Best car polishes (again!).

[AMG Merc]

Not the most excting topic but I know we've explored this here before. I just perused the Which site (have a trial membership) and they did a survey of car polishes - although, they didn't include every brand under the sun, the results are very surprising:

- Almost all of the Halfords brands scored highest!
- Zymol (cleaner wax) had one of the lowest scores!

Measurements were:
- ease of application
- ease of dispensing
- ease of use
- smearing/streaking
- reducing scuff damage
- adding shine and gloss
- overall improvement
- trim staining
- protection (immediate/6 weeks/ 3 months)
- bird lime protection

...so they did a thorough job.

Overall best buys were:
- Turtle Wax Color Magic Plus
- Autoglym Super Resin Polish (have used this for years).

[DanH]

The zymol they tested I would presume is the crappy stuff halfords sell. Its a budget range and not well thought of.

I don't think zymol is necessarily good value, so you might want to try meguires or a few of the other mid range ones.

[Mr Noble]

I think Meguires Tec wax is the best value for money. Its also the one that lots of auto car shops say is the best.

Wax on..............wax off

[V6GTO]

Was a Mur man for years, but now defo an Autoglym fan.

Martin.

[obes]

Im a big fan of Autoglym Super Resin too.
Although I got a set of this for christmas & it was great, if not a bit of pain to put on first time !!
www.jewelultra.com/howitworks.htm

[turnbaugh]

www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc is the best system I've seen. Used it on all 3 of my cars. A lot of work but is protects and shines great, cover small swirl marks very well. I put it on in October and it still looks perfect after every wash. $80 kit does about 6 cars worth of wash, clean, polish and wax.

[joust]

For the "cheapskates"
www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp?productID=8039
followed by
www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp?productID=8040

For the "pro"
www.swissol.com/E/GB/Produkte_Lack3.htm

Piccie of the Swissol results at
www.lotus-elise.org.uk/m12/P1010496.JPG

Blitz is easier to put on and take off, but leaves a slight residue. However, in the (im)famous words of Bob Sharpe after Moley kindly used Blitz Omega followed by 1Grand was "how on earth did you get it that shiny"?

Anything else, IMHO, is just a waste of effort or money.

J

[lucozade]

Halfords sell the retail versions of Zymol unfortunately.

I've used the expensive stuff having bought one of the kits. It does take ages to work with but the results are superb.

The Titanium and Concours Glazes are not cheap but you get what you pay for in the end. Both are supposed to help prevent stone chips if applied properly and it takes week before dirt can stick to the car.

I'm just about to order the Concours kit (£280) from :

www.vertar.com

I really fancied paying for a detailer to professionally do the job but there isn't any in my area.

I've seen Diamondbrite and EasyGuard on cars and wasn't that impressed.

Have a look on here for samples of the finish with Zymol products:

www.zdouk.com/photogallery.aspx

Remember you do pay a lot up front for Zymol but the wax should last you for years.

[silversix]

I bit the bulitt, and did the M400 with Zymol. It takes a long time to do properly, wash, clense, wax. Had to use a fan heater, and 2 bar electric wall heater to get the heated garage warm enough to wax the car. Overall finnish in my opinion is a lot better than Autoglym. Whether it's worth £150 for the kit (Ital starter kit) is up to you, but after doing it, the car looks the best it ever has.

After this, I've washed it with turtle Wax Zipwax, which has cleaned all the salt off, and left it pretty much imaculate.

[TONY3R]

I use SUPAGARD, bought the full pack with the NOBLE. Its very good and works well as a second coated seal, great for protection against stone chips and general road film, and the tyre shine spray is the best I have ever used.

[xxplod]

The Meguairs 3 step system is superb. I used step 2 - the Poish, then step 3 the carnauba wax. The Elise looked fantastic. Overall I'd say it is better than the Autoglym which I had used for years previously. I think it depends on the use of the car. If it's an everyday car, you'd spend a fortune using the very expensive Zymol products, and you'd be forever cleaning the car.

[Thunderfoot]

I've used most of the polishes mentioned here, but by far the best is P21s. Both in terms of results, ease of use and price. Simply can't be beaten. Make sure you buy the polish and wax kit. Costs £42.50 which includes cloths.

[lucozade]

Just got an email about Zymol.

They have started doing a sampler kit which allows you to test the different types of Glazes available.

www.vertar.com/zymol-estate-glazes.asp?pt_id=89

It's cheaper than the other kits.

Might go for this one soon.

[silversix]

Lucozade,

If you want to see the results of the Zymol Ital, could meet up somewhere localish, if the weather's nice. Took the M400 to work today, and it rained all the way to Manchester..... Will be cleaning and polishing the car again tomorrow, if dry. Going to Donnington on Monday.

[m12_nathan]

Dan is coming to Donington too - see you there

[silversix]

OK, look out for the Red M400 being driven very gingerly. I'm praying it doesn't rain. Cranner curves scare me in the dry, and this is the first track outing in the Noble.....

[m12_nathan]

I'll be in the rep mobile

Weather looks good, I hope so as I'll be finishing off a set of Pilot cups which are rubbish in the wet.

Don't worry about craner curves, I've spun there before, it was fine, I'd be more worried about loosing it onto the startfinish straight and hitting the pit wall!

[silversix]

m12_nathan said:

Don't worry about craner curves, I've spun there before, it was fine, I'd be more worried about loosing it onto the startfinish straight and hitting the pit wall!

In a touring car support brace a long time ago, I saw a Fiesta hit the curbs, and barrel roll about 5 times before coming to rest in front of us near the Spitfire, and have been scared ever since. Saw an M Coupe fishtail into the pit wall last time I was there, and total the RHS of the car.

I'll be carefull.

BTW, are they running Melbourne loop?

Sorry for hijacking the Polish thread.

[m12_nathan]

No, national circuit, much better

I had a race stopped 3 laps early as someone else had hit the gravel at macleans and been thrown up in the air - they hit the fence a good 6' off the ground

[DanH]

Yep if you are going into the gravel at Dony, it seems important to get the car straight first