Fly1 Motorsports: A Cautionary Tale

EZT

Long time member, but full time lurker here. I wanted to share my experience with Fly1 Motorsports as a fair warning to anyone interested in their services, and products.

To start with, everyoneknows that aftermarket fenders are typically crap when it comes to fitment, but I was willing to give Fly1 a try. Let's face it, those RS1 fenders look pretty awesome, and that's a compelling argument in of itself. With that out of the way, time to rewind to 2018, and my initial purchase through them.

My 2009 definitely needed some love to the exterior, and emerging from a recent divorce I was struck with the time, funds, and fervor to make some dramatic changes to the outside appearance. I acquired a 2015 Nismo Front Conversion courtesy of Z1Motorsports, and sat my sights on Fly1's website, specifically awaiting their 25% off sale during the Thanksgiving week. Ultimately, I opted for their carbon fiber roof cap, carbon fiber RS1 fenders, and carbon fiber rear diffuser, and a nifty carbon fiber hood for my girlfriend's Subaru WRX STi. Needless to say, the amount for all of this exceeded a few thousand, as expected. Furthermore, the wait time was a generous 8-12 weeks. At the time, I had a good experience with them, after all, it was just placing an order and waiting. I was more than willing to wait the necessary time to receive what I was hoping to be top notch products.

February 2019 arrives, and I finally get my car to a reputable local body shop. Shop owner owns a twin turbo Lamborghini so if that's any indication of where his passion, and love is at. They have my Z for two weeks. Of course, there is zero issue installing the Nismo conversion. Additionally, the rear diffuser was a breeze as well, and to this day I stand by it being one of my absolute favorite exterior modifications. However, a little bit of a snafu was encountered with the roof cap, fitment wasn't 100% perfect, but that was ok, the owner reassured me they would be able to make it fit. Again, this was something I was more than capable of living with, the fitment towards the back hatch window wasn't spot on, and required a little bit of black paint to cover my OEM white, and casually blend into the carbon fiber. Next, I was informed of the horrible fitment of the RS1 fenders, and was told it would require extensive modification to make them fit. I personally was able to fit 2-3 fingers between my headlight, and fender. I contacted Fly1 about the fitment issues, and the reply was:

At the time, I didn't bother to press the matter any further. I didn't want to push things with Fly1, and I was already deep in the wallet for the parts, and body work. I decided to leave my OEM fenders on. Besides, I knew it shouldn't be too difficult to resell the fenders on here to an individual that knew the fitment issues, but had the capital to invest into making them work.

Fall 2019, my fiance now (still the STi owner) succeeded in changing my opinion about my duckbill wing, and I opted to replace it with the Fly1 AMS wing. Much like previously, I purchased during their 25% off sale, and patiently waited the 8-12 weeks to receive the wing. I had a different body shop do the paint, and install this time, which I regret to a degree. The quality just wasn't the same as the previous body shop, but he was too busy at the time to accept anything except collision repairs.

August 2020, I notice an issue with my carbon fiber roof cap while pumping gas. Much like everyone on here, I always examine my cars exterior while at the pump. The only way to describe it is the carbon fiber weave is "bleeding" through the UV gel clear coat Fly1 uses. In fact, you can feel the texture of the weave. The entire roof cap is beginning to show these all over. Therefore, I decided it was time to contact Fly1 about the issue. Afterall, Fly1's website specifies the piece will maintain its look for years to come. I supplied photos to Fly1, and cordially requested they cover the cost to have the roof cap sanded and re-clearcoated. In my opinion, being a 2+ year customer, this was hardly asking much considering the amount of purchases made. Fly1's reply was that given the time passed they were unable to warranty any parts, and offered a 20% discount. Naturally, I found this to be quite objectionable. One, their own website is contradictory with it's advertisement of "years to come". Two, offering a 20% discount for future purchases is a bit silly, considering they offer 25% discounts during Thanksgiving week. Third, one of their services, carbon fiber interior door panels is 2,000$, which I had planned on purchasing, with either of their discounts would be a 400-500$ savings; the amount saved on this piece alone would cover a reclear of the roof cap.

I replied to their comment, objecting to their offer, and displaying my disappointment in them, and that they've lost me as a customer. Naturally, they never replied to that.

In summary, aftermarket fenders are a bitch. Fly1's products are iffy fitment at best. If you purchase anything, have it sanded and properly clearcoated, not with that UV Gel Clearcoat they espouse so highly of.

ColorSource

They get more disappointed/angry customers than good. that just shows how sh***y their products are. With all the horror stories people posted about them its rather smart to steer clear

Nismo 370z

Stay away from Fly1, Zociety, Zakustech. They are all garbage. Try Carbon Signal and Shine Auto next time. Seibon is hit or miss.

Lvcky69

As bad as they can be, honestly, the fitment isn't all that bad. I knew about it prior purchasing them and didn't give a crap but they all came out great. Better than I expected. 4years strong (Same clearcoat) and they still look brand new. And also dude, making carbon fiber is so easy. You can make a pair of door panels in carbon fiber for less than $300. I did my own door panels, middle console, etc..thinking about doing the side skirts next..

Attached Images

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EZT

Some of their stuff is very nice. I just think it’s a crap shoot at where you land. The consistency isn’t there.

Quicksilvers

As far as fitment with the Fly 1 fenders I have seen they fit correctly and don't seem to line up perfectly and need slight modifications to the fenders to fit right. Although some of the Fly 1 stuff in my opinion looks very appealing to most Z enthusiasts. Installing aftermarket fenders is not a inexpensive mod for most ask yourself if you need air functional venting at the fenders or is this for sheer exterior looks? In my own experience with them I had a Fly 1 Super Street Hood in their basic carbon fiber version. The super street hood had excellent fitment overall and bolted right up. The clear coat on the super street hood lasted the five years I had it and never faded or showed any defeats but I always keep up with all the maintenance on the carbon fiber stuff I ever got keeping it cleaned and waxed on a regular basis. The Carbon Signal and Seibon stuff is very nice. Also you can purchase your own functional fender vents and have them installed on your Genuine Nissan OEM fenders? Any reputable body shop should be able to cut your fenders and weld aftermarket fender vents in if you can't do this yourself. I believe Rusty did his own fender vents maybe he can chime in on this.

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ZontheRocks

I have come across several youtubers that have used Alliance Carbon

Instagram for more pictures: https://www.instagram.com/alliancecarbon/

I have no affiliation or have purchased from them. Just sharing some alternatives I have found.

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DarkJak

Read through this thread and was wondering when Alliance Carbon would pop up.
They owner seemed pretty genuine when I messaged him on his fenders and upcoming (now released) hood.

So far, I've only read positive comments on their fitment, and it looks like they come with the tabs and holes ready to go.

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ht4e

just wondering about others' experiences so I could have a baseline comparison for the product more recently. Has there been a drop in fly1 motorsports product quality since COVID,
1) The Amuse style partial top blade CF wing I received has tiny dents or what others called air bubble on the coating and a small 1.5 mm webbed dent. I reckon these are easily fixable at the bodyshop if I were to let them install instead of just painting it.
2) the fiberglass edges and angles, where the connections are made to other pieces to form the mold, have left been left exposed without touch-up ( so basically all white and the transition edge has a dark streak of grey line). I am unfamiliar with the process of molding these fiberglass pieces, so I assume this 4mm thick streak is the result of sanding to smooth out the edge after molding or bending the fiberglass.
not that it matters much since you gotta paint it anyway. some edges/bend/angles were rough and luckily only one side of the rough edges are visible after its mounted based on my preliminary mock up on the hatch.

Eagle

I have the RS1 fenders and I think I lucked out since it was probably part of their first batches when the mold was still newish. I bought mine used from a friend back in 2014. Over time those molds wear out and that shows drastically in the fitment especially with a part like a fender. Granted the fitment of my RS1s isnt perfect but it was noticeable to me where things weren't as precise as they could have been. The gap between the headlight and the fender is a good example, on one side it was kind of tight and on the other it was a little wider than it should have been. The thing that really pissed me off about them is that they didn't bother making the inner tab for bolting the fender to the bumper. Really guys?

I've heard many stories of the owners acting kind of shady the past few years and if this is the quality they are putting out now, they should own up to it and do right by loyal customers at the least. Sorry to hear of your troubles though, might be best to try and resell whichever parts your most peeved about and seek better quality replacements from some of the other manufacturers mentioned.

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EZT

I definitely will be reclearcoating my roof cap very soon, and if I ever see a set of RS1 fenders for sale, that are already on a car I’m going to buy them. I just can’t personally justify making another purchase from them myself, and I’ve already spent 3k+ towards them. Luckily my crappy RS1 fenders I sold on here and didn’t lose my money.

OptionZero

Skeptical the Alliance's stuff isn't from the same factory in another country that Fly1 gets their stuff from . . .

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patrikspacek

I just got their GT wing fiberglass, it cost 1350$ + 250$ shipping. The wing is poor quality, dents, scratches, deep lines all over, also some pieces flying inside the wing, you cannot get it out!

It came in raw quality, Its not painted, not even option to get it painted.
Not recommended to buy this wing from them! Its way to expensive for such a lame and poor quality / material. This Wing should NOT be more than 500$, fiberglass and several metal pieces, thats how it came.

They also forgot to send all parts, I had to ask them twice to send them over!
There is no supervising at all!

OptionZero

for $1500 shipped, aren't you in the ball park of APR, or even . . . Voltex?

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EZT

Seems you should have found my thread before purchasing from those guys.