Is this Heresy ? All products look the same.

Heretic! You shall burn for your beliefs!.....on black cars.



On light colored cars, you're right. I did 2 white lexuses in one day, S100 on one and EX on the other. I could tell no difference. On my black GTP, I can tell the difference between Souveran and EX-P a mile away.
 
Did a little experiment recently on the hood of the car. I washed and clayed the hood than divided It into 4 sections. No defect removal was necessary because it is well maintained and didn't need it. I used 3 different pre wax cleaners and a cleaner wax. Each area was prepped with one of the products. I used VM, AIO, GEPC, and Mothers Cleaner Wax. No visual differences at all when I finished. They were all very easy to use. There were slight differences in cleaning ability. VM, AIO, and Mothers Cleaner Was were equal, GEPC less aggressive but not by much. All left a nice slick finish. Topped them all with IW and again no visual difference.



I did this for a friend to prove that product is maybe 5% of the results. I feel that process, tools (applicators, towels etc) and technique are 95% of the results. I could probably never order another product on line again and just use store bought products and notice no difference in my results.



Oh by the way the car was black.
 
themightytimmah said:
Heretic! You shall burn for your beliefs!.....on black cars.



On light colored cars, you're right. I did 2 white lexuses in one day, S100 on one and EX on the other. I could tell no difference. On my black GTP, I can tell the difference between Souveran and EX-P a mile away.
Click to expand...



Maybe because you're the one who applied it. ;)
 
a lot of it depends on the color of the vehicle and the lighting. under bright sunlight some products can look plasticky(NXT) others retain a darker more traditional look(#26). NXT has more depth than Collinite 845 but the 845 has a unique glow. generally dark colors tend to amplify the differences in the products.
 
As someone who said an average customer can't tell,



I'm not saying that we couldn't tell. And in the example I gave of #26 and Zaino, my implication isn't that they're the same, it's that they're close enough to sell the lie... there's not ENOUGH difference to plant the doubt necessary to cause unbelief. But I think if you showed me a black car and said, "Is this #26 or Zaino?" I could get it right enough to be statistically signifigant. And I think many of us here could, too. But the differences aren't all that much.





Tom
 
I made a few blind tests with my parents. Amazingly, my father (71) has an extremely talented eye, and he sees even the most subtle differences. I gave him a red model Honda S2000. I prepped the whole car with AIO, and used Victoria Wax Cruising and Concours on different panels randomly. I knew the pattern, and I asked him to make judgments & comments on the different panels. He used words as "bright, yellowish, clear, silvery, fresh, darker/lighter, etc." and he was able to spot all differences. He described the panels as they exactly were; wearing the two different waxes. And it is true: Cruising has a deeper, wetter look, and it yellow-brightens the panels. Concours is a very unique paste. It is rich without being wet, silvery and reflective without being sterile, and warm without being thick. It is a clear, physically light-looking, shine, with incredible honesty. No dripping, just a clean wonderful look.



The other test person was my mum (67). She didn't know the difference even between a polished and an unpolished car. When I washed our car, without polishing (and it was not prepped all the time), she used to say "It is shiny enough, my son."

However, when I applied different products on my car, she was amazed. I asked her to describe the looks of the panels. She said: "The front fender is very nice, the driver door is nothing special, the rear door is very nice too, but the rear fender... oh my God, it is beautiful!" The products were: Glanz Wax with Sprüh Wax (ff), Sonax Xtreme1 Carnauba (fd), Victoria Wax Collectors/Cruising (rd), and the rear fender was beautified with TWPUG! Yes! And believe me, TWPUG has a shockingly exquisite look! Significantly darker and wetter to even the most untrained eye! The depth is uncanny. However, in comparison with the Concours, it has a heavy look. The VW is a kind of tranparent enhancement, while the TWPUG is a thick, wet layer on the paint. Both is beautiful in its own way.

Then I waxed my S2000 and my RX-8 models with it, and WOW.



So, just go, and find those products that give a meaningful, significant difference, because there IS difference...
 
the TWPUG is getting some incredible reviews for initial look but some have commented that after a washing it loses some of its look.
 
Don't know, we had three rainy days and I didn't experience a diminished look. It even sharpened a bit more, wetness/jetting stayed the same. I didn't wash it with shampoo, just with clear water, right after the rain... Lost a little bit of slickness though. Usually I'm using Sonax Gloss Shampoo or 1Z Perls, so I am still curious what happens then. The weather is not too cooperative right now.



Of course, three days are nothing in terms of durability. But I feel that it is too easy not to apply every two or three days. Sets/flashes very quickly, and super easy to remove. And to quote Alex Ruiz, it has a killer look...



I decided to top it with Victoria Wax Cruising, because I love to apply pastes. The look was absolutely the same; I could subconsciously feel (but not see) a slightest difference in the reflections. But the loss of slickness disturbed me, and I re-topped it with TWPUG. Now, the TWPUG goes a real long way on the top of the still fresh Cruising. This time however, I don't mind the durability, I just enjoy its look.
 
Perm said:
I know that Autopians would be able to tell the difference but I am interested in if you think the average person would notice the subtle effects that different high quality products make on the overall impact of a cars paintwork.



Perm
Click to expand...





I do not think the average joe can see a difference. I feel that I do see the difference's that different combo's produce and in my mind that is all that matters. My friends always give me a hard time because my car is so clean whether it has Souveran or UPP. I feel the most satisfaction from trying different combo's. When you have 4 sealants,4 Nuba's,6 polishes and 3 glazes.... thats alot of possibilities... :xyxthumbs I havent even tried zaino yet... :woot2: :woot2:
 
And to add for the casual observer,

the a casual observer can tell the quality of the depth and shine. They usually don't what it is that makes the swirl free car with depth so attractive, they usually lack the nomenclature to describe what their seeing, but they can tell.

Zaino compared to Klasse, etc... No probably not.
 
That is what I am saying..... Once you have prepared the car........ made it swirl free ect then the next stage of the type of wax / sealant used will not make a big difference.



Perm
 
Wow, I can't believe I'm going to be the one who disagrees and says that the average joe can see the difference. Does the average joe care about this difference? that's debatable.



When I get inspired to go buck wild on one of my cars, the results are superb and noticable. I do get comments on how good the car looks. Many times the average joe doesn't understand what he's seeing that makes my car look so good to him. Mostly I'd say it's the lack of swirl marks.
 
foxtrapper said:
Wow, I can't believe I'm going to be the one who disagrees and says that the average joe can see the difference. Does the average joe care about this difference? that's debatable.



When I get inspired to go buck wild on one of my cars, the results are superb and noticable. I do get comments on how good the car looks. Many times the average joe doesn't understand what he's seeing that makes my car look so good to him. Mostly I'd say it's the lack of swirl marks.
Click to expand...



I think the question is "Can the average person tell the difference among final products?" I agree that the average person can tell the difference between a car that has had the full treatment and a car that has been washed and waxed. But the difference between UPP and NXT? Nah.





Tom
 
Correct that is the question.....

"Can the average person tell the difference among final products?"



Perm
 
Average person surely can, and some have this talent that even our most trained eyes take years to match. My dad also can spot the differences in the products, and even describe them.



Bence, you are right, the TWPUG is a great product severely underrated.
 
Perm said:
Correct that is the question.....

"Can the average person tell the difference among final products?"



Perm
Click to expand...



That's actually what I'm talking about. I'm no great shakes at applying the stuff. I'm still back in the stone age of terry cloth towels and wool pads. But the products I'm using are so superior to the department store junk that my results are superior.



That's what drove me to this forum and products like Klasse. I was thoroughly disgusted with the mediocre results I'd get from unk products, even with a lot of work. You can polish until your arms fall off with something like ColorBack, and it's never going to look as good as the results you'd get with AIO.
 
This thread reminds me a bit of the debates in my other hobby of audio/video. Enthusiasts string together many adjectives to discriminate among speakers or amplifiers (or DVD players and cables... cables! Autopian's aren't that bad!) when the average person can only distinguish loud or soft. However, like that hobby, I do believe people can tell some differences and notice certain things. Swirl marks, spider webs, etc. are noticeable compared with a well-polished car to most people I encounter.



I agree with previous posts -- prep is nearly all of it. Beyond that, it is hard to distinguish. Car people can usually tell when you've done your prep work, but can't tell much beyond that. I used AIO for the first time recently. I could tell the difference with it. But, as pointed out, I know my car. I probably couldn't spot it on any other car.
 
Jason,

Remember when people used to put coins on top of speaker boxes at the corners?



At the end of the day, for me, it was the speaker system I liked listening to the most. I always got solid cables that represented a good value, but never went overboard. Rather spend it on speakers and the electronics.



- J
 
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