and trolls come out. I'm not interested in your opinion of the appearance of the kit, I am more interested in the kit living up to what is claimed to be an Aero Kit, and thus its versatility for high speed performance and moderate speed canyon and mountain driving.

Thanks again

[MisterSheep]

Originally Posted by Zan

I've been doing research on this, but have not been able to come up with a solid answer. I've been looking into the RB V1 fenders, because when they are molded to the car, it gives the car a clean look, but the things I can not seem to find and I have been wondering are the following:

Does it live up to its name as an Aero Kit, or is it simply made for show cars. Is anyone actually tracking the car with this kit for Autocross and Track time, and with all the additional pieces needed (wheels, tires, possible suspension, etc.) how does it handle?
This kit has wider rear fenders than front fenders which means in order to have a "clean" or "flush" look you will be running a crazy wide staggered setup which will increase understeer. You will find on this forum that our cars perform much better with a squared setup and most people who are tracking seriously will most likely be using a squared setup over a staggered setup. Also in order to not run spacers you are looking at getting custom wheels with crazy wide tires. If you go anywhere above 245 or 255 (people will argue about this) it will be way too much tire for the stock powerplant of this car, which will cause you to want to go FI to accommodate getting wider tires. I cannot speak for rocketbunny owners because I do not have one but I bet you that they are running 265+ tires in the rear.

On the same note, how does it feel for daily driving? Does it still feel like the spirited car in the mountains most of us have come to know and love, or does it feel like a behemoth in a small package, where its uncomfortable to drive in canyon roads and isnt the little sporty car we've come to know and love?

It will most definitely change the driving characteristics of the car simply because of the staggered setup and the change in how wide the tires are. Also it will not feel like the tiny little sports car that you can fit into any spot, it is now wider than before. Not to mention that your tires will be spitting up dirt/grime/ whatever is on the road onto your sideskirt and door because the tires stick out from the body.

The kit doesnt seem to add that much width to it, and with the added power of a FI set up, one would think that the extra width to give it some tires without going to crazy with camber would give it some benefits, but with new pros, comes new cons.

Every thread I've seen start going somewhere and then the haters and trolls come out. I'm not interested in your opinion of the appearance of the kit, I am more interested in the kit living up to what is claimed to be an Aero Kit, and thus its versatility for high speed performance and moderate speed canyon and mountain driving.

Thanks again

Some answers to your questions in RED

[go_a_way1]

Honestly I see no point in doing it.

I also feel like it would be worse for aero

[Cole]

There are people who track with it. But, it's more of a scene points kit.

AFAIK, there is no aero benefit by going with it. And, you don't really need 11" wide wheels with 285 tires to get power to the ground with FI.

[jasonojordan]

Im running 265 on my rear without any kit what so ever. The 265 I have though are notoriously narrow. Im running 17x9

[VIP BRZ]

Another thing to think about, if you plan on molding the fenders to the body it becomes a very pricey operation, Could the "Aero" benefits gained from the rocketbunny kit ever equal say a Forced Induction kit (Costing Roughly the same as a molded RB kit?) or any other mods for the same price.

Absolutely not in a million years.

its for styling

[jawn]

There's not going to be an appreciable benefit to aerodynamics. These cars are fairly low drag as it is, and adding more surface area isn't going to help you.

You're going to need large, near-0 offset wheels to not look ridiculous, which adds weight and rolling resistance (via large tires). You're also increasing the scrub radius, and further lowering the roll center (which OUGHT to be corrected, but many don't).

The big advantage that I've seen is that widebody kits will allow a wide angle steering kit to fit for a drift car. I suppose if you're trying to build a 500+ HP drift car, a RB kit would not be the worst way to go.

[protpibe]

The primary benefit of the RB kit is visuals. if you're looking for anything other than that, you'll be disappointed. You can fit ultra wide tires with wide body, but the car is feather light which kind of eliminates the benefits of a giant contact patch.

Since switching over, I can tell you with certainty that the car still behaves like a normal car. I'm running 295 rear/255 front. The car drives in a straight line, doesn't pull out of the lane I'm in, and turns like a normal car would. Does it understeer now? More than likely it does at the limit, but I won't be searching for that on the street.

[headlikeahole]

Instagram doesn't care about aero.

[Bach415]

Originally Posted by headlikeahole

Instagram doesn't care about aero.

Best answer I've seen so far

[go_a_way1]

Originally Posted by Bach415

Best answer I've seen so far

Agree!

[continuecrushing]

rocket bunny kits stop the cricket sound, fyi

[Ashikabi]

Wide body doesn't provide Aero. It actually hurts aero but... it allows crazy wide wheels and other parts that may or may not be desirable for how you drive(ie drifting, track, etc). I could see it being very useful for autocross because aero is practically useless at those speeds but having super wide tires is pretty helpful. So as an "aero" kit, no, its useless. As a utility modification, yes, very helpful. As a show piece, imo yes, they look great. Be aware it will be costly and FI will give you more bang for the buck by a lot. In fact it wouldn't be hard to argue that you need FI to garner any benefit from widebody