Why has nobody tried to replicate the OEM Aero Lip?

[Sam86]

Well I gave it a go but unfortunately I was let down by the replica’s accuracy (which I sort of saw coming but was optimistic I could make it work). They made slight changes in the mould to the OEM part in the area that connects to the grille and it just wasn’t fitting in a way that I was happy to spend the money to go have it painted.
If you’re good with moulding I think you’d be able to make do but I ended up just taking the loss on the replica lip money and buying the remaining OEM pieces. Ended up spending way too much on everything just for this lip, I would suggest anyone doing the same not to order the parts and to try buy an entire aero bumper, even at the expense of overseas shipping, and then swap bumper and sell your existing bumper to make back some of the cost. That way you’d probably still get it for half the cost I’ve had to spend.
Also doing a mock up of the fitment it looks like I’ll have to cut the fins off my beloved splitter which is kind of sad as I loved how it looks

Replica on left


OEM fitment


Replica Fitment

[KMA KiCKz]

Originally Posted by Sam86

Well I gave it a go but unfortunately I was let down by the replica’s accuracy (which I sort of saw coming but was optimistic I could make it work). They made slight changes in the mould to the OEM part in the area that connects to the grille and it just wasn’t fitting in a way that I was happy to spend the money to go have it painted.
If you’re good with moulding I think you’d be able to make do but I ended up just taking the loss on the replica lip money and buying the remaining OEM pieces. Ended up spending way too much on everything just for this lip, I would suggest anyone doing the same not to order the parts and to try buy an entire aero bumper, even at the expense of overseas shipping, and then swap bumper and sell your existing bumper to make back some of the cost. That way you’d probably still get it for half the cost I’ve had to spend.
Also doing a mock up of the fitment it looks like I’ll have to cut the fins off my beloved splitter which is kind of sad as I loved how it looks

FWIW, this may help others who have thought of doing the same thing. This might also help save others of time and money

Thanks for posting your process, it was all done in the name of science!

[saltywetman]

Authentic or bust. Most of the time, the time and money you end up wasting trying to get it to fit right and look nice you might as well get the real deal. Not to mention if the knockoff pieces are cheap fibreglass stuff, they will not be very durable either.

[Sam86]

Originally Posted by saltywetman

Authentic or bust. Most of the time, the time and money you end up wasting trying to get it to fit right and look nice you might as well get the real deal. Not to mention if the knockoff pieces are cheap fibreglass stuff, they will not be very durable either.

Yea, in this instance though some may not have the luxury. I don’t know whether US Toyota dealers offer the aero kit to order as I don’t believe it was a factory option as it was in AUS, UK, Japan and a few other countries I believe.

Also I don’t know how much longer OEM aero parts from dealers will even be floating around with it being almost 2 facelifts old. When I ordered the side pods, I was told there were 0 left of the RH side in the entire country and I’m currently waiting for it to be sent over from Japan

[Sam86]

Well here’s the conclusion to my thread, one way or another I’ve got my Aero front and I’m pretty satisfied with it.
Although I might need side skirts because of how low my front end sits now.

Installation was pretty easy, didn’t buy any hardware just reused the bolts and push clips from the original front bumper. You need specific push clips for the 3 wheel well holes as the ones I had weren’t long enough to push through the 3 layers (bumper, wheel well plastic, aero piece) The pull tabs from the 3m tape were very flimsy though

Putting my splitter back on was the hardest part as the aero front extends down below the bumper slightly, so you can’t have the splitter sitting flush with the front bumper. My bolts were also too short so I had to find really long ones