A properly used Audi R8 gets some much needed love

[Apollo_Auto]

Hi all! Here's an R8 that's just about 1.5 years old now and I've been doing the big details on it since day one. I live a bit too far to do the weekly maintenance washes on it so the owner does all the washing himself and doesn't do a bad job either. Unfortunately the car has been in for service a few times and he always forgot to tell the service department not to wash the car... well I think you can all imagine what it's going to look like. Also, the last time I detailed this car was in the spring...



We decided to do a one-stepper on this car because first of all, he uses it like it's supposed to be used (it's already got more than 27,000 km on the clock) and second of all he plans on keeping it for a while. Also, I had a limited amount of time to get it done. Here's the befores >>

Most of those tiny black dots are soot... fun to clean .

The exotic bug collection...

First bath with Insta Finish Super Foam and a heavy mix of Super APC.

Some nice and thick foam

Cleaned out all the weather stripping, around the emblems, etc. with a brush that looks just like one, but doesn't say Swissvax on it . I think I paid $5 for 6 of these brushes in different sizes... but I'm sure the other ones clean much better .

Tar goop doing its thang...

I don't think cleaning a$$es is something that anyone enjoys doing and this one's no exception. The aerodynamics of this thing shoot up soot from the exhaust into every nook, cranny and centimeter of the rear end. It usually takes about 1.5 hours just to clean the back end of this thing... under the spoiler is the most tricky and I always find myself pinching off fingertip-sized pieces of clay to get into those mission impossible areas.

The second foam bath after claying. I can usually get away with just a thorough rinsing after claying, but like I said, I haven't cleaned this car since the spring so it was one contaminated mofo. He drives this thing rain or shine... good boy Mr. S!

About 1.5 hours and a plethora of tiny little cuts on my fingers later, all clean .

All the badges were clayed, too.

The one normal shot of the swirls under God's Brinkmann... white's just too difficult to pick up the swirls on in the sun...

 

[Apollo_Auto]

No sir, not a garage queen!

Cleaned the lint off the felt (glove box) with some masking tape

If you look to the right of the sun's reflection closely enough you can see where some cowboys got hold of this with a wool pad...

Inside all cleaned up with Insta Finish Super APC 1:10 and then all leather treated with Insta Finish Leather Conditioner.

The engine compartment was done by hand, some APC, glass cleaner for the carbon fiber and a mini leaf blower for those hard to reach places. Oh and everything was dressed with Insta Finish Super Dress All. I usually wax all the carbon fiber with Swissvax Shield, but I was on a time budget today so we had to leave that for the pre-winter cleaning.

All taped up and ready to rock.

A couple more shots of the swirls and scratches under the camera flash in the dark... These pics still don't really depict the real damage, but oh well. You can see in the center of the flash where it's really matt and almost looks like it was wet sanded.

This one stepper on the world's hardest paint was done with Insta Finish Insta Cut #15, a polishing pad and lots of pressure. Being that this is almost a daily driver, we weren't too concerned about making it perfect. I think this was about an 85% correction. Not bad at all considering the paint hardness... Oh and the LSP for today was that one Z V wax that nobody can say the name of unless they know the secret handshake : ). Enjoy the afters!

Notice the new Deloris the Detailasaurus... she's flat black now! Will post some piccies after she gets the vinyls on!

 

[Apollo_Auto]

Thanks for reading and for all the Playboy subscribers, thanks for "reading"!



- Jesse

 

[Beccia]

Oh and the LSP for today was that one Z V wax that nobody can say the name of unless they know the secret handshake : ). Enjoy the afters!

Ok, i'm a relative Newb... why can't we say this name? I'm not looking to challenge the ruling, just a clarification..



Oh and for the car - fantastic job

 

[MarcHarris]

27,000 km? What kinda crazy measuring system is that?



looks great bud - that rear end looked like a real pain, but was still no match for you! looks great!

 

[Apollo_Auto]

Ok, i'm a relative Newb... why can't we say this name? I'm not looking to challenge the ruling, just a clarification..



Oh and for the car - fantastic job

Thanks buddy! Zym0l V1ntage is the wax... Zym0l get a bit bent out of shape when people plaster their name all over the net...

27,000 km? What kinda crazy measuring system is that?



looks great bud - that rear end looked like a real pain, but was still no match for you! looks great!

Thanks Marc! Yeah, the a$$ was a pain in the a$$ !

 

[911fanatic]

Great job cleaning that up!

 

[gmblack3]

Great work Apollo!



The R8 reminds of the NSX when it came out. Different design from most everything.

 

[Gig103]

I love that car to death, the owner is awesome for using it too instead of it being a garage queen. Any idea if he's had any problems with the gearbox (I didn't see a clutch so I'm assuming it's the R-Tronic)?



Great detail!

 

[Carticular]

Great work on a beautiful car, glad to see the owner is using it for the intended purpose!!

 

[Thomas Dekany]

It sure looks wet!!!:2thumbs::2thumbs:

 

[Kevin Brown]

You do some nice work. ::hifive:: The pics in this thread are outstanding.



I am a sucker for white cars. I think it is because I can "feel" the paint with my hands when the job is done, and I am not so paranoid about leaving any scratches (at least that can be easily seen).

I LOVE clean doorjambs and engine bays in white, too! Nowhere for the dirt to hide!

If you look to the right of the sun's reflection closely enough you can see where some cowboys got hold of this with a wool pad...

!

COWBOYS... :funnypost That is funny.

 

[Barry Theal]

Te vagy a király! Fogadni mernék, a golyókat bizsergés tisztítás után ilyen bírság ride! Tudom, hogy a seggem ég, miután látta, hogy a gondolkodás a szüret ad! Nagy munka hallgatag bunyóst

 

[imported_artikxscout]

I know your pain trying to clay the car. It is such a pain to clean the white paint with so much claying. I find myself spending a lot of time claying the car. Great job on the car!

 

[Apollo_Auto]

Great work Apollo!



The R8 reminds of the NSX when it came out. Different design from most everything.

Thanks Bryan! Yeah, the NSX was way ahead of its time just like this one and Supras... they'll all still be hotties 20 years from now .

I love that car to death, the owner is awesome for using it too instead of it being a garage queen. Any idea if he's had any problems with the gearbox (I didn't see a clutch so I'm assuming it's the R-Tronic)?



Great detail!

Thanks mate! Yeah it's the R-Tronic... I'd take that transmission over a manual any day...

Great work on a beautiful car, glad to see the owner is using it for the intended purpose!!

Thanks buddy! Yeah, he's a good boy for using it!

It sure looks wet!!!:2thumbs::2thumbs:

Thanks Tommy!

You do some nice work. ::hifive:: The pics in this thread are outstanding.



I am a sucker for white cars. I think it is because I can "feel" the paint with my hands when the job is done, and I am not so paranoid about leaving any scratches (at least that can be easily seen).

I LOVE clean doorjambs and engine bays in white, too! Nowhere for the dirt to hide!







COWBOYS... :funnypost That is funny.

Thanks Kevin! Yeah, white is a very satisfying color when it's properly polished and hospital clean .

Te vagy a király! Fogadni mernék, a golyókat bizsergés tisztítás után ilyen bírság ride! Tudom, hogy a seggem ég, miután látta, hogy a gondolkodás a szüret ad! Nagy munka hallgatag bunyóst

Thanks Barry! I have no earthly idea what you just wrote, but I think I get the big picture ! Those online translators spit out some crazy sh1t sometimes :getdown!

I know your pain trying to clay the car. It is such a pain to clean the white paint with so much claying. I find myself spending a lot of time claying the car. Great job on the car!

Thanks man! White cars always take me at least an hour to clay... Did a Gran Turismo a couple of weeks ago that was just as bad as this R8!

 

[dickwitham]

Nice to see an owner truly enjoying the car for what it is, that's awesome.



Absolutely gorgeous car and great work!

 

[autoconcierge]

Jesse I am profoundly dissapointed that this car is not a Ferrari with a Blanked up finish................lol , as for Barry's reply it looked legit to me(as how many of us would have known what he said.



In your pics I can see how different the sun angle is, I picked up on this when I went to Europe in 99(Frankfurt Auto Show) around this time of the year compared to California it was noticeable, great attention to the small crevices in addition to the paint correction.

 

[Slik560]

Diito to all of the well-deserved accolades above, but I do have a question: what did you use to clean the screen on der Audi Navigator?



I too am partial to white, but all the white paints have one thing in common: titanium oxide as the pigment. On the Mohs hardness scale, it sits just below diamonds in hardness. PITA :grrr



A mestermű, mindig Jesse. :2thumbs:

 

[Marj]

I agree, you are the king.

 

[Megalomaniac]

I have a question, if the paint is really that hard, why does it swirl so easy? Is it just because the dirt or the wash pad is just abrasive more than the rubbing compounds used?