blkZ28Conv said:
The point here is not that Zaino, ultra refined carnuabas, Germany's latest miracle product or Joe's latest mixture is better but that the prep is the REAL fountain of youth for ones finish.
End of speech :wavey
Best post of this thread so far! :up
I am on the side of the ones who have not used it myself, maybe never will, but have seen its results first hand. It was the shiniest I knew
before joining autopia. A friend of mine became a zealot, and after learning all the steps he had to go through (dish soap, apply z1, let it sit, z2 on top of z1, etc....) I decided my Nufinish was giving me decent results for the effort. My friend's zaino shined quite more, lasted longer (not by much) but a complete weekend following an odd system was too much. The biggest dissapointment is that the system
DOES NOTHING FOR TRUE PAINT CORRECTION. If the paint was scratched or swirled, you had shiny swirled paint. The most important factor for the z-ystem is paint cleanliness, not paint correction.
I found autopia looking for a miracle product, I wanted something that shined like the Z without the odd system. What I discovered here is not what I wanted, it was much more: I discovered the truth. The best looking wax system is the one that takes out the imperfections, not just shines them. Autopia taught me to get the real beauty of the paint. The jump was quite amazing, and while my car never looked bad, it started getting more praises than my z covered friend's. This guy asked what I did, as he admitted also that my car looked better than his now. Well, I just helped him to prepare the paint the right way (clay, polish, etc) then allowed him to apply his z-ystem. His car looks gorgeous. Better than mine? debatable, but I say no, and the majority of the people agree. However, both cars look better now, with mine having the biggest improvement. True paint preparation made the difference.
By the way, and I know this will give the z fans a heart attack. The LSP that got my car looking better than my friend's is the humble turtle wax platinum ultra wax, and before you start convulsing about such blasphemy of a turtle wax product looking better than the almighty Z, remember that Geeky steve (Steve L), author of the guru reports and a Z fan, also agrees that the turtle ultra has better initial appearance than the old Z2 (link at the roadfly forums). You can argue about durability, but when you have year round detailing weather, and your LSP is so easy to use that in 20 minutes after a wash you can do a car like an Astra, beauty takes precedence. Z2 pro is better than the old z2, so my friend may regain the crown when he gets it, but I am not standing still
What made the z-ystem so popular is that is placed a lot of attention in getting the paint clean, assuring proper bonding and thus good results. This was a breakthrough for the majority of its users, who unfortunately fall in the category of zealots.
[flamesuit on]
Finally,
dogma my friend, I think we have very diferent definitions of what "deep and wet" means. I know that I prefer the look of a carnauba, such as the humble mothers carnauba over ANY sealant on reds and darks. Z2 pro may look comparable to an entry carnauba, but stating that its 10 times better than the undisputed king of red and black paint (Souveran) is quite a stretch. This kind of comment is what collects aversion to your product. If my assessment is right, you will love how eagle one wax-as-u-dry looks on black. Very very shiny, to the degree that it looks "artificial". For color richness, carnaubas still rule.
[flamesuit off] Now with the flamesuit off, I hope you don't take me out of your will. Garage sale, garage sale!
Jk of course I'm one to talk I've got six bottles of the stuff on myself. So L33 have tried the companion detail spray for FMJ?