ilogikal1

Not me I'm afraid, I was quickly melting on the tube at that time and the Z was safely tucked up at home... at least it should have been.

The APC wouldn't have helped the C4 bond so there's a likelihood that, that would have reduced the durability somewhat. For best results, stick to an IPA wipe down prior to coatings.

I like the colour Agreed, it's not a looker I have nothing to add to this thread, I just wanted to quote the pictures again...

Ah but the more foliage the lower the cost of the car, no? Thus more money for beer, detailing supplies and beer.

As you're polishing first. there's little-to-no need for BH. It's a decent plan. If the paint is in good enough condition for you to live with, I'd recommend something like Gyeon CanCoat. It'll last 6+ months and it'll make washing the car quite quick and easy whilst offering a degree of self cleaning in between.

To be honest, on wheels, the best you can hope for is easy to clean. Due to the extremes that wheels go through, heat cycles, proximity to the road, often going through filthy puddles as well as exposure to usual weather that everything else is exposed to, not to mention the obvious exposure to both hot and cold brake dust there's nothing that can repel all that without help. Most good coatings will offer some resistance to most/all of that but it's like trying to stop a boat sinking with a pint glass really.

Also There's probably another 2 dozen or more products that I've not got hold of to try yet, but unless someone wants to send me some it's unlikely that I'll be buying any more in the near future. With that in mind I'm narrow those four down. First up, Dodo Juice Ferrous Dueller takes on Bilt Hamber Korrosol; Applied, left for 1 minute, photos occured; Not a huge reaction, but I blame C5 for that TBH. Still, there were a few sources of reaction so DJ FD was left to dwell for a total of 5 minutes before being rinsed off. Meanwhile, on another wheel; Again, sprayed on, left for 1 minute before photos were taken; Slightly more of a reaction but again not a huge amount. Definitely holding C5 to account for that. This was also left for a total of 5 minutes before being rinsed. They then swapped wheels; And almost immediately (as in less than 5 seconds) And closer to a minute after application; So picking up some still. This was left for a total of 5 minutes but it was much the same story throughout. Meanwhile; Immediately... nothing happened. After a minute... Aaaaand, nothing. At all. The only reaction came from the rusty weights and the brake disc. Even after 5 minutes. So a conclusive first semi-final sees a big win for Bilt Hamber Korrosol. Incidentally, I haven't touched the passenger side wheels with anything other than shampoo this time, hopefully that'll mean that come August/September/October/2018/whenever I do the next one, there'll be that little bit more fallout to remove for the competitors. I mention this more for my benefit than yours though.

For those wondering, this is how GTechniq C5 holds up on a car that's done <1000 miles and haven't been cleaned in 2 months. Excuse the photo quality, I forgot to pick up the camera so these were taken with my phone. Meanwhile, at the back. Some ugly wheel weights. Not terribly great at that self cleaning thing then. However, a quick rinse with the hose saw very little difference actually, but it's my own fault for being too lazy to get the pressure washer out. A somewhat less quick wash using Wheel Woolies and shampoo though... well that did this very easily; Clean and beady again. The beading and the, if anything, even more impressive sheeting still shows there's still plenty of protection on there. This was no more evident when cleaning the wheels, once they were wet all it took was literally just a wipe over and a rinse and they were spotless again. No scrubbing, no (expensive) dedicated wheel cleaners (in fact no chemicals of any kind was actually needed, I only used shampoo to help reduce the chances of marring the surface), just water and shampoo. I use the term "spotless" quite deliberately because I'm sure some of you will remember the issues I had with the Slick Rims coating. Since trying Slick Rims nothing as changed on the wheels or brakes except the LSP and yet... not one single spot on C5. In fact, not even the suggestion of spotting, which was nice. C5 may not keep your wheels immaculately clean indefinitely, although I'd argue that the wheels would have been worse with nothing protecting them, but if you're looking for something that'll make cleaning them a lot easier then you can do worse than C5. Again, these haven't been cleaned in 2 months and and there has been absolutely zero change in the water behaviour since application, so it's already outlasted a number of wheel (or "rim", if you like) waxes.

I've said it before (a lot) and I'll say it again (probably a lot), ITV just cannot do sport. BBC coverage isn't great these days but it still ****** all over ITV. I'd like to see Ronaldo win a proper international trophy, so France will probably win (in a terribly dull affair where they sneak the winner in the 119th minute with not a single other highlight to the game ).

Spa, surely?! A) it's Spa, 2) somebody else is paying

And the world and everything in it and everyone in it.

Hmmm, I would have expected their products to be better than that tbh, although I've not actually tried them for myself, I can recommend the CarPro cloth. That's what I use and I much prefer that to the Farleca mitt or clay bars (except in small areas for the latter...). Just remember with any clay cloth/mitt to break it in on the glass first otherwise you risk considerable marring.

At the very least, that notion wasn't just a random, obscure neuron rattling around my brain then.

Which mitt did you try? Even on a hot surface it shouldn't do that. On a hot surface it just becomes grabbier - it's best used on a cool, shaded car - but it shouldn't leave anything behind unless it was cheap eBay knock off. Cloths/mitts are better, easier and quicker than bars on large, relatively flat surfaces but they're next to useless for anything fiddly. Bars are much more pliable to smaller gaps. they each have their uses. Also I've never seen anyone yet claim that you need a specialist product to use as lubricant for cloths/mitts either.

No, but neither are the alternative OEM offerings.

Yes. As is hugely documented on here the GT pack only consisted of the Bose stereo, leather seats and cruise control.

One wonders if mayhaps the vinyl did gone done react somewhat to a bit of heat? Or I could just be making that up. Who knows how my mind works...

It depends on the brand of clay bar. Bilt Hamber, for example, you're better off using water. Most you can replace the QD/"specialist" lube (f'nar) with suitably diluted shampoo. Of course the marketers are very good at selling you a specific product for every job. The real "trick" to using clay, be it bar, cloth or mitt is to keep it clean, keep it lubricated and don't apply any pressure. Also do a proper decontamination before reaching for the clay. It's like almost anything on soft paint, use it correctly and you'll do no damage at all but the more hamfisted you are the greater the risk of inflicting damage to the paint.

That you've fundamentally misunderstood the purpose of a clay cloth/mitt. It ain't the same as a bar thus won't behave the same way.

Gyeon Tire, apply sparingly and force cure with a heat gun or hairdryer. Ignoring the wrong spelling, it'll out last anything. One coat for a natural finish, two coats for glossier. Make sure the tyres are clean before an plying any dressing though otherwise it'll last 5 minutes no matter what it is... Of course some will last 5minutes either way.

Most of them are just selling the same product in different bottles though.

I understand the theory of QD's, I just don't see the point in paying for a product that does nothing you can't achieve with water.

It's not much of an LSP, but it is a pretty good QD - it's similar to Poorboys QD+ but just that little bit more advanced in every way - adds a little more protection, adds a little more gloss, adds a little more depth, is a little more slick and smells... okay, QD+ does match it in one way I guess. I'm not a huge fan of QD's as a rule, I don't really see the point, but this is one of the better ones that I've used. Great for priming polishing pads.

It's quite adequate for what it is - it's essentially the entry level coating aimed at the amateur rather than the professional so it's relatively easy to use but sacrifices some durability as a result. If you were applying it yourself, I'd probably say go for it. Paying someone else to do it for you? For the cost of an hours labour on top of a brand new wrap maybe, any more than that definitely not. Part of the selling point for CQuartz is it's ease of application after all. If they were offering the more pro-versions, the ones that last 2/3 years+ then it's worth paying for an experienced hand to apply, but for the entry level examples like this, it's just not worth it. Better alternatives would be Gyeon Mohs+, GTechniq Crystal Serum or the SiRamik alternative (I've not got to grips with their range just yet...); the ones that you're not supposed to be able to get hold of outside of the trade - because if you get those wrong it takes a hell of a lot of knowledge and effort to put right again. They're the ones you want to be paying other people to apply, IMO.

No worries, always happy spend people's money on detailing stuff!