Anyone Seen China Grey in the flesh?

[hashluck]

Just starting to think about colours (for a V8V S daily driver) and wondered if anyone had encountered China Grey in the flesh? It looks interestingly different

http://www.digitaltrends.com/car-reviews/2015-asto...

but would a solid colour be a brave choice amongst all those lovely flake and flip metallics?

Talking of flips, which are the colours which give that effect most? As far as I can tell Mako Blue and Lightning Silver, any others?

Thanks

[Little Donkey]

hashluck said:

Just starting to think about colours (for a V8V S daily driver) and wondered if anyone had encountered China Grey in the flesh? It looks interestingly different

http://www.digitaltrends.com/car-reviews/2015-asto...

but would a solid colour be a brave choice amongst all those lovely flake and flip metallics?

Talking of flips, which are the colours which give that effect most? As far as I can tell Mako Blue and Lightning Silver, any others?

Thanks

I think Grange Brentwood has a Rapide in this colour. Looks stonking!

[V12woollie]

Morning Frost White is another colour that changes with the light.

[Phil74891]

Yes. Stunning car but it's basically one up from grey primer. Colour is a very subjective thing. Do you want to make a statement or have something that's classy and won't date? If it's the latter then Tungsten, Hammerhead, Meteorite or the Ferrari TItanio Grigio (can't spell it) is the way to go. Statement wise, consider the Volcano red......there's no right answer really.

[hashluck]

Thanks. I think the Vantage looks great in any colour and I know it is personal and subjective. If this was a weekend car I would seriously consider a 'statement' colour such as the Orange. But for a daily driver I want to blend in a bit more and indeed look classy and understated BUT at the same time a little bit different (especially since I have the luxury of a factory order here). I thought the China Grey might fit that bill nicely but I need to see it. I also don't want a very dark grey or black as I don't like the upkeep. Safer choice is Lightning Silver or indeed the Mako would be different. The White is nice but not for me. This is going to be tricky :-)

Edited by hashluck on Sunday 9th February 09:54

[axarunner]

I'm not a fan of metallic colors and the grey/black combination as presented is outstanding, unique, aggressive without being too in-your-face and wonderfully classic at the same time. (in my opinion)

[Little Donkey]

Is this China Grey?



I can't look at it for too long because i start looking up the value of internal organs on the internet.

[hashluck]

Yes that is China Grey

Seems that you like it then? :-) Thinking of combining with a red interior. As I said Lightning Silver would be 'safer' but this is different. Hopefully I will see one during my factory visit next week.

[paddy328]

I saw a China grey v12s at hwm Walton on Thames a few weeks ago when I was there doing a new car detail on another unique v12 and I has to say that I like it. However, if you think black would be hard to maintain, then China grey isn't the colour for you. While it would probably hide the dirt quite well, you will see every swirl Mark, sanding Mark and scratch, due to its solid colour.

The colour that hides such sins the best is lightning silver. If you don't want to go too crazy, but be different, you can try silver fox or the stunning ceramic grey. Mako blue is amazing on a vantage, but so is cobalt blue. MF is awesome, but for some reason, I've found that white car's seem to leave the factory with more patches if sanding marks than the other colors. I think they must not prep them as well as the other colours,because they pressume the customer won't notice.

Francis

[hashluck]

This is great feedback as once I have my shortlist down to 3 colours my next stop was going to be a detailer for advice based on my, slightly unique, car care regime.

I tend to favour lighter colours for this (silvers, greys, lighter blues etc) for which the reason will become apparent.....

From new I get my cars detailed and prepared with a high quality Paint Sealant (last 2 cars have been with a product called Glare which, if properly applied, has been excellent but I do not think there is anyone in the UK using it now so I seek something similar). From that point, aside from the wheels, I NEVER wash the car. Once a week I use the best Detailing Spray I can afford (Chemical Guys my choice at the moment and a lot of microfibre cloths). The result, 20 minutes a week and my friends think I must spend hours every Sunday car washing and cleaning as in my 2-3 years ownership they always looks immaculate. Last two cars I coverd 80K miles in with this regime and not a swirl mark visible and rain still beads off. I appreciate this may be a different matter in a black or dark car. My now retired detailer hated my regime but on inspecting my last car after 45K miles could not knock it. The Detailing Police would have a field day :-)
My logic is that most damage to paintwork is done by washing so I don't do it (and I think Sundays are for being lazy and/or driving not cleaning). A good sealant means little sticks and a good detailng spray and cloths act as a lubricant to prevent what does scratching.

So Paddy/Francis, once you have stopped shaking your head in dismay, would that definitely rule out China Grey :-(

I will have to talk to you about a new car detail anyway depending on your geography.

Cheers,

Edited by hashluck on Sunday 9th February 10:54

[cayman-black]

Little Donkey said:

Is this China Grey?



I can't look at it for too long because i start looking up the value of internal organs on the internet.

Great picture Little Donkey. Thats the best i have seen. Thats not china grey though.

[hashluck]

cayman-black said:

Great picture Little Donkey. Thats the best i have seen. Thats not china grey though.

Really? I am sure it is!

[AdamV12V]

hashluck said:

cayman-black said:

Great picture Little Donkey. Thats the best i have seen. Thats not china grey though.

Really? I am sure it is!

Surely it has to be - there cant be two recent V12Vs in grey with that rather expensive red cf everywhere!

I like it btw

[hashluck]

AdamV12V said:

Surely it has to be - there cant be two recent V12Vs in grey with that rather expensive red cf everywhere!

I like it btw

Agreed. I would not be doing any of the red cf but think a red interior (not unlike your V12 I just noted) would go well.

[cayman-black]

Guys , your right iam wrong that is china grey!

[paddy328]

I have to be honest and say I would never suggest anyone clean their car like that, at the very least you should give it a spray over with a hose. However, if you wanted to keep doing it that way, you would need to make sure you had big fluffy mf cloths to wipe the car over with, not your average short pile cloth. Something like these:

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/microfibre...

Or
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/microfibre...

The glare stuff you mentioned is a glaze polish that fills in minor imperfections and will last a while. It is cheap (look on eBay) which is good, but there are better products out there. Because of how you clean your car, you will need something which has a high h rating (much like pencils)the higher the rating 1-9 the less chance of scratching. Something like this would be what I would use:

http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/cgi-bin/bb000001.pl?A...

The difference with me and someone that uses the glare stuff is that I make sure all the imperfections are polished out prior to applying the coating, as there is nowhere to hide with this stuff.

Where are you based?

[paddy328]

Oh yeah,

You might be ok going with China grey, which in the metal looks better than the pics above. However, you'll be much safer with lightning silver or mako blue. Go with what you really want. At the end of the day, you can always have it polished again if you put marks in. Just bare in mind that it takes quite a bit of work to make a new Aston actually look new and judging from what I've seen, China grey will need more work than most.

Feel free to give me a call any time

07909 541048

Francis

[hashluck]

paddy328 said:

I have to be honest and say I would never suggest anyone clean their car like that, at the very least you should give it a spray over with a hose. However, if you wanted to keep doing it that way, you would need to make sure you had big fluffy mf cloths to wipe the car over with, not your average short pile cloth.

I told you the Detailing Police (you in this case :-) would shudder!

But yes I use those fluffy cloths and I am sure there are better products than Glare out there. Thanks again for the advice and I think all of my shortlist is workable so will go with what I like bwst and work around it as you say. Will keep you posted! I am Berks/Oxon.

[paddy328]

Ok cool. Like I said, if you need any advice, just let me know. I'm not too far from you, so distance isn't a problem.

[MollyGTi]

Phil74891 said:

Yes. Stunning car but it's basically one up from grey primer. Colour is a very subjective thing. Do you want to make a statement or have something that's classy and won't date? If it's the latter then Tungsten, Hammerhead, Meteorite or the Ferrari TItanio Grigio (can't spell it) is the way to go. Statement wise, consider the Volcano red......there's no right answer really.

+ 1

I haven't seen it in the metal but I personally I think there are plenty of more flattering options for an Aston than that - just my opinion & no wish to offend