Regret not getting carbon fiber.

[daviddi92]

Tire pressure will help immensely! On track, once the tire pressure starts to creep over 38psi, you can really feel the loss of grip. 35psi hot is the sweet spot.

 

[lunarx]

If you're going to track the car, you should align more towards the track settings.
Maybey, not all the way, but definitely, some additional camber. It actually may prolong the life of your tires.

 

[BWDudeBro]

I have yet to track my BW but have over 20 full weekends in the last 3 years across 2 Mustangs in various states of modification. The biggest differences I ever felt came from tires, brakes, seats/harnesses, and seat time. That last one in particular was the biggest, especially when paired with data, e.g. my Garmin Catalyst showing me room for improvement.

So that's to say, second others when they say you're unlikely to feel a difference with the CF bits. That said, if you want them because they're cool, I can completely relate.

I too have a non-CF car and am adding pieces as I go. An unfortunately parking lot run-in with a sweet old lady backing into my 6 day old car meant I had a chance to replace my bumper. The OEM bumper with CF supports was SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS CHEAPER than the non-CF bumper. So I asked the body shop to use that and ordered aftermarket.

Can't stress enough how helpful @Dirkbg's posts and TapOut were. I too ordered all TapOut front bits (splitter, dive planes, wheel deflectors), but drew the line at the wing. I ended up with a "replica" CF wing for far far less. It won't have the quality and won't match the TapOut weave, but that's fine since it's far away. I'll report back on quality when i get it all unboxed and mounted.

I ultimately used all OEM parts for the nose, and the Tapout rear spoiler. I live nearby so I held their spoiler up to their car's OEM spoiler and they looked identical. Big savings on that vs. OEM list. Tapout didn't have the front splitter at the time so I ordered an OEM splitter which was in stock. I found the Tapout dive planes and deflectors didn't match the OEM splitter carbon fabric color, so I returned the dive planes and ended up all OEM for the nose parts. I suggest you use all Tapout or all OEM for the nose since they are noticeable if they don't match perfectly.

I got all my carbon parts from GMpartswarehouse at reduced prices from MSRP, and their shipping was very reasonable. The dive plane supports were not yet reproduced, so I ordered a new fascia (bumper cover) and ended up removing them from that and attaching them to my original fascia. I had to order the fascia at a local dealer because shipping for that was more than the cost of the fascia.

Here is the parts price list for what I ordered. The ultimate cost was a lot more for me because I was learning as I went, and found out that painting the new slotted fascia was not the best idea, and cutting the slots was not difficult and saves painting costs (and PPF and ceramic). Also a few dollars for screws, clip nuts, and plastic clips from Amazon. I didn't include tax and shipping since that will vary.

GM Parts

Part Number Part Name Price
84667808 Air Deflector $7.46
84667807 Air Deflector $5.96
85563054 F Fascia (splitter) $729.98
84996873 F Deflector $590.16
84996874 F Deflector $619.67
85153560 F Fascia $301.20
Core Exchange$75.00

Tapout Tuning Parts

Tapout Tuning CT4-V Blackwing $1,795.63
Carbon Fiber Extra Aero Rear
Spoiler

You can see the summary of my experiences listed on this post: CT4 Front Dive Planes

 

[Dirkbg]

Yeah, I noticed the price difference between the non-CF bumper and the CF bumper when I ordered mine a year ago. That's a real head scratcher why the same part, but with slots punched out and two additional brackets costs a fraction of the standard bumper. I kept the slotted bumper as a spare even though I wasn't happy with the paint mismatch.

 

[BWDudeBro]

Yeah, I noticed the price difference between the non-CF bumper and the CF bumper when I ordered mine a year ago. That's a real head scratcher why the same part, but with slots punched out and two additional brackets costs a fraction of the standard bumper. I kept the slotted bumper as a spare even though I wasn't happy with the paint mismatch.

Weird, right?

Either way, your posts on installing were invaluble... thanks for documenting it so thoroughly.

 

[BWDudeBro]

Just unwrapped everything. As expected, the TapOut frontend bits were packaged very well and look amazing.

Unexpected (positive) was that the replica CF wing I ordered not only looks to be real carbon, but the weave matches fairly well. Certainly well enough to "match" the front end while mounted on the trunk.

 

[BWDudeBro]

I ultimately used all OEM parts for the nose, and the Tapout rear spoiler.

Actually speaking of my post above about the wing, did either the OE wing or the TapOut wing have mounting provisions other than 3M VHB tape?

I haven't gotten around to removing OE wing but I assumed there'd be some bolts or posts or alignment dowels.

 

[Dirkbg]

Actually speaking of my post above about the wing, did either the OE wing or the TapOut wing have mounting provisions other than 3M VHB tape?

I haven't gotten around to removing OE wing but I assumed there'd be some bolts or posts or alignment dowels.

See this: Carbon fiber PN database.

The studs are threaded with nuts in the four or so middle ones. The outer stud on each side uses a plastic clip in the trunk lid and can't be unscrewed. You'll probably destroy the clip pulling the stud out. I think I intentionally used a thin screwdriver to break the clip to release it's grip on the threaded stud. I used a nut on the outside for the new spoiler, but it is almost inaccessible to use a wrench on the nut. That is what caused me the most grief, and I explained how to avoid the issues you'll face in the link.

This is what the outer clip looks like: https://www.cadillacvnet.com/forums/attachments/997394aa-56b3-4c15-b1fd-f6b34b6b92d5-jpeg.18083/

 

[BWDudeBro]

See this: Carbon fiber PN database.

The studs are threaded with nuts in the four or so middle ones. The outer stud on each side uses a plastic clip in the trunk lid and can't be unscrewed. You'll probably destroy the clip pulling the stud out. I think I intentionally used a thin screwdriver to break the clip to release it's grip on the threaded stud. I used a nut on the outside for the new spoiler, but it is almost inaccessible to use a wrench on the nut. That is what caused me the most grief, and I explained how to avoid the issues you'll face in the link.

This is what the outer clip looks like: https://www.cadillacvnet.com/forums/attachments/997394aa-56b3-4c15-b1fd-f6b34b6b92d5-jpeg.18083/

Thank you very much, once again, for thoroughly documenting everything.

And yes, this confirms it. "You get what you pay for" applies to the replica wing, but not in the way I thought. I fully expected to roll the dice on finish and it being ABS wrapped in carbon vinyl. I was going to be happy living with subpar finish given the cost.

Instead it's real carbon but has no mounting provisions other than VHB... lol.

Haven't yet decided if I'll:

a) roll the dice on running it
b) return it for the tapout
c) try to mount it and add rivnuts or something to it for extra security

 

[GTANotch88]

Thank you very much, once again, for thoroughly documenting everything.

And yes, this confirms it. "You get what you pay for" applies to the replica wing, but not in the way I thought. I fully expected to roll the dice on finish and it being ABS wrapped in carbon vinyl. I was going to be happy living with subpar finish given the cost.

Instead it's real carbon but has no mounting provisions other than VHB... lol.

Haven't yet decided if I'll:

a) roll the dice on running it
b) return it for the tapout
c) try to mount it and add rivnuts or something to it for extra security

The spoiler I installed also was only to be held on with the tape. That was a no go for me so I mounted 4 stainless bolts on the underside, epoxied them in and bolted it down using factory holes. Been solid with no issues, and eventually I'll get a better spoiler.

 

[DCV]

Lindsay had a IMSA 4BW on their lot with CF1 and CF2, looked really nice and if I get an expected check in from some oil leases I think I’ll get the OEM rear spoiler and front lip.

 

[BWDudeBro]

The spoiler I installed also was only to be held on with the tape. That was a no go for me so I mounted 4 stainless bolts on the underside, epoxied them in and bolted it down using factory holes. Been solid with no issues, and eventually I'll get a better spoiler.View attachment 23179

Nice! That's a good call. Bolts running down from wing to trunk is probably easier than rivnuts in the bottom of the wing and bolts running up from trunk to wing.

The holes in my wing are very small... Did you have to drill out the placements for the bolts you added? If so, I'm thinking a step bit to nearly match the size of the bolt head.

From there, any tips on how to get the bolt head situated flush and secure with epoxy? Did you did just kinda slather it all in there?

 

[GTANotch88]

I put painters tape under the spoiler, placed it on the trunk lid and marked where the factory trunk holes were. Then I drilled holes big enough for the bolts heads slightly off to the side of the marked location and cut/slotted a hole over to them only the diameter/width of the bolt threads(like a keyhole). I could then insert the bolt head into the spoiler, slide it over and that is when I added the epoxy to fill the larger offset hole. I also made sure some epoxy was inside around the bolt head. I used stainless bolts, stainless washers, and stainless nylon lock nuts to finally bolt it down. I also used better 3M double-sided mounting tape than what came with my spoiler.

 

[BWDudeBro]

I put painters tape under the spoiler, placed it on the trunk lid and marked where the factory trunk holes were. Then I drilled holes big enough for the bolts heads slightly off to the side of the marked location and cut/slotted a hole over to them only the diameter/width of the bolt threads(like a keyhole). I could then insert the bolt head into the spoiler, slide it over and that is when I added the epoxy to fill the larger offset hole. I also made sure some epoxy was inside around the bolt head. I used stainless bolts, stainless washers, and stainless nylon lock nuts to finally bolt it down. I also used better 3M double-sided mounting tape than what came with my spoiler.

That's really clever... nice work!

Looks like you have a 5BW, so I imagine the bolt lengths will be different but a trip to Ace will sort it out.