Review of RW Carbon Splitter/Skirt Extensions/Diffuser

[uGelli193]

I couldn’t find many details about these particular pieces, so I wanted to share some pictures and my thoughts on the install. For perspective, these are my first true carbon fiber parts I’ve purchased. Hopefully this helps inform any other prospective buyers. Sorry I didn’t take more pictures of the install—I did everything in short increments during weekends while my 2-year-old napped and it wasn’t raining outside lol.

Overall: Recommend. Great quality. Great fitment. Medium effort. Excellent packaging. Excellent support.

Splitter: RW Carbon Kholen Style
Quality: 9.5/10
Fitment: 9.5/10

Skirts: RW Carbon DTM Style
Quality: 9.5/10
Fitment: 9/10

Diffuser: RW Carbon 3D Style
Quality: 9.5/10
Fitment: 7.5/10

The splitter is a hollow carbon fiber unit—what I mean is it is epoxied and glossed all around, even underneath. Quality is outstanding. You will see very slight imperfections around the more complex curves, but I think this to be expected as sheets are overlayed on each other. There were a few small markings, most of which cannot be seen from a few feet away, or they scratched off. There are two rows of holes for mounting. The holes in the rear line up perfectly with existing holes in the front bumper. However, there are no holes in the bumper where the front row of splitter holes are. Being paranoid about losing my splitter, I not only applied 3M automotive tape to the front of the splitter, but I also reused the screws/brackets on the two outermost holes and installed bolts, washers, and lock nuts on the back row of holes. I used the provided self-tapping screws for the front row of holes straight into the bumper. Alignment with the wheel wells seems perfect. I think there are tiny gaps in a couple spots between the splitter and bumper, but the 3M tape was enough to fill it and it’s no longer easy to see.

The side skirt extensions are not hollow like the splitter—the bottom is raw exposed carbon fiber, not glossed. Quality is great though, and there are eight pre-drilled holes on each side. There are no existing holes on the car, so you will be drilling into it. Because of the shape and curves of the piece, I found it difficult to line up well to the car, but once I put a couple self-tapping screws in, the extensions mated up pretty well. I also applied 3M automotive tape here—because the gap between the skirt and extension is visible from above when standing by the car, there is one spot where the tape can be seen in my application. I recommend if using tape to apply it at least an inch back to prevent this. Alignment with the wheel wells is good. My only concern is I’m not too confident in the self-tapping screws staying put, so I’m considering applying aluminum blind rivets in their place.

I actually started with the diffuser, and based on most posts I could find, I chose to remove the entire rear bumper before installing it in order have more flexibility in aligning everything. Honestly, this wasn’t too difficult—there’s a couple YouTube videos that detail this process well. I’m glad I did though, not for the flexibility part, but for actually attaching the diffuser to the bumper. The diffuser has tabs that “clip” into slots in the bumper. I think because of the rigidity of the material, the tabs on the new diffuser went into these slots, but they didn’t “clip” into place to secure the two pieces together. After a bit of brainstorming, I followed some advice I found online and used bolts put through the tabs (after inserted into the slots) to prevent them from sliding back out of the slots. I then tried to use washers as well to “grab” onto the bumper lips around the slots.. if that makes sense. Overall, tab alignment was good just requiring a little bit of flexing of parts, but there were some small gaps between the parts near the exhausts. My solution to this was applying black silicone from the inside of the bumper to fill the gaps and prevent any light going through.

The diffuser extensions for the diffuser were the kits weakest links. These two pieces simply did not line up well with either the bumper or diffuser at all. One more than the other, they required some serious alignment to line up with the bumper before using self-tapping screws to secure in place. This resulted in some significant gaps between them and the bumper, to which I again filled with black silicone. I’m concerned the silicone may melt due to the proximity to the mufflers here, but I think there should be enough airflow to keep the area cool. Lastly, their predrilled holes did not align with those on the diffuser whatsoever (more than an inch off), so I had to re-drill holes and then bolt the pieces together.

Once complete, everything looks killer IMO and I am overall very satisfied with the kit—in terms of quality, fitment, and appearance. Customer service was good and there was open communication (one piece shipped later due to availability), and each package contained a bag of screws. Definitely doable as a DIY if you have a little patience, jack, and get some additional hardware/tape/silicone.

[pb335i]

Thank you for the awesome write up and review of this product! I have been looking for some carbon bit options as well and have been eyeing the rw carbon diffuser. These are quite the pretty penny so it does sound a bit unfortunate when you said the rear diffuser had a bit of work with minor tab gaps and screw holes alignment.

Makes me wonder how these compare to the ones that are listed on Amazon if the product is the same or the carbon/lips are actually better quality overall.