Stealth XPEL or clear on Borealis?

[dogwind]

I am drawn to the glossy version!

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[dogwind]

I have stealth XPEL on my forest green and I love it. That being said, Borealis looks better glossy. I would do a clear Xpel on Borealis.

Beautiful in matte!

 

[dogwind]

I'm assuming the PPF that came on the cargo tunnel doors is XPEL? I intentionally scratched it to see how it would react, and I also scratched the stealth that I know for certain is XPEL. Stealth seemed extremely resistant, I couldn't scratch it despite a fairly aggressive effort, and a buffed right out with my hand. Extremely impressive, and that probably sold me on doing PPF. If the glossy one is not as durable/scratch resistant (even though it heals), then maybe that alone is worth the gamble.

I am asking for clarification here:
There is xpel on cargo door only? But they all have xpel in this area?
That solves my wonderment if my Rivian has xpel everywhere!
A scrape to the left door was remedied but putting new xpel on it by my detail shop and it avoided repainting. Frankly the xpel edge on the door was starting to peel a bit - like factory did not wrap it well.

 

[dogwind]

1. What would you guys do with a black R1T outside all the time? Xpel or ceramic coat at intervals? Black matte is a different look, but not better or worse per se to my eyes.
2. BTW - Should I be hitting reply in a poster's message or always go to the bottom of the thread? Have not posted much here.
Bob

 

[eRacer]

Just my $.02 from experience having the Stealth XPEL applied. With the stealth, you do get the benefit of reducing glare off your panels. Helpful when the sun is trying to reflect off the hood of the truck. Also, as you mentioned stealth is more forgiving to scratches and dust/dirt does not appear as much on the stealth.

 

[RivianRiverRat]

2. BTW - Should I be hitting reply in a poster's message or always go to the bottom of the thread? Have not posted much here.
Bob

Safest to hit reply to the post you are commenting on
If it is a reply to the OP just a comment is fine we’ll figure it out
Though there some here who like to holler at the clouds

 

[hammick]

If you go clear you don't have to wrap the entire truck. We did a full frontal and lowers. No rock chips anywhere yet.

 

[freshpow]

If you go clear you don't have to wrap the entire truck. We did a full frontal and lowers. No rock chips anywhere yet.

+1. I only wrapped the front and tailgate on my R1T and the sides haven't picked up any scratches after 3 years. To be fair, I always park in no man's land in parking lots. Only reason for a full clear wrap IMO is if you're regularly putting it through its paces offroad and are worried about pinstripes.

 

[windblowlc]

I would 1000% do stealth on Borealis but I don't keep my cars long term. It would be a waste of money for me. Borealis would look stunning in stealth.

 

[beatle]

I did frontal PPF on my Miata. I agree that it is the best value in protection. I have no rock chips elsewhere, but I am a bit more careful when cleaning the non-PPF'd areas. No worries of swirls when cleaning the PPF.

As for the original question, clearly you should do clear. Don't hide the depth of borealis behind a matte film.

 

[jono]

I feel what's tugging at me to go stealth is the glare reduction. I've never been attracted to shiny things, and the R1T has some strong glare at sunset. But I also worry about overly changing the character of the truck.

I'm secondarily mostly interested in making the truck easier to wash without creating swirl marks, but assume both clear and stealth are equal in that. I had fun intentionally scratching the test area and was blown away how hard it was to get even a light scuff.

@mik34 That green is stunning. Do you find the glare is reduced with stealth or any other unexpected benefits or problems?

I should buy a few square feet of it and do a larger panel myself as a test, just to appease curiosity. Not a lot of Borealis in the world, I may be the only one considering it.

 

[mik34]

I love the stealth but it’s factory so I don’t have a before/after. It definitely looks better with some dirt on it versus a shiny car.

 

[jono]

I am asking for clarification here:
There is xpel on cargo door only? But they all have xpel in this area?
That solves my wonderment if my Rivian has xpel everywhere!
A scrape to the left door was remedied but putting new xpel on it by my detail shop and it avoided repainting. Frankly the xpel edge on the door was starting to peel a bit - like factory did not wrap it well.

I can only tell you that my truck was delivered with PPF of some kind on the cargo doors, and it looks like when Rivian used to offer XPEL as an option they'd wrap it to within 1mm of the panel edges (which is fine for clear, and no bueno for stealth). It seems harder to clean than the stealth sample. The cargo PPF may not be XPEL, it seems thinner than the stealth sample I have (but maybe stealth is much thicker?).

1. What would you guys do with a black R1T outside all the time? Xpel or ceramic coat at intervals? Black matte is a different look, but not better or worse per se to my eyes.
2. BTW - Should I be hitting reply in a poster's message or always go to the bottom of the thread? Have not posted much here.
Bob

I can only draw on regret from my M3–I should not have done ceramic only, it really didn't last even though I paid for a 5 year effective treatment. While I'll probably do ceramic over the PPF, if I could only have gone one way then it would have been PPF for a sacrificial layer over ease of cleaning.

 

[dogwind]

I can only tell you that my truck was delivered with PPF of some kind on the cargo doors, and it looks like when Rivian used to offer XPEL as an option they'd wrap it to within 1mm of the panel edges (which is fine for clear, and no bueno for stealth). It seems harder to clean than the stealth sample. The cargo PPF may not be XPEL, it seems thinner than the stealth sample I have (but maybe stealth is much thicker?).



I can only draw on regret from my M3–I should not have done ceramic only, it really didn't last even though I paid for a 5 year effective treatment. While I'll probably do ceramic over the PPF, if I could only have gone one way then it would have been PPF for a sacrificial layer over ease of cleaning.

I am hearing you say you would do both.
But if you would only do one it would be PPF for protection, but it does not clean as well as a ceramic coated auto does?
Are these "heard you say" correct?

 

[R1TCntrlMaIzzy]

In the end it is obviously your choice. Why buy a color that is meant to shine, to mute it?

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