I like to test products that are overhyped I guess. I bought Blackfire II last year and wasn`t totally impressed until I could see the results in the summer (I bought it in the winter of course).
Anyway, I got a sample of QEW and NXT from tpgsr (diamond detailing). I love the QEW, but the NXT fails to impress me. Sure, Blackfire has its downfalls, but I think it`s better than NXT. We`ll see, I`ll but them side to side on a black car and see which one looks better. I did my accord which is metallic, so it`s difficult to tell. I didn`t prep, but the paint is still in good condition (2 coats of Blackfire in late October). I didn`t need to clay bar as the paint was already smooth. Water would still bead up, not to the extent of "freshly wax" but enough to know there was still wax on the paint and it wasn`t just the adhesion of the water alone that made it bead. I didn`t polish because I wanted to do a quick wax--and maybe that is what made my results swayed, but quite frankly if NXT is going to be put next to, say, Mothers Reflections on a shelf, then most consumers will probably just wash and wax like they would with a cleaner wax.
Blackfire wins the "slick to the touch" test hands down. I put a coat of blackfire on my wheels and noticed that it`s much oilier than NXT, but it`s what makes it so easy to spread. I used a bit more NXT with the PC and black pad then I would with blackfire. Infact, with blackfire I would skip using the PC for apply wax because it is so easy to spread. It`s possible that the QEW may have had a hand in this. I noticed that QEW doesn`t leave the paint as slick as a conventional car soap does. Maybe I should have hit the car with final inspection before applying the NXT. It was cold and I wanted to go back into the house quickly.
Removal of NXT is easier than blackfire. Granted, it was below freezing and damp out, so I bet in the right conditions NXT would be a snap to buff off. Blackfire is...well, the oils that make it so slick make it difficult to buff off.
I woke up this morning to freezing rain. NXT beads very well, they`re not completely uniform as the beads on Blackfire are, but it`s pretty good. Much better than two days ago. ;)
And now: appearences. When I first got my car and used Blackfire people couldn`t believe it had 96,000 miles on it. Nobody seemed to care with NXT that it was waxed. My dad said "oh, it`s clean" when he came home, but he said he had to feel the paint to know it was waxed. My mom didn`t notice anything. My friend who knew it was waxed told me it looked better with the Blackfire. And I know you are all waiting for my opinion on the looks, and really I don`t think it`s a good judgement because I DACP`d, BF polish, then BF wax in october, and I just put NXT over 4 month old BF. It does shine well, and i like how it looks. We`ll see when I get the chance to do a full detail on the Stratus.
Maybe I`ll have a digital camera then and I can grace autopia with my detailing zest. Ă‚¡OLE!
