I'm putting this here for the initial "peer review" phase to be sure I don't go posting trash to the FAQ section. Feel free to comment on anything of value.
The RS and RS500 body components have subtle differences that may not be easy to spot by the novice, but become very easy to identify once they are pointed out. It should be mentioned that the copyrights to some of the pictures belong to other folks (they all have been modified by myself, so property rights get a little gray), but are being used here for demonstration purposes. If anybody feels like they need to freak out about it, drop me a line at [email protected].
The RS500 bumper adds a dip below the center of the grill section. Additionally, a splitter is placed on the bottom edge of the RS500 bumper. I believe this is an entirely separate components on the genuine RS500 bumpers.
The RS front bumper:
The RS500 front bumper:
(note lack of lower splitter, it hasn't been installed)
The RS500 rear wing has a "Gurney" lip or flap at the trailing edge and has a smaller spoiler mounted directly to the hatch. The RS wing has neither the lower spoiler nor the lip/flap at the trailing edge.
The RS rear wing:
The RS500 rear wing:
(notice the lack of lower spoiler)
One last note about keys to identifying real versus replica spoilers from a distance. The real wings have a portion of the side mounting feet that extend down the hatch. The replicas generally do not, due to difficulty incorporating it in the fiberglass layup process.
Real (RS):
Fake (RS500):
