# Design help and URGENT light questions (Vinyl Wrap, Lighting, Wheel Size, etc.)



## thespr (Feb 21, 2016)

Before I start, I'd like opinions on the best headlights to install for both style AND bright lights. I just got done reading a huge thread regarding "not" installing HID's on Cruze's but I don't know if that was him being mad at people with HID's or him actually knowing what he's talking about. If I SHOULDN'T use HID's, what lights can I get that are stylish AND bright as **** because my stock yellow lights are ******* horrible. In regards to tail lights, will really any LED tail lights be brighter/faster (activation-wise) than stock? I'm seeing ~$250ish for stylish LED tail lights but don't know much about the installation process or anything like that.


Now.. :

I've had my 2013 Cruze LS for about 6 months now and I've recently decided to start putting into money customizing it.

So for now, here is my list of what I want to do to the car:

- HID headlights with RVinyl blackout smoke tint cover, and LED tail lights with the same blackout smoke tint cover.
- Window tint
- 18" black or chrome wheels (currently on the stock 16" alloys and it makes me nauseous)
- Vinyl Wrap

Now I have a few questions regarding some of these:

- Are 18" wheels acceptable on a 2013 Cruze LS? I've tried reading around and most people say it's perfectly fine as long as you get good quality tires. If not, I'd probably just do 17's. 
- Anyone with experience/knowledge of vinyl wrap, I'm curious to know what you think is the required amount of wrap for a full wrap and how the process usually goes regarding getting it installed by a shop.
- Does anyone know a good Pearlescent White Vinyl Wrap? The one I see is the 3M 1080 Scotchprint Satin Pearl White Vinyl Wrap - However, it looks kind of yellow in the picture. I want either a BRIGHT white wrap and I'd black everything else out, or a Metallic/Satin Chrome Blue wrap and I'd get chrome wheels. 

I'd love to hear any feedback, answers to the questions, and recommendations regarding lights/tires/wrap/design.

Would also love to see your custom Cruze's so I can get a feel for something I may like. I'm currently leaning toward bright white wrap w/ everything else blacked out, or a slightly chrome blue wrap with most of the rest chromed out. Let me know what you think!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!


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## razercruze15 (Feb 15, 2016)

thespr said:


> Before I start, I'd like opinions on the best headlights to install for both style AND bright lights. I just got done reading a huge thread regarding "not" installing HID's on Cruze's but I don't know if that was him being mad at people with HID's or him actually knowing what he's talking about. If I SHOULDN'T use HID's, what lights can I get that are stylish AND bright as **** because my stock yellow lights are ******* horrible. In regards to tail lights, will really any LED tail lights be brighter/faster (activation-wise) than stock? I'm seeing ~$250ish for stylish LED tail lights but don't know much about the installation process or anything like that.




I can answer pretty much all your questions.

First of all, if youre looking for headlights are stylish, consider aftermarket full replacement headlights, that contain projector beams and LED daytime running lights. They also come in black casing so you won't need to tint them, and won't get a ticket either.

If you just want to replace the headlight bulbs, there is probably a reason why that guy was complaining about HIDs.. the Cruze comes with regular Reflector lights, not Projectors, so HIDs, especially the very bright ones (55watt, 8000k+ color) are very bright and blinding since reflector lights shine more vertically than projector beams. Projectors have a horizontal cutoff that allows HIDs to not be as seemingly bright towards someone closely head on or behind, and Projectors generally shine FURTHER than reflector lights, so HIDs are more preferred personally with projectors.

I have HIDs in my car, and I run 35watt, 6000k (pure white), and people say theyre not TOO bright, but I love how much more I can see of the road, and how it is white, rather than yellow tinted.

LED bulbs will always activate faster than traditional halogen bulbs. And usually brighter too. You can easily tell the difference between cars with LED taillights and halogen due to the instant light response of LEDs vs the very slight activation time on/off of halogen bulbs. But really, the difference is negligible. Especially since the center brake light is the most important braking light, and I'm pretty sure its LED (not 100% on this, but on most recent cars it is)

There are guides to installing headlights and taillights on the forum.. Nothing too crazy, but that depends on your tools and mechanical expertise.

Keep in mind if you smoke your headlights and/or taillights, especially in a dark tint, that could be illegal in your jurisdiction (and enforced). That will also dampen the light output; LED's and HIDs help to offset this.




thespr;2303841Now.. :
I've had my 2013 Cruze LS for about 6 months now and I've recently decided to start putting into money customizing it.[/COLOR said:


> So for now, here is my list of what I want to do to the car:
> 
> - HID headlights with RVinyl blackout smoke tint cover, and LED tail lights with the same blackout smoke tint cover.
> - Window tint
> ...


18'' wheels are definitely able to fit on the 2013 Cruze LS. Quality of the tire doesn't really matter with regards to it fitting, but you should get a decent quality tire, at least as good as the stock ones.
Your sizing will probably be along the lines of 225/45/18. But that depends on how much sidewall you want, and how wide you want them to be, keeping in mind the width of the new wheels.

I have tons of experience with vinyl wrap. I recommend going to a store to get a quote and see the samples in person. the 3M Satin White Pearl is NOT a bright white. It is Satin, but is is DEFINITELY not yellow. It is actually a BEAUTIFUL color if you ask me, especially with a black 2nd tone. My previous coworker had his 2007 BMW 550i wrapped in that, with Black trim offset and it was a stunner.

There are two different ways of doing a full vinyl wrap: The cheaper way is to take the wrap and put it around pieces of the car, and then just cut at all the body edges. This is the cheaper and quicker way of doing it, but you can tell if you look close at the edges that it is a wrap for sure due to this. The second way is much more expensive (figure around a few grand out the door). It involves taking every body panel out and wrapping the vinyl around it and behind. Thus, when it is put all back together, it is a seemless wrap with no lines at the edges of the panels.

Time wise, the cheaper way can probably be done in a day or 2, it depends on the store. Vinyl wrapping is tricky and some people are quicker than others. The proper and more expensive way to do it can take between a weekish to a month.

Also keep in mind that any TEXTURED wraps will cost more because they are harder/timelier to do; the Metallic Chrome Blue wrap you speak of would be more expensive than a regular color. If you want bright white, just get a gloss white wrap, and black everything else out (it seems like you want to do this more, and I would do the same).

Let me know if you have any more questions.


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## thespr (Feb 21, 2016)

Thank you very much for the response, I posted this a few days ago in the general section but it didn't get any traction lol.

Sorry for the incoming wall of text :uhh:

*LIGHTS:
*
Now regarding the lights, would you have any recommendations on a set of black casing projector lights that come with a HID kit and bulbs? Or for the time being am I able to just buy projector lights and get the HID kit/bulbs down the road? Is there any SPECIFIC bulb I need or will any HID kit and bulb work with any project light (planning on doing either Crystal Blue/Blue but that may be too bright)?

The tint laws in Ohio for windows are alright, but I can't ever find any laws regarding the lights themselves. As far as I know from posts that I've read, they just need to be able to see my tail lights at ~500ft which with LED taillights, even blacked out, I feel like that's easily achievable, or would I be wrong on that?

If that is the case regarding light laws, would the RVinyl blackout cover be fine as long as I have the LED tail lights? And if I were to put them on my headlights, would I HAVE to have HID installed, or could Projector lights shine through enough without the HID bulbs?

As of now I plan on possibly getting these then blacking them out, if you have any other recommendations that'd be great: 

Headlights: Spyder® PRO-YD-CCRZ11-DRL-BK (5037916) - Chevy Cruze 2013 Black Halo Projector Headlights with LED DRL
Tail lights: CG® 03-CZ11TLEDSM - Chevy Cruze 2013 Smoke LED Tail Lights

The headlights seem black enough but I might smoke the tail lights to get them closer to a black than just regular smoke. Now, if I got those headlights, I could just install a HID kit and install HID bulbs no problem whenever I want to? It comes with H1/H7 Xenon bulbs as far as I can tell so would those be bright enough to shine through an RVinyl cover?

*TIRES:

*It's good hearing I can get 18's I would've been happy with 17's but 18's were my ultimate goal. I've seen people mention the width of your tire depends on how much sidewall I want, what exactly does that refer to and what would you say is more "stylish?" I've seen people with 235/45/18 and 245/45/18 on 18's in a Cruze but I personally couldn't ever tell the difference.
*
VINYL:

*It's good to know that wrap isn't yellow lol, my primary plan was exactly what your coworker did. That exact wrap + black bowtie, black rims, window tint, black tail lights, black headlights, black grill, etc. Now the wrap place in Canton (about an hour drive from me) doesn't actually contain the 3M Satin White Pearl in their own stock, the only DECENT vinyl I can see that they provide is a 3M Matte White. I can always buy the 3M Satin White Pearl online then just bring the vinyl to them, right? Then I'd just pay an installation fee, correct? Do you have an educated guess on how much vinyl I'd need to purchase? I saw someone say for a full wrap it'd be around 5x80' but I really wasn't sure on that.. in my opinion Cruze's are smaller due to the small trunk but with these prices I'm not sure :


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## razercruze15 (Feb 15, 2016)

thespr said:


> Thank you very much for the response, I posted this a few days ago in the general section but it didn't get any traction lol.
> 
> Sorry for the incoming wall of text :uhh:
> 
> ...


Headlight casings dont come with HID kits, at least not that Ive seen. The different aftermarket headlights each require a specific bulb size for low beam and high beam respectively.
There is no one size fits all. 
So yes, you can buy the headlights then the HID kit later. 

HID kits consists of wiring, 2 ballasts, and 2 bulbs. Now the wiring and ballasts will be universal, but the bulbs no. So make sure to get the right bulb size for whatever lights you get.
Look up HID colors. The colors come part of the bulbs. 6000K is when it starts to get blue, and imo too brightish colored. That's the max I'd go. 8000K is pretty much blue, and 10000K+ gets purply/pink.
4300-6000K range is white. 

I used to live in Ohio..the vehicle and overall driving laws were much more strict and enforced than here in CA (other than emissions). 
I am pretty sure in OH you must have a certain size of left and right brake lights that are red, and a center one. BUT i may be wrong, as the distance thing you said is the law here in CA.
Your question of being able to see LED tails and Xenon headlights through vinyl all depends on the tint of the film.
The blackest film, like 5%, will seriously hurt your light's visibility. 
As for those bulbs being bright enough to shine enough headlight through, "enough light" depends on what you want.
I would say blacking them out, even with HIDs, is not enough light.

A light smoked film like 50% should be fine with LEDs and Xenon 55W bulbs.
If you're gonna totally black out the headlights, then I don't see a point in buying new headlight casings IMO.
I would just go with those Spyders (I think theyre nice) and call it a day.
Taillights wise, I would just smoke like max 40%, to be safe. (% is the amount of light allowed through, but its not actually representative of what it's like, esp with head/tail lights.)

If youre set on those blackout covers for the tails, then at least youll have LEDs and a center brake light (dont smoke/tint that). You can always ride it until/if you get a fix-it ticket. I see cars with them everyday. *however, I have HEARD of a case where a guy with blacked out taillights got rear ended, smashed, and insurance and police said it was his fault due to the tinted lights.




Tires: Sidewall is the height of the tire from the wheel edge up. Basically the Side of the Tire. "stylish" is up to you my man. Most people like just a flush look with wider tires than stock. (flush is where the wheel edge is aligned with the fenders) And some people like to have the tire width be less than the width of the wheel so it stretches. You can find this commonly on Japanese lowered/stanced cars.

225/45/18 = 225 is the width of the tire. 245 is fine as long as it fits your wheel but thats pretty wide for a Cruze IMO. Wider = heavier = slower = more gas. But also more grip. 
45 is the Sidewall amount. The more sidewall, generally the more your tire will last and the more ride comfort you will have. Less sidewall, tends to look better for most people, and you get more road feel but ride stiffer.
It would be hard to tell the difference between 245 width and 235 just on glancing, especially if you don't have alot of tire experience.
18 is the wheel size.
The tire size is ultimately up to you, and your wheel width.



The wrap shop should have a sampler with all of 3M's colors in a little book thingy. If they don't even have that...then I wouldn't go there personally.
Whether you can bring the vinyl to them is up to the shop, but I don't see why not. You just may not get the full warranty they have. But yeah, you would then just pay the labor charges, which make sure are not taxable.
Matte white is truly matte- like a powdercoated white color. I don't like it personally, but some like matte colors.
I would ask the shop how much vinyl you need- their guy(s) may need more material than required, and I don't know how much would be needed on the Cruze. Safely, Id GUESS at least 5 x 60'.
Don't quote me on that number haha.


Enjoy Cruze Talk.ccasion14:


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## thespr (Feb 21, 2016)

So essentially since I'm in Ohio I may not be able to get a truly blacked out secondary color alongside the 3M Satin Pearl White? That kind of sucks :/ I feel like smoked lights and stuff wouldn't look near as good with the wrap color which now has me leaning more toward a 3M Satin Chrome and chrome wheels since the whole blackout may not be as effective as I'd like. Unless of course the rear center brake light would count for police as visible, then I'm assuming I could still do the blackout. I'll probably go ahead and still buy those lights I linked earlier and if I want HID I'd get a kit down the road.


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## thespr (Feb 21, 2016)

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/4513.05v1

Here is the specific law in Ohio if that helps any, I'm still not 100% sure especially regarding illuminating the license plate, I'm assuming basically any tail light would do that wouldn't it?


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## razercruze15 (Feb 15, 2016)

thespr said:


> Lawriter - ORC - 4513.05 Tail lights and illumination of rear license plate.
> 
> Here is the specific law in Ohio if that helps any, I'm still not 100% sure especially regarding illuminating the license plate, I'm assuming basically any tail light would do that wouldn't it?


Whatever floats your boat, but personally, fully blacked out head and/or taillights aren't needed to make a black secondary colored car. I love black as a secondary color, with white, blue, red, silver, gray, pretty much every other main color, even black itself sometimes. Never have I felt that a car would need blacked out lights to help complete the look; smoked tails maybe, but not blacked out lights.

Remember, the design of the lights, especially the headlights, are appealing and blacking them out makes buying them pretty much pointless.

The law states the light distance, so if you can pull off the distance with the taillights, then youll be good against a rear end.

So, youre fine for the taillights. I am linking some pictures of cars that are literally wrapped in the 3M satin pearl white with black offset color, including my old coworkers bmw. Notice none have smoked headlights- its proabbly more of a security thing. You wanna see far, don't you? Plus, the headlights are already painted black on the inside, just like the aftermarket headlights for the Cruze you can get.

Now you can see the beauty of this wrap ;P

And taillights are totally separate from the license plate bulb/light on the cruze, so dont worry about the license plate thing.


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## thespr (Feb 21, 2016)

Alright thanks a lot, I'll probably just get those lights and maybe smoke the tail lights considering the headlights are already pretty black. Then I'll just get HID's down the line. I'll probably black everything out including the rims, grille, bowtie, etc. but leave out the lights for now.


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## _MerF_ (Mar 24, 2015)

Urgent? Really?


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## thespr (Feb 21, 2016)

My current stock headlights are ******* horrible and I almost hit a deer the other day because I can hardly see most of the time. So instead of just buying new bulbs I figured I'd get started on my project so the light issue to me is urgent because I'd rather not have a deer smash through my windshield lol.


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## thespr (Feb 21, 2016)

I just got a callback from the wrap place near me, they said they do have a 3M sample book with every wrap from 3M and it'd cost about $1700 to fully wrap my Cruze. The lady said they just recently did one and it came out to that much after tax and labor and everything, does that sound about right?


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## razercruze15 (Feb 15, 2016)

thespr said:


> I just got a callback from the wrap place near me, they said they do have a 3M sample book with every wrap from 3M and it'd cost about $1700 to fully wrap my Cruze. The lady said they just recently did one and it came out to that much after tax and labor and everything, does that sound about right?


That is probably the price for the cheaper and quicker method I mentioned that vinyl wrap can be done. If that's what you want, then that's an alright price, sounds about right.

The Sample book will allow you to see exactly what it looks like and you can put it against your car.


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## thespr (Feb 21, 2016)

Alright sweet, yeah I was told to expect a range of $1500-$4000, but $1700 is a good price for what I was looking for as long as the wrap lasts ~5-6 years.

Last question regarding that: Car washes.

I work at a vehicle dealership in Ohio and get free car washes and they're the industrial level ones, not quick water sprays and **** like that. 

Is it okay to go through that car wash every once in awhile or will that be detrimental to the longevity of the wrap.

If not that, is hand washing the only viable solution?


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## razercruze15 (Feb 15, 2016)

thespr said:


> Alright sweet, yeah I was told to expect a range of $1500-$4000, but $1700 is a good price for what I was looking for as long as the wrap lasts ~5-6 years.
> 
> Last question regarding that: Car washes.
> 
> ...




Do NOT go through aautomated car wash with a wrapped car.

You must hand wash.


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## razercruze15 (Feb 15, 2016)

thespr said:


> Alright sweet, yeah I was told to expect a range of $1500-$4000, but $1700 is a good price for what I was looking for as long as the wrap lasts ~5-6 years.
> 
> Last question regarding that: Car washes.
> 
> ...


Also, going the cheaper route of vinyl wrap like they quoted you for, (not taking out each panel and wrapping around it), you would be very very LUCKY for the wrap to last 5-6 years.

If you maintain it very well, and fix any damage done, it'll last ~3 years I would say. Iv'e never had a car done with the cheap way- the proper and more expensive route you would have to take great care and also fix any damage to last 5-6 years.

Edit: If you don't mind minor scrapes and peeling from the edges (esp in damage prone areas, like bumper, hood, fenders) then perhaps so.


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## thespr (Feb 21, 2016)

What exactly is the proper, more expensive way? And HOW much more expensive is it? If it's only going to last 3 years for $1700 that's a little .. eh..


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## razercruze15 (Feb 15, 2016)

thespr said:


> What exactly is the proper, more expensive way? And HOW much more expensive is it? If it's only going to last 3 years for $1700 that's a little .. eh..


I explained the 2 different ways to you in a previous post.

The proper way, is where every body panel is taken off of the car, and the vinyl is wrapped around each piece, and around the back of the panels- thus, there is no sign of it being vinyl at the edges of the body panels.
It's a much more expensive (due to the much longer time it takes) way. But the vinyl then doesn't peel from the edges, and cannot be scratched off like a sticker. It also looks a lot better up close.

I would ask your shop. It depends on the car, the shop, and who is putting it on. Usually they cost anywhere from ~2500 to 5000 dollars.

Edit: Also which color you get can factor into the price. Textured wraps like carbon fiber, metallic chromes, etc are MUCH timelier and can cost up to 8 grand.

Also, I said if you take great care of it, and dont mind/fix the occasional peel at edges, then it can last 3+ years, longer if you REALLY don't mind it starting to come off, or go back to the shop to get parts of it redone.


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## thespr (Feb 21, 2016)

Yeah I'd be fine with getting parts touched up as long as I can keep it a little longer than 3 years lol, and I'll call and ask if they remove panels and all that. Couldn't they use adhesive promoter on the edges if the whole point of removing body panels is to prevent edge peeling? That adhesive promoter helps a ridiculous amount as far as I know.


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## razercruze15 (Feb 15, 2016)

It's still not the same as having the wrap actually go around the back of each panel.

and the whole point isn't just to prevent edge peeling- it looks better, especially up close because there is not a sliver of your original paint color in sight, at any angle, at any distance.

The adhesive promoter would help, sure, but that's part of what I was saying about taking great care of it.

Edit: Iv'e never had to use adhesive promoter so I'm just assuming it would help, but It could also be so strong that it will take off your paint/clearcoat when the wrap comes off. I dont know.


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## thespr (Feb 21, 2016)

Ah alright, well yeah I'll call them and ask about a little bit of their process. The wrap will be the final step of the upgrades because I'd rather not get a wrap then have someone put 4 tires/tint my windows and have that risk cutting/ripping the wrap itself.


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## razercruze15 (Feb 15, 2016)

thespr said:


> Ah alright, well yeah I'll call them and ask about a little bit of their process. The wrap will be the final step of the upgrades because I'd rather not get a wrap then have someone put 4 tires/tint my windows and have that risk cutting/ripping the wrap itself.


Any good tinter and tire guy will not damage the wrap, but I'm with you, I wouldn't trust it.
Do the tint and tires first.

Definitely ask about their process. I mean I would bet $20 that their price means for the quicker/non removal of panels method, as many vinyl wrap shops actually ONLY offer this method.

But if they offer removal of panel and wrapping around them, ask them how much it will be. Who knows, maybe in your area labor is cheaper for things like that, so you could get a good deal.

Edit: and I have seen cars that were done the "cheaper" way, and they actually looked good. So I'm not necessarily saying that one way is wrong and one way is right.


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## Noctaire (Apr 1, 2016)

So...what did you end up doing on the Knights...?


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