I've been reading stuff here for several weeks and have found the site extremely helpful in my quest to learn about how I could raise the bar on my car care efforts. The recent autopia crash trashed my registration before I could use it, but I'm back -
My regular ride is a '99 Subaru Forester. My fun sled is a '03 S2000. It's been up for the winter with but 1322 miles on the clock. During the cold season I've done some minor tweaking (eg
http://forums.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=169391&perpage=25&pagenumber=2 ) and collected more supplies than I thought possible.
So with weather giving me a bit of a break I decided to do both cars.
First the Subie. Last week I was able to wash the winter grime off and put a test coat of Meguiars new NXT tech wax. Looked nice. So today I washed the car again with Blue Coral car wash. Then a second coat of NXT (no prep polishing... too many tiny stone induced chips to repair first) topped with S100. Used 303 on the tires and both exterior rubber trim and interior vinyl.
Then the S2K. I had waxed it with Meguairs Medallion before storage but I wanted to up the ante several notches. So Blue Coral wash, P21S paint cleaner (I'd thought about using Clay Magic but the surface felt nice already), the Klasse All-In-One followed by Klasse Sealant Glaze. Topped everything with P21S wax. Did the wheels with Mothers polish, tires with 303. Also did the convertible top, boot, exterior rubber and interior vinyl with 303 (which had also been done before storage). Same with Lexol cleaner and conditioner on the leather also done before storage.
Some observations:
1. Big Blue waffle-weave microfiber drying towel (on the S2K;purchased from sportscarcare.com) vs Viking chamois (on the Subie). No contest.... Big Blue (I have 2) will be the drying towel in the future period.
2. Viking Chenille wash mitt (from AAFES) was a pleasure to use when washing. JT International Ultrafine microweave towels and mid-sized waffleweaves, DF towel mitts (from sportscarcare.com), and Lexol application pads all proved their worth. I also used some of the Sams/COSTCO/Wal-Mart Calderon-MicroTec microfiber towels on wheels and trim. They are cheap and effective for these applications. Cheap high density curved foam applicators found at Wal-Mart were great for applying 303 to the tires. Same with a very soft narrow wheel brush that has no brand label I picked up somewhere I've forgotten. It gently removed brake pad dust easily. All in all I was pleased with the support gear.
3. Mother's wheel polish worked very nicely on the OEM powder-coated wheels. I neglected to put some sealant on afterwards but will remedy that next time.
4. P21S vs S100 wax. The later is slighly yellowish compared to the off-white color of the P21S. And at just about 50 degrees I found the P21S to liquify easier. Yeah a $10 difference and I'm not sure it's worth it but I do like the P21S better so far as it just seems creamier if that's possible. Over either the NXT or Klasse twins both added a richness to the depth and glow. I like -!
5. Klasse twins. Acrylic sealant I feel is the way to go and these two products are in a class of their own. I prefer them to Zaino's chemistry.
6. 303 Aerospace Protectant and the Lexol leather products. Both set benchmarks for their product type.
7. I have some Stoner Invisible Glass spray (from Charles at sportscarcar.com as a "freebie") along with my derigueur Rain-X, but used neither today.
8. My dual twin-pack special of QEW from Protect-All arrived last week but I opted to go with a traditional washing.
So how did the cars look? Here are some pix. Partly cloudy day and again just shy of 50 degrees:
Bottom line from my knothole is that the NXT x2 - S100 combo looks fantastic on an older car with zip prep. And that the Klasse twins topped with P21S brings a wet depth to a light colored metallic finish that I wouldn't have thought possible. The acrylic in the Klasse products is something I definately wanted for my new car's finish. The classic GEPC - AIO - SG - PCW combo did not disappoint. It'll be the formula for my S2K. From what I'm seeing from NXT, it certainly eclipses my old standby Meguiars product Medallion, and will be what I continue to use on the older Subie. All in all both approaches seemed to be the best for each vehicle.
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