What do you think, with or without the side strakes?

 

I just can't take my roots off from Mercedes Benz!

Without it, it looks just like the rest of the cars out there in that angle!

 

I'd agree with you if they were made better than they are now. The leading edges of most of the strakes I've seen on Crossfires are not flush with the skin of the car. IMO they look cheap up close.

 

Nice photoshop job ben47.
I like it with the strakes(?). I especially like Cyril's. It reminds me of rakes on SL's. I am thinking about installing one (like Cyril's) on my base coupe with front plastic piece painted silver.

 

I think they look better with em. The front end looks too long without it. Sort of like the Mercedes SLR McLaren. Which IMO, is really out of proportion.
By the way ben47, if I send you my bills, could you make them disappear too?

 

Yeah right, I'm still working on mine...

 

Lends to the art deco theme.

 

Personally, I like the strakes better. But after seeing the very well-edited photoshop version w/o them, I do find it a tougher choice than I would have thought.

The one thing that I like about them is the way they are actually designed to be a visual continuation of the cross-members in the grill, carrying out to the sides of the car. They are more than just a design after-thought.

 

If they were of better quality and didn't look so cheap up close, I'd say keep them. The way they are now I'm leaning on having them removed and see what the body shop can do about putting a Corvette type slit or whatever you call it in it's place.

 

I would like them a lot more if they actually were mounted on a real vent. Anyone made the fake vents functional? Then they would look more like they directed the air flow out from under the hood.

hp

 

Watch this space.

 

Will be watching!!! The side strake idea is a good one, but IMO very poorly executed on the Crossfire... very cheaply done. The front end of the strakes are not even flush with the body.

Thanks and good luck with your venture. I hope there is enough interest to make it worth your time and effort.

 

Thanks for the encouragement Ben. I would agree that the strakes are poorly executed but it's really the 'faux' grilles between the stakes that annoy me the most, especially when I see them up close when washing the car. I am quite happy that the strakes are set proud of the surface for styling reasons, but a bit of proper grill material between would have been much more convincing. There is quite a bit of work to make them truly functional though since inner arch/wing will need attention too.

 

TO STRAKE OR NOT TO STRAKE, THAT IS THE QUESTION!

AS I VOTED FOR THEM, I AM CERTAIN IF THE XF DID NOT COME WITH STRAKES, I WOULD HAVE PUT SOME IN... IN FACT ON THE WIDE BODY XF THAT I DRAFTED AND SUBMITTED A FEW MONTHS BACK, I ADDED STRAKES TOWARDS THE REAR OF THE CAR AS WELL...

YEAH, I TOO WOULD LIKE TO SEE THEM IN A FUNCTIONAL MODE... SIMON, I RECALL IN SOME PICS THAT ANDREW POSTED OF A WRECKED XF THAT BEHIND THE PASSENGER SIDE STRAKE (DRIVER SIDE STRAKE FOR YOU) THERE WAS A RATHER LARGE WINDSHIELD WIPER FLUID CONTAINER TIGHTLY TUCKED IN THERE...

BEN HOW ABOUT THIS? WHEN I PICKED MY XF UP THE OTHER DAY, THEY PARKED MINE NEXT TO ANOTHER... THEY PAINTED THEIR STRAKES THE SAME COLOR AS THE XF...

I WILL POST THE OTHER DETAILING THEY HAD DONE IN A NEW THREAD... BUT FOR NOW HERE ARE THE PAINTED STRAKES...



AND LOOK AT THE HOOD ON THIS RENDITION I FOUND AT A DODGE FORUM...

 

the caliper & rotor painting have now turned this idea of whiting things from so so to plain tacky imo.

 

~ you are correct.

 

xfire1... painting the side strakes did nothing but alter their color. They are still ill fitting and are not flush with the skin of the car. As I said before, "the side strakes are a good idea, but very, very poorly executed". They look like something out of a comic book. Now something along the lines of the new Corvette would look nice, with the stakes coming out from under the side vents.

As for the pictures you posted of the hood, I won't even comment.

I'll probably tick off the Base owners here, but whiting out the entire car really cheapens it. The black Base car is barely tolerable IMO, but the white... yuck

 

Painting out the strakes looks crappy to me.

 

That's why they make Fords and Chevys...Not everyone likes the same thing!!

And the Grille...And the Windshield Band...And the Wheels...And the FlameStripe...And...

 

I can’t imagine the Crossfire without side strakes. I only wish the vents were real brake vents.