imported_Burlyq
New member
Mike, just curious, was your test Z2pro or the old Z2?
Zaino, I'm a believer.
- Thread starter ronrosa
- Start date
imported_Jinba ittai
New member
I have two cars in my garage. One has Zaino (Z2 Pro/Z8 interspersed with some applications of Z5). I use Z7 car wash and it was clayed before applying the coats of Z5/Z2-Pro. Z8 is the final topping.
The NXT'ed car was clayed before applying the wax. I also used NXT car wash and Speed Detailer as a QD. Both cars had no wax when I applied their respective coats of wax. Their paint was stripped, clayed and then the product applied.
I like both products but the Zainoed car has the edge when it comes to depth, shininess and smoothness. It's definitely a step up from the NXT car. The Zainoed car is red and the NXT car is metallic orange so they are both striking in their own way, although I think by nature the red car is shinier and more reflective simply because of it's color. The NXT'ed car looks damn nice though and I often find myself admiring the finish. NXT does nice things for a metallic finish.
I like the NXT and plan to continue using it. It's more than sufficient for our family car. I need an easy-to-use OTC wax that I can use as a one-step. I find the NXT much easier to use than the Zaino and it's more convenient and easier to use on the family car, which gets much dirtier much faster than the Zainoed one.
I guess I consider the Zainoed car to be akin to a show car and Zaino is what I "baby" it with. The step down to NXT isn't a big one and the positives for my daily ride such as ease of use outweigh the aesthetics.
BTW, that's a very nice GTO and am I the only one that likes the new hood scoops?
The NXT'ed car was clayed before applying the wax. I also used NXT car wash and Speed Detailer as a QD. Both cars had no wax when I applied their respective coats of wax. Their paint was stripped, clayed and then the product applied.
I like both products but the Zainoed car has the edge when it comes to depth, shininess and smoothness. It's definitely a step up from the NXT car. The Zainoed car is red and the NXT car is metallic orange so they are both striking in their own way, although I think by nature the red car is shinier and more reflective simply because of it's color. The NXT'ed car looks damn nice though and I often find myself admiring the finish. NXT does nice things for a metallic finish.
I like the NXT and plan to continue using it. It's more than sufficient for our family car. I need an easy-to-use OTC wax that I can use as a one-step. I find the NXT much easier to use than the Zaino and it's more convenient and easier to use on the family car, which gets much dirtier much faster than the Zainoed one.
I guess I consider the Zainoed car to be akin to a show car and Zaino is what I "baby" it with. The step down to NXT isn't a big one and the positives for my daily ride such as ease of use outweigh the aesthetics.
BTW, that's a very nice GTO and am I the only one that likes the new hood scoops?
imported_Burlyq
New member
Jinba ittai said:
Thumbs up dude, well stated.:xyxthumbs
imported_memnuts
New member
quote:
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Originally posted by Jinba ittai
I like both products but the Zainoed car has the edge when it comes to depth, shininess and smoothness. It's definitely a step up from the NXT car.
I like the NXT and plan to continue using it. It's more than sufficient for our family car. I need an easy-to-use OTC wax that I can use as a one-step. I find the NXT much easier to use than the Zaino
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Well stated. :bow You described a perfect niche for many cases for NXT which IMHO a very good OTC product.
Unfortunately, I treat all my vehicles equally and actually found that protecting with a sealant (in my case Zaino) that this actually decreases the amount of work required to maintain Autopian detailed daily drivers. I no longer fear a rainy day (except for tire appearance after a long drive). The vehicles just stay relatively clean and shiny.
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Originally posted by Jinba ittai
I like both products but the Zainoed car has the edge when it comes to depth, shininess and smoothness. It's definitely a step up from the NXT car.
I like the NXT and plan to continue using it. It's more than sufficient for our family car. I need an easy-to-use OTC wax that I can use as a one-step. I find the NXT much easier to use than the Zaino
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Well stated. :bow You described a perfect niche for many cases for NXT which IMHO a very good OTC product.
Unfortunately, I treat all my vehicles equally and actually found that protecting with a sealant (in my case Zaino) that this actually decreases the amount of work required to maintain Autopian detailed daily drivers. I no longer fear a rainy day (except for tire appearance after a long drive). The vehicles just stay relatively clean and shiny.
buellwinkle
New member
blkZ28Conv said:
Me, too, I stopped fearing rainy days when I moved to Southern California, we don't have many and when it does rain I don't drive, sort of like snow days for where you are from.
imported_memnuts
New member
buellwinkle said:
I am not so sure from what I see on the news and all the terrible mudslides and the people this has effected.
Southcentral Va. total of 4" of snow this year. Much rain but no ice storms!!! :woot:
I always thought Cali would break off into the ocean. :nixweiss
It appears that it will just dissolve instead.
buellwinkle
New member
blkZ28Conv said:I always thought Cali would break off into the ocean. :nixweiss
It appears that it will just dissolve instead.
Sure, our land is not stable, but our cars stay rust free and shinier and isn't that what life is all about? We've had years with only 4" of rainfall, this year was very unusual, 2nd rainiest in history but heck, worked from home on those days, didn't want to get me or my car wet.
imported_Intermezzo
New member
blkZ28Conv said:I am not so sure from what I see on the news and all the terrible mudslides and the people this has effected.
Southcentral Va. total of 4" of snow this year. Much rain but no ice storms!!! :woot:
I always thought Cali would break off into the ocean. :nixweiss
It appears that it will just dissolve instead.
Hehe, unfortunately, So Cal just had its second rainiest season since 1877. It hasn't been pretty... a lot of hillsides have become dangerous and a lot of homes and roads have been damaged or destroyed.
SpoiledMan
New member
Yeah, it rained here this year that's for sure!
imported_Jinba ittai
New member
blkZ28Conv said:
Thank you!
Originally I started out using the NXT on the family-mobile because I'd heard all this stuff about NXT and wanted to check it out. I figured if I didn't like it I'd go strip it and put Zaino on but for right now I'm just going to stick with NXT on it.
I tend to wash the family car a lot more than my Zainoed car, which sits in the garage in inclement weather unless I'm on trips and gets driven sporatically. The family car gets dirty fast and washed/waxed often and when I do it I want to do it quickly. I found the NXT fits the bill perfectly in that it's easy to pick up in the store, easy to maintain and looks very good. I just QD'ed it now and the surface is still smooth and shiny and cleans up really nicely with the Speed Detailer. I think I'll pick up some booster wax for in between coats of the sealant.
It's been rained on a few times and seems to hold up well as far as keeping clean. I'll know more after I've lived with the NXT awhile but so far I'm pleased.
For some reason I find the Zaino more time consuming, even after the initial application. Maybe it's because I first go over the car with Z6, then apply the Z2/or Z5 and follow with a coat of Z/8. Sometimes I'll omit the initial coat of Z6 if time is short but even then it takes longer for the Zaino to dry. The NXT was dry and ready to buff in seconds. Now that it's hot out I'm sure the Zaino will dry faster but for now I'll use the NXT for the family car. It makes for an interesting comparison study.
Mike_88Z51
New member
Our test was done using the older Z2, since Z2 pro wasn't available then. I've since bought and used Z2 pro and I find it to be shinier than Z2, but not by a whole lot. For max shine I'd still use #26. I haven't tried NXT yet because my Zaino supply has lasted so well.Burlyq said:
The Zaino lasts so much longer than any other wax/application I've ever used that I haven't done much experimenting. My brother talked to Sal after the tests and Sal told him Zaino worked better on darker colors and our test with 2 light colored vehicles was as hard as it could get for his product. Even though my brother and I don't agree with the rest of the Zaino cult about the Z producing the best possible shine, we both use Zaino almost exclusively. The long term protection is so superior to anything else. In our test, we felt that after 2~3 weeks the Zaino shine is also superior and it lasts a LOT longer, so why not use the product that looks better the longest.
An interesting side note. Sal claims that Zaino is perfectly optically clear compared to all other waxes. After claying, and cleaning, and using several coats of Zaino with Z1 every couple coats (per Sal's recommendation), we did notice a significant color shift in my brother's white 89 Vette. It went from white to WHITE. The #26 side looked shiny and "waxed", where the Zaino side looked like the clearcoat was perfectly clear and deep to the WHITE paint. It didn't shine in the same way the #26 side did as much as it looked PERFECTLY WHITE. On my sunshine yellow Vette we saw no significant color change, but my paint was in superb original condition to begin with, whereas my brother's paint wasn't in quite as good condition. I'd have to say that on my brother's Vette the claim of optical clarity was proved amazingly true.
imported_Burlyq
New member
Thanks Mike it sounded like you put a lot of effort into your test. I don't necessarily think Zaino has the "best" shine, but I can't tell the difference between it and good nubas. To me it looks as good as anything, and many other products look great too. I hope more people start to do "guess my sealant" threads because I bet almost nobody could tell them apart. I'm with you, I like Zaino for the durabilty, flash cure, ease of use, and smell. I do like the clarity look as opposed to the distorted look and that is why I prefer the look of Z, but that's secondary to other qualities I like. BTW, put the z1 down and grab the zfx bud, that is what seperates Z from the rest IMO. Peace, Q:xyxthumbs
wannafbody
wannafbody
Mike -if you think 26 has shine you should try Collinite 845-IMO 26 has depth- 845 has a shine, gloss and glow that liquid 26 can't match by itself
Mike_88Z51
New member
Burlyq, Yes my brother and I tried to be as discriminating as possible in our test. My brother Dave, and Sal Zaino spoke at great length on the phone. Dave was really impressed with how sincere Sal was. Great guy. If I had a dark or metal flake painted car, I'd probably think the Zaino was the best shine too. When you compare the number of days the Zaino was better looking than the #26 it clearly showed that the lazy man's choice was Zaino. For non-Autopians it is a little more work up front, but you can go for months with no effort and have a beautiful shine to the car.
I did try the ZFX and I don't like it. I have 3/4 of a ZFX kit for sale or trade if anyone is interested. One of the most important lessons my brother learned from Sal was to go VERY SPARINGLY with the Z2. Really made a difference. I find that the ZFX doesn't add that much pop to the Z2 Pro shine on my Vette. Since I use the Z2/Z2 Pro so sparingly, I found that I wasted a lot of Z2 that stayed in the little bottle. You can use swabs to wipe the bottle sides down and put it on the applicator, but you still lose some in the cap and if you miss guess the amount you needed to mix you waste the product. With good old Z1 and Z2/ Z2 Pro directly from their respective bottles I have a simple method and I'm not forced by the ZFX time constraints.
wannafbody, I'll have to try some Collinite. Sounds like good stuff. I've been using Meguiars stuff for years and it usually does a good job for me. That is why we used #26 for our tests. We weren't aware of Autopia at the time we conducted our test. I have tried using #26 in paste and liquid form and I have to say that my personal view is that Meguiars should be fined for selling the liquid #26. I may be doing something wrong, but I've never been able to get nearly as good a result with the liquid #26 as I have with the paste. That includes hand and PC application. I threw away a 1/2 bottle of liquid #26 for a new can of #26 paste. My contact at the local paint supply store (big Megs supplier) agreed with me about the liquid #26 too.
Doesn't Collinite make a boat wax also? I want something to wake up the gelcoat finish of my old SeaSwirl.
I did try the ZFX and I don't like it. I have 3/4 of a ZFX kit for sale or trade if anyone is interested. One of the most important lessons my brother learned from Sal was to go VERY SPARINGLY with the Z2. Really made a difference. I find that the ZFX doesn't add that much pop to the Z2 Pro shine on my Vette. Since I use the Z2/Z2 Pro so sparingly, I found that I wasted a lot of Z2 that stayed in the little bottle. You can use swabs to wipe the bottle sides down and put it on the applicator, but you still lose some in the cap and if you miss guess the amount you needed to mix you waste the product. With good old Z1 and Z2/ Z2 Pro directly from their respective bottles I have a simple method and I'm not forced by the ZFX time constraints.
wannafbody, I'll have to try some Collinite. Sounds like good stuff. I've been using Meguiars stuff for years and it usually does a good job for me. That is why we used #26 for our tests. We weren't aware of Autopia at the time we conducted our test. I have tried using #26 in paste and liquid form and I have to say that my personal view is that Meguiars should be fined for selling the liquid #26. I may be doing something wrong, but I've never been able to get nearly as good a result with the liquid #26 as I have with the paste. That includes hand and PC application. I threw away a 1/2 bottle of liquid #26 for a new can of #26 paste. My contact at the local paint supply store (big Megs supplier) agreed with me about the liquid #26 too.
Doesn't Collinite make a boat wax also? I want something to wake up the gelcoat finish of my old SeaSwirl.
imported_Burlyq
New member
Mike_88Z51 said:
You have to clean the boat surface and then wax, or at least use a one step marine product.
http://www.collinite.com/marine.htm
http://www.fk1usa.com/products-professional.htm#decontamination
Look no farther, I will trade for that ZFX and I have tons of extra stuff you might like, I will go through some of my inventory and give you a couple options, check your PM tommorow.