how do you feel about mixing and matching body kits?

[JMRQuattro]

For example, i have a white '04 1.8TQM USP i'm probably gonna put some all black 19" BBS CH wheels on. But i'm thinking about how it would look if i replaced the sides and rear bumper. I love the look of the USP front, especially with the kerscher splitter but the USP sides and rear aren't my favorite. They look amazing for a stock car but i want an upgrade. So anyway, i want to upgrade to S4 door blades and paint those black and get oettinger sides instead of USP. Then i want to get a rieger rear with dual tip exhaust. Just wanted to know how everyone feels about mixing body kits like that.

As of now my car is just the stock USP, nothing too special. But my full list of plans include what i said above; plus I also want to get black painted side mirrors, black out grill with black 4 rings, remove all the rear badges except for black 4 rings, paint my trunk spoiler black, tinted LED tails, black e-codes or S4 headlights, Thermal exhaust, boser hood paint matched white, 5% tint all around, black painted roof, inno dual angle snowboard rack.

The other thing is i want to lower it a little but when it comes time for snowboarding season i need it to be a little higher for those trips up to the mountain. So obviously coilovers are an option, but i've been curious about airbags just for the ease of lowering and raising. But then i don't know what the ride quality is like compared to some good coilovers.

So i'm welcome to any input/comments/criticism about my plans. And of course i need some input about the coilovers vs airbags.

Let me know what you guys think!

[A4Dit]

Mixing and matching isnt bad, lots of people do it. A lot of kits for our cars have say a awesome front but disgusting rears and so-so sides. You just have to study them and make sure they will flow well. The Oettinger kit is the one kit in my opinion that is beautiful all through out.You should check out the USP front with Kerscher sides and S4 rear. My 0.02 .

[$4c@b]

it can be pulled off but IMO all the smoothest and cleanest cars are made of matching parts.

Subtlety gets the most double-takes.

[JMRQuattro]

yeah that's what i was thinking is that mixing and matching wouldn't flow as well. And i've seen the oettinger kit. It does look nice all throughout but i love the USP front bumper. And i think the rieger rear looks the best. Do you think those parts would clash with eachother? Cause obviously the full matching kit would flow the best cause they're designed to go together. But i haven't seen one with all those parts on it so i don't know what to expect of it.

[$4c@b]

if the colors aren't identical or if they don't match, IMO the flow is interrupted and any car will have a cheap look to it.

[PRY4SNO]

Ditch the poser hood and go with on-car adjustable c/o's if you don't mind wrenching a bit to gain the inch or so.

As for the mix and match, myself (if I were to keep the B6 for a substantial length of time) always liked the notion of going with either a USP or Oettengier front and a DTM rear. Mix and match to your heart's content... it's your car and whether or not others like the look it's your ride and your coin. So satisfy yourself first and foremost!

If you've got Photoshop (if not go to adobe.com and d/l the demo free) you could save a lot of hassle and brain injury with a couple hours max mixing and matching layers to see the flow quotient of disparate body kits cobbled together.

GL!

[JMRQuattro]

Ditch the poser hood and go with on-car adjustable c/o's if you don't mind wrenching a bit to gain the inch or so.

As for the mix and match, myself (if I were to keep the B6 for a substantial length of time) always liked the notion of going with either a USP or Oettengier front and a DTM rear. Mix and match to your heart's content... it's your car and whether or not others like the look it's your ride and your coin. So satisfy yourself first and foremost!

If you've got Photoshop (if not go to adobe.com and d/l the demo free) you could save a lot of hassle and brain injury with a couple hours max mixing and matching layers to see the flow quotient of disparate body kits cobbled together.

GL!

haha brain injury. I don't know if i'm gonna think that hard lol. But that's what i'm gonna do probably (photoshop). But are airbags really that bad for ride quality? Cause even in my driveway if i were to lower my car i'd have some serious problems. The end of my driveway is pretty high so even at stock height for both the Audi and my VR6, unless i angle out pretty sharp, my car bottoms out so bad you can hear the scrape/crunch sound from inside the house, and my driveway is a good 20 yards long. So that in mind my driveway would not be very accommodating for the car while it's lowered. So unless i want to raise it just for going out of my driveway and then lower it once i'm out of it again, i got to figure something out. Same problem with going back into the driveway. So that's another reason why i was thinking airbags, no wrenching required. just leave it raised in my driveway, and when i'm out... lower it back down. It would definitely be nice for the mountain as well. Just raise it before i leave. Then when i got back home for regular school and around the town driving i could lower it again. But i'm just saying if the ride quality is gonna be that terrible or take away from the performance in turns and everything i might just have to go for coilovers and practice getting out of my driveway lol.

[manhertm]

Personally I don't find any complete bodykit having everything I want.

Oettinger:
Front: Pure sex!
Sides: They're OK
Rear: WTF, happened Borrrring.

Reiger:
Front: Clean, good lines
Sides: I hate these sides with a passion, it that supposed to be an M3, NO!
Rear: Yuck, mesh

Kerscher:
Front: Nice & Clean
Sides: My favorite, again clean
Rear: Pretty agressive compared to the rest,but still looks good. You need a full bodykit to pull it off.

Votex: Looks like a stick-on bumper(which it is), too rounded, no agression
Sides: Looks like stock only lower
Rear: Basically a USP rear

Abt:
Front: Rice like
Sides: Creative, has to grow on you
Rear: Looks like the Oetty rear with dual tip cut-outs

Sportec:
Front: Looks like the Bubba Gump of front bumpers(big gums!)
Sides: Same as Votex
Rear: Very clean, OEM look

Caractere:
Front: Nice,but not low enough for me
Sides: Very nice, can go with a lot
Rear: Again nice can go with a lot and just enough aggression

Vizage
Front: Even though its a stick-on bumper,I like it. It's the only kit that looks remotely like that.
Sides: Almost like the Caratere sides, which is a good thing
Rear: Seen the rear before, can't recall what it looks like

So, I guess after all that analysis , my perfect bodykit would be
Front: Oettinger
Sides: Kerscher
Rear: S4,(Kerscher if I'm feelin' frisky)

[mxrz]

Regardless of which particular fronts, sides and rears you like, what looks really bad is when they don't line up, height wise, when you look at the car from the side. The rear isn't really a problem, but if your sides are lower than your front, it looks like shit imo, same with the front being lower than the sides.

[manhertm]

Regardless of which particular fronts, sides and rears you like, what looks really bad is when they don't line up, height wise, when you look at the car from the side. The rear isn't really a problem, but if your sides are lower than your front, it looks like shit imo, same with the front being lower than the sides.

True, True.

[JMRQuattro]

^^ haha i feel the same about the oettinger rear. It kinda looks like a shitty USP rear rep. The rest is very nice though. The rieger is probably my favorite aftermarket front but the center grill opening doesn't match up as well with the upper grill. That's why i think Audi did it the best with the USP front because the upper and lower grill sections match up perfectly and i love the very bottom how it doesn't go completely straight across and it dips in and back out on the sides. The USP sides just aren't aggressive enough so i'm a fan of the kerscher, caractere, and oettinger. I think out of all 3 the oettinger have the most aggressive look though but the Kerscher go the best with the door blades because of that section that runs along the sides just below the door blades. The kerscher rear is weird, it's got a lot going on and has a very odd shape with the high center and the lower side sections. Some of the other fronts and rears are just a little plain and less aggressive. Like the S4 for example, i like the rear diffuser look in the center but the rest just isn't as aggressive. That's why i like the rieger because it doesn't have a huge amount going on, but it's low and aggressive. And with the sides and rear i like being lower and more aggressive, i don't see there being a problem with those matching up and flowing well. But with the USP front, it isn't as low as some of the other fronts. So like MXRZ said i think there might be an issue there with the sides and rear being lower than the front.

[HeHateMe]

if the colors aren't identical or if they don't match, IMO the flow is interrupted and any car will have a cheap look to it.

Then get the paint color-matched. Obviously if the colors mismatch then any kit will look like ass. There is nothing wrong with having different kit parts. I hope you aren't saying an S4 rear with a Caractere front and Sportec sides looks bad.

Show me some examples of some shitty looking a4s with mixed parts from different kits.

[JMRQuattro]

Then get the paint color-matched. Obviously if the colors mismatch then any kit will look like ass. There is nothing wrong with having different kit parts. I hope you aren't saying an S4 rear with a Caractere front and Sportec sides looks bad.

Show me some examples of some shitty looking a4s with mixed parts from different kits.

Yeah the colors thing is a no brainer. Like i'm gonna have red body kit parts or something lol. But i agree with the flow thing, especially what mxrz said about some parts being lower than others. It looks wierd to have sides that are lower than your front and rear, or a front higher than your sides and rear or any combo of those.

[JMRQuattro]

alright next problem... i have a macbook and i can't download photoshop because all the downloads are for windows. Where do i go for a mac download?

[HeHateMe]

Caractere front , Kerscher sides, ABT grille Looks pretty good to me

[JMRQuattro]

^^ nvm i found it

[JMRQuattro]

Caractere front , Kerscher sides, ABT grille Looks pretty good to me

yeah i agree :) cool, i'm gonna mix and match, looks better.

[$4c@b]

Then get the paint color-matched. Obviously if the colors mismatch then any kit will look like ass.

It's very hard to get an aftermarket piece to match the factory perfectly.

This car is nice looking but clearly the bumper doesn't match the factory color of the body, so to me, the flow is interrupted.



My .02 above is refering to the fact that IMO one aftermarket company bumper might not match the factory, so 2 aftermarket company's parts might just add unwanted hues to a car. If you're adding new / more aggressive lines, then it's even more important that they look like they were meant to be there which means seamless paint matching.

[HeHateMe]

It's very hard to get an aftermarket piece to match the factory perfectly.

This car is nice looking but clearly the bumper doesn't match the factory color of the body, so to me, the flow is interrupted.



My .02 above is refering to the fact that IMO one aftermarket company bumper might not match the factory, so 2 aftermarket company's parts might just add unwanted hues to a car. If you're adding new / more aggressive lines, then it's even more important that they look like they were meant to be there which means seamless paint matching.

IDK, if you want factory perfection, stay stock or use all OEM parts.

On your paint match opinion , are you saying no one should get a kit because it's too hard to color match to original paint? Maybe I'm misunderstanding but that's what it seems like you are saying. So if you perfectly paint match the different parts , then it's acceptable to put on different kit parts? I'm totally confused now LOL

[yoogene83]

the angle of the sun and the shade of paint will all throw off the "flow".

bodyshops will do their best to match/blend body pieces, but in the end, a perfect match will still look off due to shadow

[mxrz]

Can't ensure aligment of the paint metal flakes without painting both parts at the same time.

[$4c@b]

On your paint match opinion , are you saying no one should get a kit because it's too hard to color match to original paint?

no I have seen kits that didn't disrupt the flow, but I have seen a lot more that did and I think they looked worse than stock. Often the color matched but the finish doesn't so again, it stands out.

So if you perfectly paint match the different parts, then it's acceptable to put on different kit parts?

It's all acceptable. The OP asked for opinions of aftermarket kits and mixing them up. I'd hate to for Seatown B6 to be riding around in a white B6 with a sorta white bumper and a different white colored side...it happens and IMO looks silly if not done right.

[JMRQuattro]

no I have seen kits that didn't disrupt the flow, but I have seen a lot more that. I'd hate to for Seatown B6 to be riding around in a white B6 with a sorta white bumper and a different white colored side...it happens and IMO looks silly if not done right.

yeah that's something i don't want to happen. Have a white car with a different shade of white on my kit. That would definitely be shitty.

[HeHateMe]

no I have seen kits that didn't disrupt the flow, but I have seen a lot more that did and I think they looked worse than stock. Often the color matched but the finish doesn't so again, it stands out.

Ahhh, honestly, I don't look that hard at the color matching of bodykits. most of the kits I've seen on here end up looking pretty good unless it's some really bad fitment. I can't really tell much about paint from pics because of what Yoogene said about lighting.




It's all acceptable. The OP asked for opinions of aftermarket kits and mixing them up. I'd hate to for Seatown B6 to be riding around in a white B6 with a sorta white bumper and a different white colored side...it happens and IMO looks silly if not done right.

Gotcha, I misunderstood you then. I thought you meant mixing different kits doesn't look good. I think mixing kit parts can look really good.

[JMRQuattro]

alright so it seems to be the general consensus that mixing kits is a good idea as long as you can get the paint to match and everything to look right. So now coilovers and airbags. Does anybody have airbags? Cause as i posted earlier i'm curious about ride quality. I've never been in a car with airbags before.

[mxrz]

I've never been in a car with airbags before.

Your car should have six of em, just fyi

[JMRQuattro]

the next question i have is about sound systems. In my searching the internet today for mixed kits i came across an article about the first american Caractere kit. The guy's 03 1.8t CVT was full caractere and he had a bunch of awesome adds to his car. The main one that caught my eye was the sound system set up in his trunk. I wanted to know if there was a DIY thread for creating something like this:

http://images.eurotuner.com/featured...woofersjpg.jpg

Or if anyone might know how to go about doing this that would be awesome. I'm not really looking for the custom carpeting so much as the mounting of the subs up top like that. It seems like mounting them up top would be relatively cheap but also allow for great sound while minimizing space limitations. Because as of right now i have a dual bandpass for my 12" pioneers and my amp mounted to one of the folding rear seats. I was thinking of getting another larger 1600 watt sony amp from a local outlet store and then also buying two 12" rockford fosgate 1000 watt rms subs. So i would want to try and mount my 2 amps just like in this set up for my subs and possibly get another for my front speakers. And if it were possible mount all 4 subs up top. But if not i would mount 2 up top and just make custom enclosures on the side pockets. So any ideas how to mount them up top and make the amp set up?

[JMRQuattro]

Your car should have six of em, just fyi

haha ok maybe i should rephrase... airbag suspension lol.

[HeHateMe]

post some pics of your car. I think those black CHs would look incredible on a white USP. I would just keep the USP kit and spend money on other things. The USP bodykit is sweet. People on here are paying and modding to look like the car you already have.

[JMRQuattro]

Alright i just recently got it so these are the only pics i have of it. I mean i love the way it looks but i just prefer other rears and sides better.










I have yet to photoshop the wheels and kit, plus the color mods i want on, but i'm probably gonna get to that sometime today. I've never used photoshop before though so it might take me a while.

[02SILVANT]

post some pics of your car. I think those black CHs would look incredible on a white USP. I would just keep the USP kit and spend money on other things. The USP bodykit is sweet. People on here are paying and modding to look like the car you already have.

I very much agree, put on the wheels lower it a bit and get that carbon fiber splitter on the front end and you have yourself the most sexiest USP, oh and you can paint the roof black and tint the windows. And of course the e-codes and S4 blades would just make it perfect!

Thats a dream for me!

[JMRQuattro]

that's in the plans I'm going for the black on white. So i'm gonna do 5% all around, black out grill w/ black 4 rings, black rear 4 rings, all black 19" BBS CH, painted black S4 door blades, black side mirrors, black roof, black trunk spoiler. It's gonna be so sick once i get my plans into action and actually finish it.

[AudiA4Turbo22]

if u have a USP front then don't touch it except for a splitter, it is the best looking front!

[JMRQuattro]

if u have a USP front then don't touch it except for a splitter, it is the best looking front!

i know that's why i'm keeping it and putting on a kerscher splitter. I want to replace the sides and rear. I was thinking either Caractere sides or Oettinger sides and a rieger rear. I'll probably go with the oettinger sides because i think they look more aggressive.

[AudiA4Turbo22]

how about these sides:

[JMRQuattro]

how about these sides:

What sides are these? They look really clean.

[JMRQuattro]

I still like the oettinger the best. But i had another idea while reading another thread. I want to pick up some Alpine white paint and some engine degreaser. Then i want to clean up all the parts and paint the engine covers matching alpine white and paint the rings and 1.8t black. So basically i want to dress up my engine in the black and white theme as well. I think that would look really sick.

But does anyone have any ideas of how to go about the trunk set up. Here it is again, only this time it's not the link:




I really like the space efficiency of this set up.

[HeHateMe]

What sides are these? They look really clean.

That's the JP Vizage or Visage kit.

[AudiA4Turbo22]

^^i'll have these sides hopefully by next week!

[JMRQuattro]

they look nice. But i'm still a fan of the oettinger sides. I like the lines on them better.