I've had my 02' ES for about a month now and notice that I'm already having paint chipping issues with the bumper. I was thinking of trying out Stongard for a little protection. Does anyone have any opinions of the stuff??

 

Car Bra's...
Huge car sand paper.

 

What colour Pro do you have? I don't think I'm gonna get the Stongard stuff b/c my Pro is black and I think you'd be able to see it fairly easily.

 

You be right Mike. When you saw the guard on my P5 it is not very noticable. I think it really depends on the colour. The silver, white and the yellow would probably be the best at hiding the guard but the rest is not too good. However, which would you rather prefer, the guard or the chips? Personally I would think the guard would be better since it doesn't rust out, IMHO.

By the way, I found a large ding in my guard and I figure if that was not there then it would be the paint so I am glad I have it.

 

I have Stongard on my car and it's not very noticeable unless you catch it at just the right angle to see the seam. It's worth it though I think...having the front of the car not look like it's been sandblasted. Check out the pics on my page:

http://www.nramsey.net and go to the Protege5 section.

 

Stongard isn't a removable bra, it's a thin sheet of 3M plastic material which is permanently glue to the car. It is removable if you really want to junk it after a while. It's hardly noticable when applied well.

 

true dat. i can hardly notice it on his red P5. i'd be afraid to but it on my black mica though.

 

there's a black merc c230 in my parkade and the stonegard is very noticeable at all angles. it doesn't really detract though. looks a hell of a lot better than a bra.

 

My Protege is silver, so I bet it would not detract from the looks much. nramsey, I can hardly tell that you have it on judging by the pictures you took. I also did a search on yahoo and found a guy that had a silver Porsche Boxster with stonegard. He had several close ups and it looked pretty good to me.
http://www.whiteson.org/boxster/mods/stongard.shtml

What is the going rate for stongard anyway?

 

I had mine installed at Stongard headquarters for $650 including the full kit, lights, install and tax. The full kit includes:
front of hood and front corners of front fenders, front bumper, front fender flares, mirrors, 4 door handle cups, 4 door edge strips, and rear bumper top (so you don't scratch while loading). Light kit is a much thicker product which competely covers the headlights and foglights. I am very happy with it so far...been almost 3 weeks since install.

 

Is it guaranteed to not bubble like window tint? Did they mention what the life expectancy is on the product? I would be peeved if I just spent $650 and had the stuff turn yellow after a few years.

 

Yes, it is warrantied not to bubble, chip, yellow or peel for life. It is warrantied to protect your paint from flying objects for 4 years I believe (which is when they won't pay for a repaint in the event of a chip I believe). See more details on Stongard's page.

www.stongard.com

 

Thanks for the info. I think I was reading something about it in a magazine once, but passed it off as being "snake oil". Can you still see a visible line where the stongard stops?

 

Yes, you can see a line where it stops, but it's practically invisible from more than a few paces a way. The only way you can really see it is to catch it under certain light conditions, be closer than 3-4 feet away, or know exactly where to look.

See this pic. Notice the slight "orange peel" texture on the covered area. This is only visible from less than 3 feet away...and gives the largest tip off of where it starts and ends.



More pics on my page.

 

I just looked at the Stongard site. It looks like thy do not offer a kit for the 01-02 Protege sedan. I see the Protege5 and 99-00 Protege sedan there though. Am I blind or is really not available?