Interesting, not too OTT, but subtle

 

i would be definatly interested but like most things in life it comes down to fit and price/quality.
but well done for teasing us.

 

As for quality, we are planning to use epoxy resin, which is actually the better type of resin to use when molding carbon fiber - as opposed to polyester resin, which is not as good and provides a worse finish. With epoxy resin, you get the finished carbon fiber look, which, when nicely polished, may be left unpainted. Mostly, you'll find polyester resin carbon fiber looking much duller and it will give off this sort of sickening bluish hue - that's how you know the difference. The epoxy, on the other hand, makes the carbon fiber look the way one would expect it to look, with that high-tech look to the texture.

Fit is a rather easy issue to address: as I said above, we are getting a donor car that we will use to resolve all issues of fit and also do mock ups on. As far as installation of the pieces, we are obviously going to do it by hand (as opposed to the high-tech 3D simulation way), because, well, we simply can't afford to lease a facility to allow us to do all the 3D scanning and modeling if we are to build a limited series. So in so doing, we will be reviewing several other kits and looking mostly at what can be improved, as far as attachment of the actual pieces. Sideskirts is the easiest, because we are simply planning a replacement skirt - so there its just a "bolt-on". The front and the rear treatments will have to be fitted onto the lower part of the bumper, with some minor modification of the original bumper could be required (at least in the current stage of the design - we might still find a design solution where no modifications to the bumper are necessary). The upside of building the kit by hand though, is that each kit can be infinitely modified to be made unique, using various spliters, grilles, design elements and so on. This will not be your "run of the mill" kit, like ACS or even M-tech. The important thing that we are currently working on is making it look better than any other

The supporting structures will remain the same, and one of the most important rules on this project is: we will make sure not to mess with any of the original bumper parts, so as to no affect any structural rigity of the crumple zone, and things like that.

Remember, structurally, this is a safer mod than a replica m-tech, because the mod does not require changing the original bumper.

Anyways, I'll be posting more images as the project goes along and hopefully, we can get some interest going to justify this whole thing

IF ANYONE WANTS TO MAKE SUGGESTIONS AND ADD CRITICISM, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO DROP A LINE (OR AN ESSAY - THE MORE, THE BETTER). PM ME, WRITE ON THIS THREAD - I WILL COMPULSIVELY CONSIDER ALL OPINIONS, GUYS!

EDIT: We will also be posting detailed pictures of the mock ups and fitments, so you will be able to monitor all the QC issues being worked out and able to see for yourself how the fit is going to be. That is, of course, if we end up getting enough pre-orders to go ahead with the build (fingers crossed)

 

The teaser pic is interesting so far. However, I think one thing that should be hashed out during your design process is a way to enclose / surround the fog lights especially on Pre-LCI models. The plastic clips covering them should be removed, (similar to what you need to do before installing the ACS front lip), and have your unique mold draw attention to the fogs. The stock car looks like the fogs were just thrown in there. There is no shape, rhyme, or reason to their existence in regards to adding style to the vehicle. They just look like tits on a bull. (Thats why I went with ACS lip originally)

 

what i would love to see on a front bumper/kit is some sort of facility for the LED strip lights that new audi's have, i think that would be cool?

 

+1

Great call!

 

Dr Dave and iCharles: Actually, I did think of the LEDs. They are easy to retrofit, and could be inserted (for example) on the lower surface of the lateral blade in the side ducts. This will give a very show-like apearance to the car and aggressive as well. This is definitely one of the things I'm planning to mock up on sketches.

Howitzer: It does bother me as well - the foglamp housing. I originally planned to encase them in separate tubular housingns and let them dangle free in the ducts. However, now that I'm looking at it more and more, I completely agree with you - I see the need for a design solution there on several levels: esthetically, functionally and safety-wise it will be better if they are in proper housings, so I'll be working on that. What I definitely do not want to do is move the position of the fogs - design-wise, they are perfectly lined up with the headlights and they make sense. So, the point is: I'll be working on that as well.

In general, keep in mind, this is only the first sketch I did - this is a really bootleg sketch, I did it on a printed copy of the front of the e60 with pencils and markers at work - I didn't even have the basic photoshop available to me at the time. So as I get this digitized the options will expand...

Thanks, guys, keep 'em coming!