Zaino vs Blackfire

Vegas1 · 11-11-02, 02:29

First let me thank Terry over at CMA for letting me try out the new formulation Blackfire.

Well it finally warmed up this weekend here in CT, and this gave me the chance to try the new Blackfire. I've been using Zaino on both my wife's Dark Grey 97 Maxima and my own Silver 2000 Maxima for over 2 years now and I really love the shine and protection Zaino offers. So I decided to do a side-by-side test with my light colored car getting the Zaino and the wife's, the Blackfire.

Both cars were washed with Z7 and since both were in great shape it was now time to apply Zaino and Blackfire. I've been using my PC to apply Zaino with great results with CMA's dark grey pads (very little Zaino used, with nice thin even coats), so after I applied the Zaino on my car, I put on a new pad and applied the Blackfire.

Application: The first thing I noticed about apply Blackfire was you should use even less product, than Zaino, yes less. I thought Zaino went a long way, but after applying the same amount of Blackfire, it was way to much. After I corrected the amount used, it went on like a breeze.

Removal: Discounting the one part of the hood where I applied to much, Blackfire came off quite easily, but I still give the edge to Zaino.

Shine: The new Blackfire is pretty impressive! I can't say it's better than Zaino, just different. As others have said you do loose just a little in clarity, but the depth of shine on the wife's Dark Grey color even impressed her. And boy is it slick! Even after applying Z6 on my car, the wife's Blackfired car is slicker.

Durability: Now for the real test. This is the area where Zaino has no equal. After applying my final coats of Zaino last November both cars were still shining and beading after another New England winter until early April. Only time will tell.

Conclusion: The new Blackfire is very impressive. It really made a difference on the darker color. I don't know if it would make that much of a difference on my light silver, but I'll give it a try next year.

And once again a big thank-you to Terry at CMA for the sample.

porterdog · 11-11-02, 04:39

Did you remove the Zaino from your wife's car before applying Blackfire?

Robert

Vegas1 · 11-11-02, 06:48

No I didn't Robert. Terry at CMA said you can use it directly over any polish or one-step. The only thing he said not to layer it over is any kind of carnuba.

blkZ28Conv · 11-11-02, 07:09

Quote:

Originally posted by porterdog
Did you remove the Zaino from your wife's car before applying Blackfire?

Robert

No need to remove Zaino prior to applying Blackfire 2. Actually these products are interchangeable ( from my 7 mos experiences with both versions of BF and Zaino).
Good review Vegas1. You might want to add these comments to the Blackfire reviews in the "Review" Forum.

Vegas1 · 11-11-02, 09:15

Quote:

You might want to add these comments to the Blackfire reviews in the "Review" Forum.

Thanks for the reminder!

Vegas1 · 04-19-03, 04:53

Well the nasty winter weather is finally over in CT and I thought I'd give an update on how well Blackfire held up. As you can see by my original post I applied Blackfire to my wife's car back in Nov. and Zaino to my own. During thoses months with all the snow we've had, the only thing I was able to do, was to take the cars to the self-serve carwash a few times and just rinse off the sand and salt.

Last week I had the chance to give her car a good wash and clay, and to say I was impressed is putting it mildly. Once the dirt came off the car still had some beading and sheeting, and the finish looked fantastic. When I had the car dried, my wife came out and wondered how I was able to polish it so quickly, because it looked great. When I told her all I did was wash it, even she was impressed.

So, is Blackfire better than Zaino? All I'll say is it held up as well, and maybe a little better than my Zaino protected car and I think I like the depth and richness that Blackfire gives to a finish, and this from a person who has used nothing but Zaino, since I bought my 2000 Maxima.

It goes without saying, I'll be using more Blackfire in the future.

autocarefanatic · 04-19-03, 04:58

I have found the new Blackfire to be the most durable sealant I have ever used too!

4DSC · 04-19-03, 10:43

Thanks for the 5-month update Joe, it's good to see more verification that Blackfire has fixed the old complaint about lack of durability.

Did you happen to see how the slickness was after all this time?

Vegas1 · 04-19-03, 07:07

It actually was pretty decent, a little more than my Zaino'd car, but not a whole lot of slickness on either one.

Blackfire really surpassed all my expectations.

4DSC · 04-19-03, 11:33

Thanks.

repvette · 04-20-03, 03:40

Joe, just curious - You said you used a PC for applying the Zaino. I have used Zaino for 5 years and applied only by hand per their instructions/directions. Comments Please - thx

Vegas1 · 04-21-03, 01:56

When I purchased my new 2000 Maxima SE the only thing I ever used on it was Zaino. I had always used the 100% cotton pads that I got from Zaino. Then I saw a thread last year, how ShowroomLincoln had used a PC to apply Zaino and I wanted to gice it a shot.

Here's my post from last year after I applied Zaino with a PC.

Last week picked up the PC package from Costal Tool and received the grey pads from CMA on Friday, so I was ready to go Sat..

Thanks to ShowroomLincoln and others for getting me going on this from a previous thread.

Since this was the first time using the PC I really took my time and I'll be able to go much faster the next time (even though it went really quick anyway). Sprayed the pad with some Z6 and since I'm waiting on my order for ZFX I just used straight Z2. Put some Z2 in a circle and also made an X in the middle. I really didn't put any pressure at all on the PC and just used the weight of the PC and left it at 3 the whole time.

Even though I have a light gray car I was still able to see the Zaino, and when it started to thin out I just applied maybe 4 to 5 more drops of the Z2.

This method is without a doubt the best way to get very even and very thin coats on the car. In my 2 plus years using Zaino I've never been able to get such thin and even coats by hand. Even though I really took my time, I still was able to do it faster than I've ever done it by hand.

I left the Z2 on overnight and it came off even easier than it usually does, do to the very thin coats.

Did the car look better? Probably not, because it looked great to begin with.

Did I save time? Yes!

Thanks again everyone.

Hope that helps you out.