Lexus IS350 + DP Poli-Coat/Crimson Hydro-Tech initial review

[Scottwax]

2007 Lexus IS350. I`ve been doing exterior details on it for around 3 years now. Never gone into it harder than an orange cutting pad and Meguiars #205 or Optimum Polish II. Owner does a nice job washing it because it is very minimally swirled. I suppose it could use some rotary work to make pretty much perfect, but still looks better in the sun than 99% of the cars you`ll run across.



Polished this time with my G110 using an orange 5.5" Erasure cutting pad and Meguiars #205.



I then followed with DP`s Poli-Coat, which Autogeek was kind of enough to send me to test, along with the Crimson Hydro-Tech finishing pad. Poli-Coat is a lot thicker than I expected, more in line with a polish than an LSP. The label on the bottle says it contains cleaners to help prep the paint, probably in line with what you`d find in Werkstat`s Prime or Zaino AIO.



I`d already tried Poli-Coat on my own car by hand so I was interested to see how using it via DA would compare.



The thickness of Poli-Coat and the softness of the H-T pad meant at first the combo was really grabby via my G110 at a speed of 4. Once I got a bit more product on the pad and kicked the speed to 4.5, it smoothed things out. 3 pea sized dots were enough for two doors or the entire hood (or similar surface area). I applied it to the entire car and then buffed it off, just as I had done by hand on my car. Honestly, since Poli-Coat doesn`t have any abrasive properties that could cause fingertip marring when applying by hand, I think that`s going to be my preferred method simply because I an apply it faster by hand than by a DA polisher. However, for those who like using a machine through the whole process, Poli-Coat works well with the H-T finishing pad.



The initial slickness is okay, but just like it did on my car, the slickness noticeably improves over the course of an hour or so. The look is a lot less "sealanty" than the original DP sealant that came out about 4-5 years ago. Looks similar to Meguiars NXT2.0 to me. Certainly looked good on the Lexus. :)



Exhaust was polished with Optimum Metal Polish, tires dressed with the sample of Black Onyx Tire Gel-definitely has some gloss to it!



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/2007_Lexus_IS350_front12.jpg



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/2007_Lexus_IS350_frontend13.jpg



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/2007_Lexus_IS350_rear12.jpg



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/2007_Lexus_IS350_side12.jpg



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/2007_Lexus_IS350_backend1.jpg



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/2007_Lexus_IS350_side2.jpg



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/2007_Lexus_IS350_frontend22.jpg



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/2007_Lexus_IS350_flake11.jpg



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/2007_Lexus_IS350_front21.jpg



What intrigues me about this product is that it is said to have the ability to withstand harsh wash detergents, which sounds perfect for a customer of mine who runs his ES350 through a touchless wash 3-6 times a week, depending on the weather. He has me wax his car every 2 months since he realizes how harsh the touchless detergents are. I`ll be very interested to hear what he has to say about Poli-Coat after I apply it to his car tomorrow and his wash regiment begins.

[Thomas Dekany]

Can`t wait to see it what happens.



Oh, the car looks beautiful Scott. :bow

[termigator]

Nice job on the Lexus. I have also used the DP PolyCoat recently. I found the initial slickness to be average at best. I didn`t go back to check later though.



What is your assessment of the IS` paint? Does it lean towards being hard or soft? I have an IS myself and through constant washing and QD`s I have been able to keep it swirl-free, but a few light scratches are starting to show up. I would appreciate your input before before I start screwing around with the paint.:nervous2:

[sullysdetailing]

I love the new DP sealant. I have 2 of the Red Hydro Tech pads I have to test out

[Pats300zx]

Awesome job Scott. I really want to try out one of those pads. Next order :)

[Scottwax]

Nice job on the Lexus. I have also used the DP PolyCoat recently. I found the initial slickness to be average at best. I didn`t go back to check later though.



What is your assessment of the IS` paint? Does it lean towards being hard or soft? I have an IS myself and through constant washing and QD`s I have been able to keep it swirl-free, but a few light scratches are starting to show up. I would appreciate your input before before I start screwing around with the paint.:nervous2:



Lexus paint tends to be on the soft side, but nothing like a jet black BMW. Last time I corrected one, I used a rotary and #105 with a yellow Meguiars polishing pad. I`m guessing that #105 and an orange cutting pad using the KB method would also work out. #205 using an orange 5.5" Erasure cutting pad was capable of only light correction on this car. However, that`s really all my customer wanted since overall it still looks really good in the sun.