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Black Out options for S3

Brad_B

New member
Messages
10
Reactions
1
State
MD
Country
United States
What I Drive
2017 S3
#1
Ok, I know flat colors and black out are not everyone's thing, but I have always been a fan of flat colors and non-metallic black. I have attached a pic of my currently unmodified 2017 nano gray black optic S3 below as well as a few pics of my blacked out Harley as an example. The number of things that I blacked out on my bike are hard to quantify but include down axle covers, nut covers, and all levers (and yes I know the rims triple trees, and front sliders are not black, they were just too hard to get done at the time). Personally I love the nano gray color and think it would pair very nice with black accents. I like the black optic package but sadly it is lacking on the real "black" features. Here are things I am considering (nominally in order) and would be interested in opinions or examples.

- Badging. Without question I am going to go black (ideally flat or satin, but metallic would be ok) on the front rings, front S3 emblem, rear rings, and rear S3 emblem. I really think Audi should have gone this way in the black optic package, but oh well. The site I am currently looking at is: http://www.audibadges.com/audi_black_ring_badges.html . They seem to be very reasonable priced (only about $30 each). I know the front ring badge is clipped in, am not really sure of the front S3 badge, and that the rear badges are both adhesively held on. These all seem very easy to replace.

- Tinting. I know winding tinting is not new tech or super sexy, but I am probably going to professionally tint the main 5 windows (not the front windshield). I do not care about state rules and will probably not go max tinting. I do not think this is a big issue, but would love to see examples of S3 tinting and any problems encountered if any.

- Exhaust. If I make changes to the exhaust which I might, I will probably add in black exhaust tips. I would be fine with the dual pipe approach on both sides or the single larger tip on both sides. I think I saw a RS7 wider exhaust on both sides that was S3 compatible.

- Grille. I am fine with the stock S3 grille (and my license plate bracket is now gone - not required in MD, at least I hope [:)]), but I do think the RS3 grille is even better. I have seen examples here and the quick price is I have seen is ~$400. If anyone knows a better price, that would be appreciated. I am not sure I am going to make this jump.

- Lights. I also know that blacking out lights is not for everyone and I am on the fence when it comes to cars. On my bike you can see that I blacked out my rear lights to the point where they are almost not useful (and certainly illegal). I did these myself with VHT tint and am happy with how it came out. I probably would not mess with the front lights on the S3, but the rear lights are something I would consider.

- Rims. I know the most obvious choice for black out is rims, but I have no plans to drop ~$2-3k on rims when I like the rims that came with my S3. I am also very reluctant to vinyl coat or plastidip them. There are just way too many horror stories of how these holds up. I would consider powder coating them (in my bike pics below everything is powder coated except the shocks and exhaust), but powder coating comes close to new rim pricing in some cases. When I did my bike, I had the benefit of having access to professional powder coating facilities so I coated almost every easy to remove component for free.

- Body mods. I like the S3 body overall although I think it could have been a little more aggressive on fairings and spoilers. I also am not really convinced that black (with carbon fiber being ok) would mesh with the color. If I added body mods, I would probably prefer to color match. Any pics or ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any ideas or comments! Here are some pics:







 

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