Does anyone else think the 99 front end looks lousy? I don't like it. I don't like the big holes along the bottom. I especially don't like the license plate frame. It ruins the sleek lines of the entire front end. You couldn't pay me to put that on my car.

Am I the only one that doesn't like it?

 

I am mixed, you can buy it without the plate holder also. I do not think it looks great, but it is surely not lously. IMHO I think it looks 10x better than some body kits like veilside. I think its a good alternative and it sticks best to the stock lines without being ultra aggressive.

 

Yes. However you are not the only one who prefers the stock front over the 99spec

 

i used to think the box sucks.. but when you see it in person, the box actually fits the spot... actually if you take the box out.. it looks pretty weird

 

I got to see a 99 Spec front nose over the weekend....and it looks alright, but I prefer the orginal nose. I dunno, it seems too aggressive and the rest of the car that was stock didn't match it.

 

I'm not fond of it all, not with the license plate area....that just ruins it for me. Just my opinion though.

 

Wow... I though I was the only one!!

 

i think its one of the hottest looking front ends for the FD..anything is better than stock anyhow..

 

Not fond of it either. The PFS front end remains my first choice, with the stock front end second.

 

There are things I like and dislike about both the stock and 99+ front ends. If you get rid of the plate holder on the 99, you are still left with the "smile" shaped central inlet, which I don't care for. However, I like the turn signals and oil cooler inlets better on the 99 (and the front lip). And the front end no longer looks like a Miata on steroids.

On a dark car, the smile essentially goes away and the 99 front looks great (sans plate holder).

Engineering-wise though, the 99 front is great.

 

I agree with everything rynberg said. Thanks...you saved me a lot of typing.

Sonny

 

For keeping the stock look the 99 is far superior...Although it is not stock here..

 

I like the way mine turned out. I was originally going to go with the Rotary Extreme polyurethane plateless 99 front, but I decided the "smile" effect was far too goofy looking.

 

Mazda hit the nail on the head with the original design. The '99 spec looks better than any other aftermarket fr. bumper, but it has that smile that's simply out of place on an aggressively-styled car.

 

anyone have a pic a 99 spec without the holder on a fd ?

 

http://www.negative-camber.org/crispyrx7/99bumper.htm

 

I completely agree with you.. When I was looking for the bumper back in 2001, I hated the front plate holder.. but because it was the only urethane bumper, I went ahead and bought it. Now, I absolutely love it and ones that don't have it looks really weird to me..

 

I would probably go with the 99 front end if I went with any, but I dont know if it would go well with the sleek lights that I have. I think it looks much better with the pop ups. What do you guys think?

 

I think the 99 front (or bumpers that use the 99 lights) look TERRIBLE with sleek lights.

 

Yea, thats the reason I havnt gone with the 99, or any bumper for that matter. I think the only one I would ever consider is the PFS if I could ever find one for a decent price. OT: PFS doesnt sell them anymore do they?

 

I think it's got a lot to do with the angle of the photo, and the color of the car. I love the way the Peter Farrell front bumper looks, and it seems to be pretty functional also (the PFS front has deeper air guides built in, to force the air through the oil coolers and radiator).

-s-

 

sleek lights look terrible to me on any front end, i love the popups. Thanks for the picture, that looks horrid without the plate holder actually.. Looks like theres lumps and stuff where the plate holder would have been.

 

The "smiling" look on the plateless 99 goes away after 10 minutes, then it just looks intimidating. Besides, the "smiling" term gets thrown around too loosely. The updated 99 frontends make the 93-95 bumpers look dated and out of it - like looking at an early miata versus a late model.

I remember Vette critics thought the c6 looked like a smiling car, but that went out the window after the engine specs where revealed.

 

the smile on the bumper looks good imo, i see a similar look on the rx-8. the shaved emblem and plateless 99 bumpers however just don't look right to me.

 

It's opinionated, but I think it should be a fact: Almost everything else is over the top.

Original will never get old, completely. Anyone I know with my mentality with cars and racing that has tried "Kits", have ended up reverting back to a stock look.

Any Headlight mod looks like a headlight mod, period. The way the glass sits you just KNOW it was a pop-up light car, so it's just no use.

Smile? Look at the Supra's front end, then tell me that the 99spec's a smile. There is so much curvage surrounding it it almost gets lost in it.

ANY and EVERY car has ugly angles, FD just happens to have the least amount I've ever encountered. Straight on front, straight on side, straight on rear, 1/4 angles, super low (Like on the ground) shots, all check fine. Equipped with 99 spec material and lowered of course