Chazmo

An aquaintance of mine who works at a body shop seemed convinced that my Suzuka was a pearl paint job. I told him that the only "pearl" I know about on S2000s is the GP white and the Spa yellow.

We briefly discussed the meaning of "metallic" and "pearl." I left the discussion confused.

Does anyone have an authoritative definition of what a pearl style of paint is (in contrast, say, to a metallic paint or a flat paint job)? My friend seemed to think it had something to do with how it's applied to the primer. That said, has anyone had any body work done on a Suzuka? Was the body shop able to match your paint???

On a related note, has anyone seen the Xirallic red paint on the new Corvette anniversary. It looked gorgeous in Road and Track (while in the sun)... Is that a "pearl" or "metallic?" Or, is that something different (they talked about some sort of flakes in the paint, I think, when R&T described it)

Billman250

pearl is a mix of colors, which actually change with viewing angle and lighting. I know the suzuka blue can look quite a few different shades, depending on lighting.

Chazmo

10-4 on that, Billman. Major color shifts depending on angle and position of the sun. Low sun can make it look purple. High sun and it's a baby blue.

So, maybe saying Suzuka == pearl is not unreasonable?

Shinji

I think Suzuka Blue is metallic because I can see metallic flakes all over the paint. I think pearl colors looks the same under most lighting but metallic paints can really change in color. I think pearl paints have a clear purplish coat mixed in the paint. I could sometimes see a purplish clear coat on the pearl cars. That's what I observed on most cars...