When is red really red?

[AV8R]

I have noticed that there is a significant difference in red colour between countries. The hichroma red in Australia looks more tomato red than pearl red like some of the US and Canadian cars. I initially was going to buy red but when I saw it up close it was not very appealing so I got the Snow White pearl.
What do you think?

 

[mldavis2]

As a photographer, I would warn you to be careful evaluating color. Photos are not accurate unless calibrated with known color sources. Even so, what a color looks like on a computer monitor depends in addition on the settings and calibration of your monitor. Then you must consider the light source under which the color is viewed or photographed. Natural sunlight is arguably the best and most accurate lighting, not the artificial fluorescent or (now) LED lighting on a show floor or in a garage. If you really want to know what HiChroma Red looks like, get a car outdoors.

 

[AV8R]

I agree but it’s kind of deceptive when they are selling the colours. In the show room it was ok but in sun it was not.

 

[mldavis2]

In general (I used to be a new car service manager), paint containing metal flake (actually mica chips) requires more maintenance than solid colors. The reason is because each paint/chip interface is a bonding surface and potentially a point at which bonding fails which leads to a domino effect on paint peeling or flaking. Note how many older BMW's and Mercedes with their metallic gray paints look like hell today...because their owners never wax them or maintain the finish (a job for mere peons), but also because such paint is not as durable. There are not many solid colors today other than some whites, blacks and reds. Red is a good color for highway visibility, but also a cop magnet. Depends on whether or not you want to be seen and by whom.

 

[stinger1168]

I think, like others have said here, that seeing the car outside in the natural sunlight is the best way to go. I haven't seen the red outside yet but I wonder if it has any color shifting characteristics (like the dark blue color goes between blue and purple) that make it go from red to red with a slight orange tint? I had a similar issue trying to figure out what panther metal looked like in reality. All the pictures I saw made the color look almost black with a lot of flake in it but I recently saw a youtube video (I posted another thread on this) that showed that the paint wasn't as black as the other pics lead me to believe and was a color that I was more interested in now. Unfortunately it was still indoor light but the video was...well...a video and had more angles to look at the paint under the light than the still pic had.

The other thing I noticed with some pics and some video reviews is that (especially in really bright conditions) the photographers will add "filters" to their cameras which may make a particular color look darker and richer in bright conditions when in reality the color will look lighter. There's a motor week video from a while ago where I noticed this. The car was micro blue and in their video the color looked GREAT! Then I realized that ALL the colors of EVERTHING looked great in the bright conditions and then I realized they were using a filter on their camera.

Or, like you said, the colors could just be different in different countries.

Sorry to ramble on, just some things that I personally noticed.

 

[Charly]

I didn't like the pictures of the red but damn, in the flesh that red is sweet. (USA HiChroma Red) Unfortunately, my wife doesn't want a black interior.

 

[mldavis2]

I didn't like the pictures of the red but damn, in the flesh that red is sweet. (USA HiChroma Red) Unfortunately, my wife doesn't want a black interior.

Replace wife. Get car.