DISCUSS: NUE Blister Fender Flares

[MiataQuest]

These NUE Blister Fender Flares sure turn my head.
So a whole bunch of comments & questions for further discussion.

MOUNTING METHOD
So how would you mount these fender flares to the body?
Perhaps ahesives then blend the upper edges with filler into fenders?
Other?
I assume never blend them to the bumpers, only fasten.

WIDEBODY ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES
Can you over-tire your Miata? Grip vs weight.
What happens to the suspension geometry & handling when you push the tires outboard? Tire patch issues during suspension travel? Bump steer? Other?

AERO AND VISUAL APPEAL
The concept for my car was to create an imaginary "special edition" Eunos model. These widebody flares would probably throw that concept idea out the window. In no time at all I would need an APR wing instead of the MazdaSpeed spec A type II wing. :(
What do you think of the look?
Is the flares a positive or negative for Aero?

Any other thoughts???

Link: http://rev9autosport.com/nue-blister-fender-flares.html
http://rev9autosport.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/2ebe3f9af00f8fff3d7b5d435f231925//na_blister_fenders_thumb.jpg

https://rev9autosport.com/media/products//na_blister_fenders_2.jpg

https://rev9autosport.com/media/products//na_blister_fenders_4.jpg

[Phatmiata]

its hard for me to imagine the overall look without seeing this on a fully painted Miata ..... :shrug:

[Hammerhead]

I think it looks pretty awesome, but then you'd be forced to got to a negative offset wheel to fill those fenders.

[kung fu jesus]

These NUE Blister Fender Flares sure turn my head.
So a whole bunch of comments & questions for further discussion.


MOUNTING METHOD
So how would you mount these fender flares to the body?
Perhaps ahesives then blend the upper edges with filler into fenders?
Other?
I assume never blend them to the bumpers, only fasten.


This sort of design is meant to rivet or bond OVER the original panels. I suppose if you wanted to lap the joints and fill, you could, but thinking of time and money to do it "right", it's a lot. Still, those joints would be prone to cracking.



WIDEBODY ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES
Can you over-tire your Miata? Grip vs weight.
What happens to the suspension geometry & handling when you push the tires outboard? Tire patch issues during suspension travel? Bump steer? Other?


Scrub radius would be jacked, trammeling would be pretty bad, especially on those truck-worn roads around Detroit. A lot depends on the width and offsets you run. I'm sure there is more to consider in terms of geometry and handling. Too much offset, I would think hub failure and bearing wear would be a real concern.


AERO AND VISUAL APPEAL
The concept for my car was to create an imaginary "special edition" Eunos model. These widebody flares would probably throw that concept idea out the window. In no time at all I would need an APR wing instead of the MazdaSpeed spec A type II wing. :(
What do you think of the look?
Is the flares a positive or negative for Aero?


The Miata is already a bad aero shape. It's been shown how much wider tires/wheels under stock fenders affects laptimes from an aero point of view. I'm experienced that on my stock 1.6 on 225 width tires. Your car has more power to overcome that drag. It's going to depend how far down the rabbit hole you want to go to run wider wheels and wider tires, which limit your options, to run this look. It's a form/function issue. What are going to do with the car? There are already some pretty amazing wheel/tire options for Miatas today that we could only dream of merely 5-6 years ago. Most of those will fit under stock fenders. Personally, if I were to run super-Gonzo widths, I would consider massaged, professionally-done steel fenders, but I prefer subtle. just $.02. :)

[MiataQuest]

"What are going to do with the car?"
==============
35% highway to get to the twisties!
35% local just cruising
20% twisties
10% other including HPDE day

Thanks everyone for your feedback.

So far it seems that the driving characteristics will be impacted quite negatively for my intended use unless I wanted a dedicated track car.

It sure would look good, but I do not want to sacrifice the handling. I had a Volvo 1800ES that looked great but was not fun to drive. I sold that for a Miata. So I need to keep that in mind.

[Phatmiata]

I currently have Tuckin99 N2 Flares, but I don't have the spare money, time etc for paint, plus I wont install mine until I can back up the looks with some boost.

Tuckin99 N2 Fender Flares
http://rev9autosport.com/tuckin99-n2-fender-flares.html

http://rev9autosport.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/1000x700/2ebe3f9af00f8fff3d7b5d435f231925/2/9/2938498_71_full_1.jpg

Another option is TRAP Larger Over fenders,
http://rev9autosport.com/trap-fender-flares.html

http://rev9autosport.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/1000x700/2ebe3f9af00f8fff3d7b5d435f231925/p/1/p13_1.jpg


Or stateside AWR makes some nice ones too!
http://www.awrracing.com/pages/miata/widebody/index.html

http://www.awrracing.com/pages/miata/widebody/miataWideRB/images/image27.jpg

[MiataQuest]

I had already purchased these subtle flares from Rev9.
I figured they would look like an OEM special edition while hiding any fender rolling errors.
http://rev9autosport.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/2ebe3f9af00f8fff3d7b5d435f231925/f/l/flares_thumb_1.jpg

[kung fu jesus]

Although the look of the original post’s fenders look neat, I wonder about the legs or longevity of the design. I’m a sucker for box flares, but I think those may look pretty dated in a short amount of time.

[MiataQuest]

Although the look of the original post’s fenders look neat, I wonder about the legs or longevity of the design. I’m a sucker for box flares, but I think those may look pretty dated in a short amount of time.

With yourself being a designer, you probably noticed all the subtle details like the character lines above the wheel openings, the undercut to fit the side body line, and the split rear flares to carry that center body line.
These were so different from the fender flares I see out there as seen in the pictures that Phat posted.

But again, my priority is a fun driving car. If I can get good looks at the same time I will take it, but if it impacts the driving characteristics negatively I will walk away.

[HarryB]

IMO they are too distracting from the original smooth simple lines of the NA; but that's just a personal view.

[oldgrayleather]

I also started with the subtle Rev9 flares and loved the OEM+ effect. When I was ready to move on, they were handed down to the BRG. I prefer them black for a little more impact but they stood out more on the lighter mariner blue. Super happy with both applications and how they worked with the subtly 'wider than stock' RPF01's (light) and the Mk2's (classic, less light) that followed. When I had the chance to spec my dream wheels (the Sharks needed rebarelling so the options went from 6.5 to 9) I spent over a month deciding where to land and the first step was deciding on cutting minty fenders or not. Once I knew I wanted "more wide" (inspired by almost landing druz's sharks) I then finalized wheels spec (tons of talking to people, looking through Mincara, debating staggered or not, etc, etc) then looked at fenders that would accommodate. For fit, 14x8.5 -8, that landed me on Jubiride/Carbon Miata as a good match (Tuckin 99 were considered but felt a bit more extreme for my goals). There were two SoCal roadsters with the CM setup with more aggressive wheels/ tires that I felt visually worked extremely well with the NA (especially with attention to mounting hardware and method for sealing the gap). There were also two other KINODers running Autokonexion over flares with wide wheels. I felt the former would work better (for an older guy ;) so made that choice. Long way to say that for me wheel and offset was the first decision. I'd driven or passengered in those cars so beyond look had some sense of how they'd feel on road/ track.

I've also been intrigued by the NUE overfenders. Aesthetically I really like them (still not 100% certain about the lip overhand around the front bumper) but the specs on that car with large spacers counted them out. For me.