IT’S A WRAP!
The RS undergoes a full colour change thanks to 3M Wraps UK and PopIn Graphics…
SPEC Mountune M380 power upgrade ■ Revo RV019 8.5x19 alloys ■ Falken FK510 tyres ■ Pumaspeed/Eibach lowering springs ■ 3M wrap in Glacial Frost
A couple of weeks ago I headed over to Cardiff to see the guys at PopIn Graphics, so we could discuss possible ideas for a full vinyl wrap. Well, this month the RS has been treated to a full colour change!
With more and more owners taking delivery of their new RSs, making ours stand out from the crowd was going to prove more difficult this year. And one way to ensure our RS gets noticed at the 2017 shows and events was to change the colour.
Plus, one of the biggest criticisms hurled at the Mk3 RS is that “it doesn’t look aggressive enough”, and for me part of that is down to the factory colour options. Yes, the FAST FORD options offered are nice colours, but their gloss finish does go a long way to hiding some of the lines of the RS, and I couldn’t help thinking that a matte or satin finish would help bring out some of the car’s lines.
So, after a chat with PopIn Graphics and 3M Wraps UK, we decided a satin finish would work best. But what colour? Well, 3M Wraps UK informed me they were just about to launch a series of new colours to add to their 1080 range – including some brand new flip-colours, in a satin finish! After comparing a few samples I eventually decided on a colour called ‘Glacial Frost’ – a kind of bluey-purplish flip colour. And I’m glad I did, I think it looks fantastic!
To complement the Glacial Frost I opted to have the roof wrapped in satin anthracite too, so that the roof matched the wheels and the bumper trim. At the same time, we added some custom side strips incorporating the Fast Ford logo too.
Another neat trick the teams at 3M Wraps UK and PopIn Graphics suggested was to ‘emboss’ the Fast Ford logo on the car somewhere. This is a fairly simple trick that basically involves applying a sticker of the logo and the wrapping over the top of it with the final colour – the resulting effect is a subtle raised logo that looks like it has been embossed into the vinyl wrap. This is particularly effective with a colour-change wrap too, as it really stands out when the light directly hits it, but remains hidden otherwise!
The team at PopIn Graphics had the car for three days to complete the wrap. I had no idea how involved the process was; the doors have to be stripped, the spoiler removed, the bumpers dismantled, the whole car basically has to come apart! The rear spoiler alone took over half a day to wrap as it was so fiddly!
But I have to say I’m chuffed to bits with the end result! The car looks fantastic! The slightly flatter satin finish really does help pick out the lines in the RS’s styling – the swage lines in the wings and doors for example look so much more aggressive in this colour, and the front bumper really comes alive with the colour changes dancing in the light.
The photos really don’t do the finish justice, but wait until you see it in the metal at shows and events throughout 2017! It really has taken on the impossible task I asked of it – to stand out from a crowd, yet still be subtle and understated.
And as the perfect cherry on top of the cake, the wrap offers easy maintenance (great for cleaning at shows!) and will protect the original paintwork beneath too, so if I did ever decide to go back to the white, the paintwork will still be factory fresh!
I really do love this wrap! And so do the guys at 3M Wraps Uk - check out a video they made of the car being wrapped too – www.facebook. com/3mWrapsuk