Review of Sonus pads for Cyclo

[Mosca]

DavidB sent me a set of pads to try, and I finally got the opportunity to try them. I've been involved in a home remodeling project and haven't had the time or the garage space. But today I saw them... SWIRLS! On the hood of my new Subaru! (In all fairness it took 6 months and 6000 miles to get them.)

The pads are the SFX spot buff pads, 4". I used the yellow pads with #80, followed by the blue pads with ColorX. The pads are quite a bit more substantial than the old Cyclo pads, with backing all the way to the edge, and about twice the thickness. The manufacturing quality is superior; the velcro appears welded to the foam.

The yellow pads with the #80 made short work of the minor swirling on the hood and decklid. There was a little bit of shedding of foam along the edge, but the velcro stuck hard. These pads are a bit light for cutting with the Cyclo. I would not recommend them for doing "rotary substitute" type Cyclo use, but they are the right pad for minor swirl correction.

The blue pads took about an ounce of CX each to saturate, and then did pretty much the whole car. These pads are very soft and won't contribute any cutting at all, as far as I can tell.

The pads are about an inch thick, so they'll hold a lot of product compared to the standard Cyclo pads. Because of this you use them a little differently. A product like #80 will stay damp so you can work it deeper, but it will also be done well before it dries (the pad will retain more moisture). And you can load up the finishing pads with an LSP and go to town, the pads will hold at least twice as much product as a standard Meguiar's applicator. There is no need to reapply product as you go around the car.

There is no Sonus pad that is comparable to the Cyclo orange pad, the stiff one. That's the pad that I believe gives the Cyclo its real cutting power. I didn't try using the yellow pads with #83/84/85, so the following is conjecture, but I don't think that they'll step in and bring the Cyclo to its "between PC and rotary" reputation. With the yellow pads, it's an easier and faster PC, but nowhere near a rotary. If someone HAS used these pads for major defect correction, please step in and correct me.

All in all, these pads work well with the Cyclo, they did the task I wanted them to do and did it well. They are of superior manufacturing quality. If you're used to the standard Cyclo pads, be sure to make the necessary minor adjustments to your technique, and these will work well for light swirl removal and quick application of LSPs.

Sorry, but no pictures. You couldn't see the initial swirls with a camera anyhow, the sun had moved to destroy any comparison shots (I worked outside after 6PM because of the heat), and the car is pearl white and looks the same in pictures no matter what I use on it, or even if I take pictures of it dirty.


Tom

[scottabir]

Thank you for the great review! It is appreciated. are these concaved like the LC ones or flat like the cyclo brand?

[Mosca]

They're flat. There's no need for them to be concave.

Tom

[scottabir]

Originally Posted by Mosca

They're flat. There's no need for them to be concave.

Tom

I just happen to have a set of concaved ones from LC that I dont care for for that reason.

[TortoiseAWD]

Originally Posted by Mosca

I didn't try using the yellow pads with #83/84/85, so the following is conjecture, but I don't think that they'll step in and bring the Cyclo to its "between PC and rotary" reputation. With the yellow pads, it's an easier and faster PC, but nowhere near a rotary. If someone HAS used these pads for major defect correction, please step in and correct me.

Tom,

I had pretty good luck on a badly swirled black WRX using the Sonus yellow pads, and the new Sonus SFX-1 Restore (v2.0). I've only experimented with a rotary once, so I can't comment on how close the Cyclo can come to rotary correction, but it's definitely a big leap over what the PC has been able to do for me. Below are some pictures of the WRX, with a few closeups of swirling.

This is after the initial wash and claying. There are some pretty good swirls, and you can see that the metallic flake in the Java Black is pretty obscured.




Another "before" shot:




First, I tried SFX-2 with a white Sonus pad, with some success. You can see there's still some evidence of swirls, and a few random isolated scratches still visible. On the other hand, the "flavor crystals" in the Java Black are noticeably brighter:




Since SFX-2/white wasn't getting the job done, I went ahead and tried the SFX-1/yellow, then followed it with SFX-2/white to bring up the gloss.



After polishing, I re-washed the car, then sealed the paint with Zaino Z2Pro.

***

Now, on to some "after" shots . . . first, a reflection shot on the hood:




Here's one of the whole car:




This one is my favorite; it really shows off the flake and the depth of the reflections:



Tort

[Accumulator]

Having owned a WRX (and being a Cyclo user), I found the two posts about using the Cyclo and these pads to be *very* informative I've been thinking about the Sonus pads, so thanks for posting this stuff guys.

Originally Posted by Mosca

There is no Sonus pad that is comparable to the Cyclo orange pad, the stiff one. That's the pad that I believe gives the Cyclo its real cutting power...

Clarification if you would- what "Cyclo orange pad? I've only used yellow/green/white Cyclo brand pads

TortoiseAWD- Sounds like the "matching pad to product" plays a big role here.

[Bill D]

Accumulator,

Here are the orange pads you're wondering about.

[TortoiseAWD]

I much prefer the Sonus pads to the Cyclo pads . . . if I had one wish for a "tweak" to the Sonus design, it would be that the edges of the Sonus spot pads be slightly beveled at the edge, much like the 6" versions of the Sonus pads are. I've noticed that polish builds up on the "sharp" edges of the pad, then as it starts to dry, contributes a lot to dusting (the Cyclo pads do the same thing, in my experience, same 90' edge instead of beveled). I think that a slightly rounded edge there might be an improvement . . .

Regardless, I've been pretty happy with the Sonus pads. I've had good results with them, and they seem to wear pretty well.

Tort

[Accumulator]

Originally Posted by Bill D

Accumulator,

Here are the orange pads...

OK, I see, thanks. Gee, where've *I* been