4* UPP review (long)

UPP is a good product, easy to use & leaves a decent shine, but the solvent content is a bit too high for my taste. I just used it over the weekend on my wife's Audi for about the 5th time with pretty good results. However, it'll probably be the last time I use it as I prefer something with a little bit less solvent...even if it is a bit harder to use.



The good news is that you get at least a few month's worth of durability, unlike some other so called "polymers".
 
Accumulator said:
I dunno if UPP is as good as the KSG for what you're referring to, but the UPP does have one big thing going for it- the slickness. If you wash very carefully, you can pretty much avoid wash-induced marring because stuff doesn't stick to the UPP so you don't have to "srub" the paint to get it clean.



But for true protection, I'd pick the KSG. I don't wash my SGed vehicle with any special methods (I even use a BHB), but it only needs polished every other year or so.



So I use SG on the beater and UPP on the more pampered "good" car and both seem well protected, they just take different types of care.
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Do you think UPP would protect better against micromarring QD'ing it with UGE vs. the protection of SG being QD'd with Sonus? Those are the two options I'm considering for my black garage kept car... I'm anticipating dust and want the sealent that will protect best against the marring of QD'ing...
 
I heard that you can go inbetween with Klasse SG and UPP. I am going to apply SG to my spoiler tomorrow and see what happens. I am also just for kicks going to apply zaino over a pannel and see what happens.
 
T. Perinne said:
Do you think UPP would protect better against micromarring QD'ing it with UGE vs. the protection of SG being QD'd with Sonus? Those are the two options I'm considering for my black garage kept car... I'm anticipating dust and want the sealent that will protect best against the marring of QD'ing...
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In your case I'd go with the SG. IMO (though it's just an educated guess) the UPP won't develop a thick enough build-film to protect against the dust. With the SG, you can get it thick enough that you *just might* get lucky and only mar the SG. But in my experience any and all QDing like you're talking about will eventually result in some degree of marring, so even with the slickness of the UPP/UGE you'd be taking a bigger risk by using that.



Something that comes to mind, though I haven't tried it, is to try the UGE as a QD for SG. As Detailgirl mentioned, people claim to have layered SG/UPP so maybe it would be the best of both :nixweiss



But if *I* (still) had a black car I wouldn't QD it except immediately after washing. Just too risky.



L33- I'd guess the idea is that the sealants will bond to each other and most of the evaluation would be of the one "on top". One of the guys from Mother's has said that in their tests they found that a) most products are more compatible than we might think, and b) "bonding" issues aren't all that common. Not sure if this really addresses your concern though, I might not be understanding you correctly.
 
When sealants both together, do they form one layer or does the second sealant create a new layer on top. If they create 2 seperate layers one on top of the other, what happens when the first layer that bonded to the surface wears away?
 
L33- Heh heh, I dunno. I'd imagine that in most cases the second product melts/joins with the previous one to some extent but that the second one can wear off leaving mostly OK underlying product...sorta like when you top a sealant with carnauba. But I guess I oughta quit playing armchair chemist and let somebody who really knows this stuff explain it :D
 
UPP- regarding the solvant comment - are you using the latestest version - I believe that is water based with a very low percentage of refined mineral spirits for the emulsion?? anyhoo-



I am a long time UPP user - and have yet to find any other product that produces that slickness you get - AIO+UPP = LOVE :)



I may be running a close second here with the new version of Tropicare - (the yellow one) - I put a layer of that on top of my 3 layers of Zaino and hoofha - it's boootiful!
 
groebuck said:
UPP- regarding the solvant comment - are you using the latestest version - I believe that is water based with a very low percentage of refined mineral spirits for the emulsion?? anyhoo-



I am a long time UPP user - and have yet to find any other product that produces that slickness you get - AIO+UPP = LOVE :)



I may be running a close second here with the new version of Tropicare - (the yellow one) - I put a layer of that on top of my 3 layers of Zaino and hoofha - it's boootiful!
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Being a long time user what would you say about the durability of the product?
 
Intermezzo said:
UPP is a good product, easy to use & leaves a decent shine, but the solvent content is a bit too high for my taste. I just used it over the weekend on my wife's Audi for about the 5th time with pretty good results. However, it'll probably be the last time I use it as I prefer something with a little bit less solvent...even if it is a bit harder to use.



The good news is that you get at least a few month's worth of durability, unlike some other so called "polymers".
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Intermezzo,



I always value your opinion highly. Having said that, what don't you like about products that have a slightly higher solvent content? Particularly, the UPP, which seems to give decent durability.
 
DetailGirl said:
I heard that you can go inbetween with Klasse SG and UPP. I am going to apply SG to my spoiler tomorrow and see what happens. I am also just for kicks going to apply zaino over a pannel and see what happens.
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I think jngbrdman alternated UPP and SG with bad results
 
Heh heh, I thought he did it with *good* results :nixweiss



If we don't get a definitive answer we might have to start a new thread about it.



DetailGirl- It's sorta hard to say how long UPP lasts because it seems that all of us UPP fans reapply it rather frequently. I know that I try to never let it deteriorate to the point of losing its slickness. I'd ballpark it at about two-three months, in the "short-lived sealant/long-lived wax" category. But how often you wash it (more is better, IMO) and what you use to wash it will factor in.
 
Accumulator said:
Heh heh, I thought he did it with *good* results :nixweiss



If we don't get a definitive answer we might have to start a new thread about it.



DetailGirl- It's sorta hard to say how long UPP lasts because it seems that all of us UPP fans reapply it rather frequently. I know that I try to never let it deteriorate to the point of losing its slickness. I'd ballpark it at about two-three months, in the "short-lived sealant/long-lived wax" category. But how often you wash it (more is better, IMO) and what you use to wash it will factor in.
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I will probably be trying UPP here shortly.



What do you recommend to wash it with? I currently have Z7 and Perls (I have a preference for the Perls).
 
Just to come back and update this thread as I said I would...I used UPP again this weekend on a 2001 Audi A4. This time I wasn't doing a basic detail and the results were much to my liking. I almost picked up Z2 to use as my LSP BUT decided that I needed to give UPP a fair shake.



The process this time.



Wash

Clay

FP (via LC white pad and PC @ 5)

AIO (via LC white pad and PC @ 5)

UPP by hand



Results...awesome finish and a very satisfied customer. If you remember in my previous details I was a little skeptical of the finish but my opinion has turned around after this cleaning. After using Zaino and SG for soo long and some what getting used to QD'ing the entier car when I was done to make sure that there wasn't any streaking UPP is a breath of fresh air to use and cuts time off of my details as the QD is no longer necessary. Looks like the UPP is going to stay in my aresnal...possibly even as my new go-to sealant.
 
I also used UPP + UPC on my silver car this weekend. I did just the front end so I had a good A/B comparison between Pinnacle’s PG and the UPP that people were raving about last week on light colors. Longevity is not a major concern for me on this car since it's never used during inclement weather and is probably washed 1X per month.



The UPP does appear different yet I am not convinced it looks "better" than the rich/wet carnauba look. I do like the fact the paint appears flatter with the UPP. The gloss is bright and reflective though I will still give my vote to the PG on this car as it looks wetter. I guess I prefer that look. Maybe I’ll throw a coat of PG over the UPP in a few weeks and see how that shapes up…



I had done one panel on my daily driver early this year with the UPP + UPC combo. It looked the best of the 4 test panels I did but didn't bead for long so I don't know that I'd put the UPP products in the same class as Klasse when it comes to longevity but it's still a nice product to work with.
 
tom p.- On silver, I've found that UPP is sorta sensitive to the preceding prep. Using 1Z's (pro) MP makes a huge difference for the better, IMO. Just something about that combo on silver that blows me away. And you're right about the durability, nowhere near Klasse SG territory.



AudiOn19s- yeah, UPP looks good on Audi paint :xyxthumbs



Rob Tomlin- These days I wash everything with Griot's Car Wash. I guess I'd use the Perls if I were you.



And yeah, I find the latest version of UPP significantly different from the previous one. Less finicky and easier to use.
 
beading and UPP - that's odd I have found UPP to bead a significant amount of time (3+ months with one coat on a daily driver Ford Ranger). One thing I find it that UPP gives very small tight beads - almost a sheeting when washing. I have very very hard water and no matter what soap I use it tends to stick to every sealant (zaino, fmj, duragloss..you name it). At first I attributed it to a loss of slickness then when I realized it could not be every product I tried was only lasting one wash - I started using Poorboy's S&W after washing - that was it - it gets that hard water residue layer off and slicker than snot comes right back. That being said - UPP is the winner in my book for the slickest finish
 
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Originally posted by Rob Tomlin

What exactly was it about UPP that makes you think it is better than Zaino?

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DetailGirl said:
Goes on easier. Comes off easier. Produces slicker feel and perfect combination of a wet carnuba and a glass gloss Zaino. IMO Zaino does not start to look good until the 3rd + coat. I achieved these results with one application of UPP. I have never felt anything so slick before.



In a way its sad because I have nothing to do now detailing wise. Im going to have to work on other peoples cars lol.
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Having tried UPP on two cars now (I dark green metallic, and a Pewter metallic) I can tell you that I completely agree with these comments!



It is amazing to get such great results with just one coat. It would take three coats of Zaino to get the same results that one coat of UPP gives.



UPP also gives a deeper look than Zaino.



I used AIO as a base on both colors, and I acheived a very nice, deep wet look that was very surprising for a sealant.



Add to this the incredible ease of application and removal, as well as the incredible slickness, and you have a true winner!



One question: can you "layer" UPP like you can with Zaino? I can't imagine it looking much, if any, better with additional coats.



Again, great product! :xyxthumbs
 
Rob Tomlin said:
One question: can you "layer" UPP like you can with Zaino? I can't imagine it looking much, if any, better with additional coats.
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Asking if you can layer UPP is probably like asking if you can layer paste wax, but IMO yeah, you can.



Note that people alternate applications of UPP and SG and like the way it works. The fact that this works tells me you can layer it.



IIRC, the folks at 4-Star say it can be layered, if you believe them or not is another matter.



I put numerous applications/layers of UPP on the S8 and I think it looks better with more than one application. If nothing else, reapplying it frequently will keep it refreshed, replacing whatever gets worn/washed/evaporated/etc. away.
 
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