My wife is absolutely, 100% convinced that his combo on her car looks better than anything else. I`m not sure I see it but what the heck; then again, she`s also absolutely, 100% convinced that she *needs* about 48 different shoes for her 2 feet. :lol:
I find Overcoat to be more durable and protective while PA Cosmic is more fun to use and produces a slightly `bling-ier` look to the paint. First time I used Cosmic for some obscure reason I likened PA Cosmic to actress Cameron Diaz in her heyday; bubbly, energetic, fun and outgoing. Overcoat in contrast was more like Jane Seymour; classic, timeless beauty that endured over the years. :shrug:
Overcoat holds a slight edge in water behavior and self cleaning aspects but Cosmic is still quite solid. I actually used PA High Gloss Spritz in place of Cosmic this Summer and enjoyed the greater reflectivity of the High Gloss w/ no degradation in water behavior and self cleaning aspects given the lighter use of the `fun cars` and the fact that they are never really *dirty*. I did drive the snot outta the Cayman this Summer in all weather and the High Gloss Spritz kept it nicely clean and shiny between washings, largely due to the forgiving gray metallic paint and the shape of the body w/ no large vertical panels on the back end like the Corvette but the rain always flew off of the car regardless.
I think multi-year shelf life edge will go to Overcoat, I`ve still got a bottle of V2 w a little left on it from 2 years and it still does well, a bottle of Cosmic I had for 1.5 years seemed to get a little `less` fun after that time, stored similarly. The V3 (current, I believe) version of Overcoat was apparently tweaked a little bit to improve application and with the hopes of reduced water spotting but `over-use` will leave a very light, slight haze that is easily removed a bit later; using Cosmic to do that was how I stumbled upon the Overcoat + Cosmic combo that the wife seems to like so well.
Product usage tip of the hat goes to Overcoat; 250ml of Overcoat, even when I used it after a drying aid after each wash (pre-BigBoi days), would last me all Summer long with about 30% left in the bottle come November (washing 3 cars, at a minimum of every other week) while I seem to go through a 500ml bottle of Cosmic using (post-wash on a dry surface) at about twice the rate of Overcoat. Much of that is likely due to the very, very fine mist the spray head on Overcoat gave; the Polish Angel Spray heads are a bit more `typical` as far as output goes. Additionally, I`m a bit more liberal with PA Cosmic/High Gloss use because it`s easier and more entertaining to use w/ no post-application `penalties` for over-use...and if there`s one thing I excel at it`s product over-use. This might change w/ regards to the Overcoat spray head as I think they`ve recently switched spray heads which I hope retains the performance of the original ultra-fine-mist spray heads (haven`t used the new version yet)
In the end, when I`m looking for a bit more muscle on cars that don`t see as much attention (daily drivers) I reach for Overcoat and when I`m all about appearance and laziness (ease of use) I`m going w/ Polish Angel. You really can`t go wrong w/ either and I always keep both on the shelf; the performance differences on well-kept cars is so minimal as to be a non-issue and as always, personal preference plays a large role (and for me, can change quite often :lol: )
If you use this either as a drying aid on a wet surface, I kinda think that Overcoat works better in that situation; definitely makes towel-drying an easier and quicker process, especially with a Rag Company Platinum Pluffle which seems designed especially for using drying aids like this. The Cosmic seemed to not work quite as well, perhaps cuz overall it`s a `thicker` product either due to sprayhead or product consistency.
Another note that is mostly very small is that PA is something that I constantly shake before and during application; it can be kinda gloopy and looks like a purple stew if ya look in the bottle after setting on the shelf for a while; good shake clears it up fine but a small item worth noting. The PA sprayheads can be a bit touchy as well, very small rotations produce a large difference in amount/pattern of output but the`yre quite nice when ya find the sweet spot which takes me a pull or 2 on the trigger when I first pull it out prior to an application. I apply both by squirting a shot or two into a 350gsm Eagle Edgeless (purple, of course to compliment the Cosmic/High Gloss shade of the product)...PA holds the edge in odor too (smells like Crayola Crayons to me) while I don`t really think Overcoat has much of an odor that I`ve ever noticed.