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Polyurethane, Fiberglass, or FRP? by Karl Lawley OEM Polyurethane Manufacturing There is a lot of misinformation out in the market about FRP, fiberglass, composites, polyurethane, etc. The truth is pretty simple actually. Large auto makers such as Porsche use a type of high pressure injection molded polyurethane plastic for their bumpers similar to the material that other companies use to make garbage cans or laundry baskets. They are basically disposable, and it is planned that way. They are manufactured with approximately 5% mold release agent made into them, which means that traditional fillers, etc. will not stick to them if they've been damaged, plus they tend to rip and tear instead of denting. The disposable/non-repairable nature of polyurethane OEM stock bumpers means that the auto maker will have a steady source of recurring revenue for replacement bumpers over the life of their product. This is a good business model for companies making thousands upon thousands of any one part, as the high tooling cost for the molds will be easily recovered by the high quantity of parts produced. The only real benefit to such material is that it is stretchable, which aids a poor fitting part to fit when installed. However, it must be noted that companies such as Porsche still make most of their high end wings and rear spoilers out of fiberglass.
Aftermarket Polyurethane Manufacturing
There are some aftermarket
companies claiming to make polyurethane bumpers for Porsches. Making a true
high quality polyurethane part such as produced by Porsche or any other real
automobile manufacturer for the very small Porsche aftermarket simply isn't
feasible based on the extreme costs associated with the tooling and
manufacturing equipment required for such a process.
Prior to purchasing, most people would assume that the quality would be equal to the factory part since it carries the buzzword "polyurethane" and wouldn't know the difference before they actually saw it and compare the them. The fact is that these aftermarket “polyurethane” parts are made from a rubbery type of polyurethane and are very thick due to the lack of precision in the molds, they are heavy and far too flexible to be used as a bumper. Spider cracking of your paint is almost a guarantee if anyone puts any pressure on the part since it is so soft and rubbery. A body shop owner called us one day a while back to order a bumper for a 996. He asked specifically if our parts were made of fiberglass or polyurethane. I gave him the quality speech about our composites and craftsmanship and he said he would never again order a polyurethane aftermarket bumper. He had ordered one from another company for a customer, received it and had nothing good to say about it. In fact, he said that it was so thick, heavy and rubbery that it looked like it was made out of melted down tire rubber. We ordered one for ourselves to see what he was talking about and still have it here at the shop to this day. It's a GT3 look bumper that we use to show our local customers the difference between our quality and the quality (lack thereof) of the aftermarket "polyurethane" part. To date, nobody has ever wanted to buy the polyurethane part over ours after seeing the difference. Fiberglass or FRP?
Don’t be fooled, Fiberglass
and FRP are the same product. Some companies have tried to deceive people by
implying that "FRP" is some sort of new highly flexible space age product. FRP
stands for Fiber Reinforced Plastic, which is simply the non-trademarked name
for fiberglass. Fiberglass resin is a form of plastic. Any material that has
strands, cloth or mats and resins to make up their structure are called
composites. Some after market companies add a second chemical to their resin to
make the resin even more flexible, which aids during installation of a poorly
fitting part, but there are side effects to this process. Most notable is that
we've seen substantial warping and dimpling of these types of parts over several
years of service when exposed to the sun and elements. In addition, repair of
such a part is made more difficult due the varied chemicals used, which can
cause a problem with what is called "secondary bonding." We have a few bumpers
here at our shop, which were made by other companies to be more "flexible."
They are bumpers that were left here by customers after having us install one of
our bumpers on their car because they couldn't stand to look at the dimpled poor
quality any longer.
Specialty auto manufacturers
that make limited production cars such as Ferrari make their bumpers out
of a high quality fiberglass, as do we.
Quality is the Key
What has given fiberglass a
bad name in the market is not the material itself, but the poor quality of the
parts that have been produced by companies with very low quality standards. You
can see these parts mounted on cars ranging from KIAs to Porsches.
That is not the case with Fiberwerks. Prior to ever making a mold for a new product, we spend months in the development of each part that we create, test fitting and perfecting over and over again to make sure that the fit is as perfect as can be. Our philosophy is simple, "this part is going to be installed on a Porsche!" Each part is then hand crafted using high quality composites in and out of the mold to make sure that they are exceptional in fit and quality. In addition, each part is given extra strength in areas where it is needed, making it stronger and more durable without increasing the overall weight of the part. This can only be done by a craftsman that understands the dynamics of the cars for which he is making parts. After that, our parts are allowed to cure properly before they are ever removed from the mold. This slows down our manufacturing process, but insures that a good quality part will be delivered to our customer. Most types of composites can take up to a week to fully cure, but the end result is worth the wait.
Strength Our parts are crafted to be very durable. We have customers that have called and emailed with stories of hitting all types of road hazards such as road construction barrels, cones, small animals, other cars, curbs, deer, etc. and have all commented about how strong our bumpers are and how little to no damage was done.
Made in America The market is flooded with poor quality parts. Parts that fit poorly, look bad, crack and break easily are all over the road today. Some are made here in the US, but most are made overseas by people that have possibly never even seen a Porsche. Our parts are hand crafted here in Florida by Porsche enthusiasts, which makes all the difference in the world.
The Choice So, the choice is yours, if you want to take your Porsche to the next level of excitement, you need to decide which road you are going to take, “back yard” grade polyurethane or a fiber composite. Here at Fiberwerks we’re very proud of our products, and just like Ferrari, we aren’t ashamed that they are made out of a fiberglass composite. We know how to make beautiful, strong, durable, and great fitting parts that are affordable for your Porsche. Also, we realize that repair costs are minimal with fiber composites, they are infinitely repairable and any body shop can do it. So the choice is simple, but it’s your call.
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As you can see by
the pictures, true OEM automotive industry bumper molds for polyurethane are
very elaborate and very expensive costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Without having any guarantees in the aftermarket that they will ever sell more
than a couple of newly designed bumpers, no company would every be foolish
enough to spend that much money on tooling. So, they have created a "back
yard" variety of molds, ironically made out of fiberglass, and use low grade
polyurethane materials just to bring something to the market that can be
marketed as "polyurethane." 
I don’t recall every hearing
a Ferrari owner wishing that his bumpers were made out of polyurethane! As with
anything, there are different grades/qualities of fiberglass just as there are
with plastics. In addition, most high-end limited production aftermarket
companies such as ourselves, Techart, Gemballa, etc. also produce their parts
primarily out of fiberglass, only they sell their parts at unreasonable prices
and we believe in value. The benefits to fiberglass parts "FRP" when
manufactured correctly are that they have excellent UV and chemical resistance,
hold their shape over their lifetime, are very durable and strong having one of
the highest strength to weight ratios, and are pound for pound stronger than
steel, have low weight, perform better in extreme temperatures, salty or humid
conditions. The biggest plus to fiberglass composite parts for bumper
construction is that they are infinitely repairable. So, if damaged any
body shop can repair it saving a lot of money over having to replace a factory
bumper every time it gets damaged.
These companies start with a
quickly made, ill fitting "plug", which is the original part used to make a
mold, produce a bad mold off of the bad plug, which then produces bad parts.
Garbage in, garbage out! The parts are then produced by cheap labor that
doesn't really understand the dynamics of the production process or the car that
the part will eventually be installed on. Then the part is pulled from the
mold after only having spent several hours of curing time. During the
curing process composite materials shrink and distort, which is why it is
critical to leave it in the mold so that it can hold its proper shape over the
entire curing process. In an effort to maximize profits, most companies make a
part and then pull it within 24 hours, which is one of the main reasons why
their fiberglass parts don’t fit properly, and then usually need hours of extra
labor and fabrication at the body shop before they can be properly installed.
With all of these potential problems in the design and production process, it's
no wonder that so many parts being sold today are garbage!