S209 FLARES DAMAGED MY CAR
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- After officially running the S209 flares on my WRX for a year and being the first person in the US to install them, I've gotten a lot of constant messages asking for wheel fitment to fill the flares, where I got the flares, etc. I saw dozens of people buy the flares after asking me these questions and tell me they bought the flares because of my car. I've complained about them a few times on my IG but never told the full story. I owe it to you guys to tell you the truth about my issues with them and why I'm removing them in a way that answers all of the questions you guys private message me about.
My Instagram: @Streetlnspired
MOD LIST (Catagorized)
PERFORMANCE:
- Cobb Accesport
- Mishimoto Cold Air Intake
- Deatschworks 300c Fuel Pump
- Cobb Flex Fuel Kit
- Perrin TGV Deletes
- PRL EGR Delete
- Grimmspeed EBCS
- Grimmspeed FMIC
- Boomba BPV
- 1320 Catted Downpipe
- Subiedepot 3.5" Axle Back
- Radium Dual Baffled Catch Cans
- Phatbotti Protune (E65)
- 372WHP/374lbft (Standard Map)
- 403WHP/381lbft (Send-It Map)
DRIVETRAIN & MOUNTS
- Full STI Drivetrain Swap
- ACT XTSS Clutch
- Perrin Front Strut Brace
- Group N Transmission Mount
- Aluminati Solid Trans Bushings
- TS Solid Rear Differential Carrier.
- Torque Solution Pitch Stop
- Kartboy Short Shifter
- Kartboy Shifter Bushings
SUSPENSION
- Brembo Brakes
- Silvers NeoMax Coilovers
- Cosmis FlowFormed XT206R 18x9.5+38
- Muteki Lug Nuts
- Michelin Pilot Sport 4S. 255/35/18
ENGINE BAY DRESS UP
- Noble Fender Shrouds
- Perrin Radiator Shroud
- Perrin Pully Cover
- IBR Vacum Pump Cover
- Painted All Yellow Caps Black
- Custom Battery Cover
- Cobb Radiator Cap
- Superstick Dipstick
- Grimmspeed Oil Cap
EXTERIOR & AERO
- Custom Painted Tail Lights
- Custom Painted Fender Badges
- Custom Painted Rear Emblem
- Window Tint 20%
- Vortex Generator
- STI Spoiler
- Perrin Spoiler Stabilizers
- Perrin Front Plate
- S207 Rear Bumper Vents
- Noble Carbon CS Front Lip
- OEM '20 STI Fog Bezels
- Noble Carbon Front Grill
- Noble Carbon Trunk Insert
- OEM Style Rain Guards
- OEM Style Turn Signal Mirrors
INTERIOR
- Recaro Seats
- JDM Leather Shifter Trim
- OLM Carbon Dash Trim
- OLM Carbon Shifter Trim
- Accesport Vent Mount
- Suede Wrapped A-Pillars
- Noble Carbon EBrake Handle
LIGHTING
- Vland Headlights
- Noble Foglights (Behind Grill)
- Diode Dynamics Tail/Turn Module
- Diode Dynamics Smart Tap Relay
- Diode Dynamics Reverse LEDs
- Diode Dynamics LED Tag Lights
- Diode Dynamics Interior LED Kit
- Red LED (Under Dash/Seats)
- Noble Rear Fog / 4th Brake Light
- Alpena LED Underglow
- Alpena LED Engine Bay Lighting
OTHER
- Made Side Fender Vents Functional
- Made Rear Bumper Vents Functional
- Perrin Hella Horn Bracket
- Hella Horns
- Urethane Exhaust Hangers
- Perrin Window Vents
- Painted Shift Knob To Match Seats
- Painted Pinstripes On Carbon Dash Trim To Match Seats
- Custom Intercooler Shroud Made from plexiglass & Raptor Liner
Great vid - for those buying these flares: use the strongest tape you can buy yourself. Don't use the tape it comes with.
I found the best tape to be Scotch Extreme For outdoor and indoor!
@@StreetInspired1 3m vhb
@@jeff666p tried the 3M VHB also. The biggest issues was the warping made it almost impossible for them to stick
Pretty sure you rolled your fenders after installing them and that is probably the reason you have all these issues with warping, dents and the the paint peeling. Subaru Paint sucks and many people have issues with it when installing and removing vinyl wraps. My DGM WRX had paint chipping off the trunk edges 1 week into owner ship and all the dealer did was give me touch up paint for it. They def are not meant for people looking for flush fitment and likely a more permanent exterior mod . Your creases caused by the the flairs look like it was the paint having different levels of fading due to sun exposer. I like most your content but this sounds like frustration with out understanding what is going on and you are just trying to vent with no substance to what you are saying.
Thid definitely isnt out of random frustration and i have all the substance to back it up. I have had issues with this kit for a year now and never said a word until now. I was very patient with it. A lot of the damage was realized before rolling my fenders. The flares peeled once before I rolled the fenders and I know that wasn't the cause either because I even removed the flares after the rolling once and didnt notice any new damage until the following time i removed them. And I'll looked precariously. The dents and damage aren't near the rolled area. And the rolled area isn't wavy. Also I am a body/paint guy and have done bodywork and painted cars for 10 years and that line that I showed is not a difference in paint thickness or caused from sunfade it is 100% a crease. I even talked to a PDR specialist and he agreed with me. If it was a difference in paint It would've came out when I wetsanded and buffed those areas. I hope it doesn't sound like I am arguing I am just addressing everything you pointed out.
The only way to get rid of the trash fitment everyone has running this kit is to cut the oem fender a couple inches and cut the s209 flare to the outer edge so it’s basically hollow and it won’t rub when the suspension compresses 👍🏽
100% correct! I thought about doing this but i thought the air would get trapped up inside the flare while driving and likely result in the flare getting ripped off the car. Plus I couldn't justify cutting up the car for these.
Yep. That is how the actual s209 fenders are. The splash guard covers the gap.
3m adhesive promoter has worked wonders for my s209 body kit but you have to use a lot. And to make sure the tape going on the kit has a good pattern going across to give a good seal around.
I put mine on in November. I didn't use any of the tape that came with it. I used TONS and TONS of the strong 3M tape and 3M adhesive promoter. No pealing, warping or other issues so far. I live in Utah. We'll see how the summer months go.
Thats good to hear! I wish I would've started off with stronger tape to begin with
Ive struggled with some pieces peeling on corners but not to the extent that youve had. You are right saying that different climates will give varied results. i plan on wrapping mine this summer so I'll be able to see whats going on under the kit.
The genuine Subaru kit has proper fitment and uses nut and lug type connections. You get what you pay for simple. The subispeed kit looks cheap and compared to genuine Subaru kit it’s completely different in quality and looks when attached to car ❤
Damn, that’s unfortunate you had a bad experience. I actually got mine after watching your original video. It’s been about 7 months for me And I haven’t had any pieces come off. Maybe darker colors fair better in the heat, because I’m in TX.
I have had a 2011 STI for 4 years now. I have learned many things over these years from owning/modifying this car. Ridding low and taking paint off your fenders will only promote rust on fenders. drilling into your body will cause corrosion even if you paint over the bare metal. Coilovers will ruin-in all your suspension parts even your steering rack and other things. You live and you learn I have just gotten a 2021 STi that staying low mileage and mostly OEM. I turned my 2011 into a beater and its the best thing in the snow and gravel. At a certain point you need to figure out what you want and I feel too many people care about keeping their car perfect. Why care about a car staying perfect cause when you pass away you can't take it with you. P.S. driving these cars in the snow with snow tires is the best thing you can do with a car on the road way. ON GOD
Put a STI s209 flare kit on a WRX 🤦♂️
I have hella dents on my fenders from riding low on my bags, I was thinking of getting these flares tho..
Sorry you had to go through that. Thank you for sharing your experience with us🙌
Damn my boy is looking to get these, just sent this video to him. Sorry you had this experience but you're a savior homie!
Great honest review of the s209 flares. Thanks for making the video
The paint on these cars is laughably thin and poorly done. I'm not surprised the flares caused that damage.
Thanks for sharing though. Really glad I didn't pull the trigger on this kit.
I been watching you for minute now and maybe you can help but I can't get my car into 6th gear anymore it will just pop out do I need new tran or clutch please help
Check the Shifter Stop. If you have added a Shifter Stop there's an oem Shifter Stop on the opposite side and if it came loose it could screw with 5th and 6th gear. If that isn't the case and it's only 6th gear it may be a transmission issue
@@StreetInspired1 ok thank you I appreciate it
I've had mine on my '19 STi for about 6 months now. No issues other than the pieces that come on for the front bumper, cant get it to sit flush for the life of me. Im going to wait till the spring\summer to try and mold the pieces a bit better with some heat (too cold in CT right now). I used adhesion promoter and 3M VHB tape and have had no issues with any pieces coming off what so ever.
I wonder if color doesn't have something to do with it as well. I noticed more lighter colored cars (red & white) have had better luck than people with Grey or black cars. And I wonder if it's coincidence or if it's the difference in temperature from the sunlight. A white car is noticeabley cooler sitting in the sun than a black car. But glad to hear yours is holding up well!
It's the lack of adhesion promoter that messed it up for @streetinspired. Sorry you didn't use it. It makes a huge difference
Thank you for posting this video, I've been wanting these since you put them on, and I was waiting for this update video and sorry to hear they didn't work out!
I really wanted these when they came out, thanks for sharing your experience.
No problem. Some people have had good luck with them I wish they would've worked out because I loved how agressive they made the car.
Dang that’s bad man. I do agree that they make the car look more aggressive but it isn’t worth it if this is the aftermath. Time to go wide body 🤟
I'm torn, I either want to get really agressive track wheels and everything and make it more of a track car or do actual flares or widebody and do a more stance style wheel and just make it a low and slow car haha
@@StreetInspired1 if you ever get another car you know what to do lol
I have the kit sitting in the box waiting to be painted. Will install them after I uplift my 2016 wrx to 2018+ face in March. Will take your insight carefully for the process. Thx
I did these too my front ones flew off and I just removed the front fender ones as well I did leave rears ones on also had to repaint front bumper took my paint off when they flew off as well
not trying to be rude but if you had real flares that bolt or weld on you wouldn’t have that issue. i also wanted the ones you slap on i got a 9th gen si and i was gonna try to use the type r but it defeats the true purpose of fenders, to make more space in your wheel well. adding an extension without cutting original is just a waste of time and makes the flare more for looks than anything
While I didn't have the s209 kit, I did put some vinyl accents on the panel behind the front wheel and when I replaced them to put a second set on it started to pull the paint away on one side. The paint on those things is not applied very strong. Not surprised.
Dam that sucks! I was really looking forward to these after watching your install. Thanks for sharing. I changed my mind.
I was just looking at these. Thanks for the great video. Definitely not putting on my STI.
I’m glad I saw this video right before ordering this kit.
My kit is still sitting in the box waiting on warmer weather and a decision... if I mount them I want it to stay, so im considering taking it to a body shop to see what I can do to attatch them permanently and possibly get the wheel fitment Im after. But thats a big decision.
Damn I was so close to ordering this kit today… I’ll pass instead 😅
i have the kit on my sti and yes i am experiencing problem with the corners coming loose but its only the piece that follows the arch on the back left but i think i can make it work with something else. Also my the 2 large pieces that go on the front bumper are also peeling right where it sits ont he wheel arch but i think this is also fixable. Overall the kit is not too bad for me and it only seem like minor things. I also live in colorado so we’ve had somewhat heavy snow and they’ve lasted pretty well through the snow. I believe thats whats causing them to come loose as well and peel, but i think this is a minor fix.
I’m having the same issues with pieces peeling off. I also covered the whole back of the pieces and they are still coming loose. I got gorilla tape I’m gonna try out when it warms up. 🤞
I sort of think the cold is better. I've noticed they peel up when it gets hot because it makes the tape softer. But mine we always the corners except for the front drivers fender it would peel in the top middle of the flare. I know people that had theirs literally fly off while driving. Mine never came that loose but it annoyed me enough to remove them and after seeing the damage it really sucks and made me not want to reinstall.
@UC2ONnlP4FlQ5HpYfZMqASjg I actually just looked up the details on the gorilla tape and says not to use on exterior of cars lol. So I dunno what to do.
@@jonwen5919 I found the Scotch Mount Extreme. 30lb indoor/outdoor double sided tape held the best. It wa black and was roughly 1" wide. Wasn't super expensive either.
@@StreetInspired1 I think a good idea would be to have paint protection film installed on the parts where the flares will be. Because then u can really go crazy on the tapes or other forms of adhesives. That's what I'm doing. After having flares on one of my trucks I will never stick flares onto the actual paint. Only over paint protection film!
Just another idea for the people having issues.
Good vid bro put some gorilla 3m tape it will never peel again
So if I am stock height with 18x9.5 wheels 245/40r/18 20 mm spacers, i will rub?
Stock height? Probably not. But on hard bumps it might
Did u try this at stock height? I kinda want to still try this flare kit...lol
When you don’t buy the factory parts this stuff happens. Doing mods on the cheap rarely works out
I don't have theses, but some times its ok not to spend the money on oem stuff. Mostly the stuff for looks, the problem here its olm. When I bought my sti a few years ago. That name kept coming up, and it was never good. I if people did some research. They wouldn't be buying the crap. There is many post of people buying olm head lights, tail lights, or fog lights, and they stop working. So they replace them and it happens again., and again. When i was looking for fog lights for my sti. As its a 18 plus it didn't have them. I say the olm kit, and almost bought it. I bought the oem parts i needed from another company, and the wiring and lights from diode dynamics. When i got the lights, and harness. I could tell they were a lot better build quality., and that was with me only being able to compare with pics online.
🤣🤣🤣 should’ve gotten an S!
Nah. If I had the money for an S209 I would just buy a GTR or a GR Supra.
Jeez man sorry to hear, looks like those flares did alot of damage. I really wanted that kit but I have the same color wrx and I feel it will be the same result
so glad to see this video before I went out to buy flares. I actually rewatched your old install recently after I saw what you posted on Instagram incase there was something weird about the install. I guess I should be planning for a permanent install when I find the kit that's right for me. Currently looking at Kuhl from japan as they have some really unique and subtle kits.
My factory rear tires where touching the fenders all the time. At first i noticed a small cut which later became a huge gash on each of the tires. I had to take the 20mm spacers off from the rear. I don’t have any problems on the front though. It looks kinda weird to be honest without the spacers but I can learn to live with it. I don’t have any solutions to allow me to have a wider stance. I’ve thought about rolling the fenders but that is the same results as removing the spacers, right? Wouldn’t that affect the 3M tape on the S209 kit?
Yeah unfortunately I think the only solution is to cut both the 1/4panels and the flare and I wouldn't advise anyone to do that for an abs flare kit. I lightly rolled my fenders and it didn't help at all because the tires still poked out past the 1/4 panels. You could try a smaller spacer. Maybe 10mm. I didn't rub nearly as bad on my 15mm Spacers. The fitment wasn't as nice but it didn't rub as bad. 10mm would probably be okay but the fitment wouldn't be nearly as good as the 20mm but it would be better than stock fitment
@@StreetInspired1 20mm comes to about 0.75 inch. And you are right, 10mm is the best figment but for 0.37 inch, that’s actually not worth it to me. A shop out in town was asking $395 to flare my fenders but after reading your comment that it didn’t help… I might as well save my money and ride with my wheels tucked in. It doesn’t look good, unfortunately.
Saved me a $1000 👏🏻👏🏻
Ht auto flares are the best way to go but you do have to cut
I've been considering going that route!
Keep up the work brother
Time to wide body! That would be a cool install!
I would love to but funds are not available for that at the moment. haha
Thankyou for this, I really wanted these but I probably won’t get them anymore. A theory I have about the creases might be where you are rubbing , shoving them and creasing the flare. I’m sorry this happened. Love the car
I didn't think about that. I would agree but I never rubbed in the front and the front has the worst of it. I'm guessing the creases are from your theory or from me pushing on the flare to adhere it to the car. Or from me pulling on it to get it off. Either way I'm just glad they won't be causing any more damage.
Folks making fun of us S209 owners and now they’re trying to emulate our car…spending thousands on parts but won’t have the quality, fitment, and balance engineered for the S209.
As a wrx owner I have never once made fun of an s209 or its owner. If I had the money I probably would've bought one. But the flare kit isn't even a thousand dollars and it wasn't as to make the car look like somethings its not. It's just because the flares look oem without having stupid bolts showing like the other flares on the market.
What number you got ?
Just took mine off, sold my Subaru for a ZR2 Colorado. I’ll never buy another Subaru again. Subaru does not honor their warranties. My engine blew at 42k. Provided all my maintenance records and they still made me pay 3k out of pocket.
I didn’t have any dents when I took it off, I just used a plastic trim tool. I didn’t get any of those issues.
I've heard a lot of mixed things. Subaru always is hit or miss it seems. They either go out of their way to do anything for the customers or tell them to F off.
Subarus power train warranty is 36k, makes sense why you had to pay.