If you are having this problem, all over the car, with Best of Show, you are using to much! I for the past 4 years of using Griots I had the same problem, they always told me to use less. Until I went to there detail clinic I didn't understand. Now I realized I was using WAY to much wax.

That being said...if it wasn't for the swirls in the Jeep I would be tempted to get some Epic.

Heather, Could I use Epic over Griots Paint Sealant, or would that be a waste of time?

 

Really? cause i use their own orbital to work it in until it is just a light
haze... just like their free video. i don't mind using less
Best of Show. I'll try less next time on the MCS.

Epic hides swirls very well.

 

All I do is an X. Very small amount.

Well, It has more than swirls. It is a trail rig with branch barks, rock scrapes and the like. How much is that epic...Here we go again

 

Epic is $23 and you can use the bottle for probably years.
i sound like salesman, but if you're going to order it, i recommend you
get their Monster Fluffy MF towel too. you thought Griot's MF buffing towels
were good, wait until you try theirs.

 

Reminder: We'll have some Prima demo and sample product at this month's Mid-Ohio Motoring club Winterizing Party... If you're in the Ohio area or are going to be on October 7 (weather permitting), be sure to RSVP - they'll be sending enough product so everyone can go home with something in their grubby mits.

 

^^ very nice~!!!

 

I just stopped by Detailers Paradise today and picked-up some of their Amigo, Epic and Slick. For those Zainoites this would be equivalent to Z-5, Z-2 and Z-6 respectively. I'm anxious to give them a try but it just wont happen this weekend. I also got some of their Wizard product for the trim and Heather tossed in some Once for doing my wheels. I will report back when I get a chance to try them out.
Oh and I got a couple of their white waffle weave drying towels (I already had one of their purple ones) and three of their white monster fluffy buffing microfibers. So soft it makes you wish it came in bath-size!

 

i envy thee!

looking forward to your impressions.

 

It was great meeting you in person on Saturday! It's always fun to put a face with a name.

I too am excited to see what you think of your new collection of goodies!

As always, let me know if you have any questions.

-Heather

 

MiniMaybee- looking forward to your impressions this weekend!

im going to be washing my car tonight...it's been through quite a bit of
rain the last couple of weeks (at least 9-10 storms) including some
small pebble sized hail. car still looks wet as ever... it shines so much
that unless you're standing next to the car, you wont notice the dust
and rain water spots. car actually looks clean even though it's not.

 

Ken- I really love that aspect of Epic for my dog's car (yes, he has his own car)... it looks clean even if it's not! I have an old dark blue Volvo wagon (we call it the Finn-mobile) that gets alot of canine abuse and not alot of washings. It sits outside all day near a busy street so it gets dirty quickly! Like you noticed, the Epic seems to shine right through the dirt, especially rain-dirt! Fun stuff, eh??

MiniMaybee... looking forward to your results this weekend too!

-Heather

 

i don't know too many dogs that have their own cars.

yah, i washed my car tonight and it is looking SUPER! still looks freshly waxed.

Here is an update as of 10/6:

Start date 9/16 (24 hrs cured)
10 rain & t-storms, some hail, morning dew almost every day + 3 washes
using Meg GoldClass.

Still looks wet and deep like it did back on 9/16, water beads well.
Never dusted, never mist & wiped... basically neglected in my books, but
holding strong.

 

I have to agree here 100%! I have been a bit busy lately and the car has missed its last 2 weekly washes, but still looks as shiny and wet as ever. Unless you are right up on it you don't notice the dust. I thik Epic is working too well, with the car looking so good I am not getting the usual, "it's so dirty!" motivation to wash

Matt

 

OK, I'm a slug, a sloth, a lazy SOB.
I'm not waxing today. The wife and I went on a morning drive into the mountains (good twisties and still good colors ) on what will most likely be the last great weekend of the season.
Now college football is raging and I must switch between four games and be sure that the Texas Turds are beaten.
I could do it tonight but I doubt I will find the motivation.
Tomorrow is the Komen Breast Cancer walk so that will eat up half a day and it is suppose to rain.
I may have to take next Friday off from work to test out Heather's magical elixir - just not happening this weekend.
Sorry.

 

MiniMaybee-

I hear you on that! The weather here is sooo perfect for driving today. I just got back from an hour or so drive in the Lotus. It was perfect! (although maybe not long enough!) I'll bet it was even nicer this morning. I did start to get a little hot towards the end of the jaunt with the late afternoon sun beating down on me.

Tomorrow's weather is supposed to turn ugly. So, don't worry... I understand that you drove today instead of waxed! Sometimes it's just what you gotta do.

-Heather

 

akkkk...!! lazy lazy...

i drove my G35C this morning for 2 hours for a nice drive.
took about 1hr detailing it.

i changed my Legacy's oil before lunch. bout 1.5hrs from
start to the time i took the old oil to JiffyL for disposal.

i drove my MCS this afternoon 2 hours for a nice drive.
took about 1 hr detailing it.

i washed my Legacy and detailed it... took about 2hrs.
then started checking the tirepressures on my Civic and
legacy and found the rear passenger side tire on the Legacy
was low... too low, like 24psi. crap, i got a flat, nail or something
stuck too close to the inner sidewall.

not a good way to end the day. i don't think any tire store have
this particular factory tire too...and my wife needs to use the
car on Monday starting at 7:30am. which leaves me with only
tomorrow to get it fixed somewhere. :impatient

Yokohama A82A or something... never heard of such tire.
205/50/17 size too... errrrr..


btw, my Civic with Epic is looking good.

 

The Epic has not worn out at all yet (after 10+ rain storms, 4 washes),
but to prepare for winter i spot clayed my civic today and went over the
entire car with Epic. Due to the colder temps, I let it dry for 1.5hrs, then
wiped off.

I noticed that Epic does not like cold panels... i thought it was born in
Colorado... (?!) I could not get it to apply evenly in 50F ambient
temp in the shade. I used the same orange pad (Griots) as last time and
my orbital.

I then placed the car in the sun for a few minutes to let the panels
warm up a little (just slighly warm to the touch), and applied. then
it went fine.

i didn't try this, but would a softer foam pad helped in such
condition? (such as Griot's red pad).

i decided not to do the legacy with Epic this time as i may need to
rewax the car in the middle of winter in my garage.. my garage will
not get much warmer than 40F. I guess I could use my heat lamp
to heat up the car first... oh well. seems like i keep answering
my own questions...

My car looks awesome.

As far as my Legacy, i spot waxed and redid it using Best of Show.
The application went fine in the shade at about 48F ambient temp.
but i found a dent with cracked paint on my car... so i need
to get it fixed. oh well...

 

OK, I got off my a** and finally did my car. Under a little trepidation I did this on Friday the 13th but all is well that ends well. Just for info I've got more photos in here: MINI Detailing
My before pictures show a disgusting, filthy MINI just begging for the love and attention it deserves:



Look at this filth and the swirls:


Using my arsenal of cleaning products including the new Prima stuff I proceeded to Dawn wash, clay, polish, filler and wax.


I started with the Prima Finish (odd order you might think). This is a diminishing abrasive polish (like Zaino Z-PC) that worked very well and was only somewhat difficult to remove. I used a PC DA orbital for this product.
Detailers Paradise provided me a bit of a tip that if you encounter any haze that is more stubborn, use a little Prima Slick (QD like Zaino Z-6) to get it to come right off. I did and it did.
Following the Finish I used the Prima Amigo to fill in any swirls that I may have missed. This would be comparable to Zaino Z-5. Again, any stubbornness was quickly overcome by the Slick and again I used my PC DA to put this product down.
Last I used the Prima Epic (Zaino reference Z-2) by hand. Epic I've been told has PTFE (Teflon) that helps the product go on easier and enhances the shine and durability. The results after two days speak for themselves:



My general observations are that the Prima products are easy to apply and remove, though I would have to say that Zaino is more so. Using a small amount of the Slick did help the removal quite well. The Prima products lack the good smell of the Zaino line - for better or worse. And across the board the Prima line is much thicker. Durability has yet to be evaluated, though I believe that Kenchan has reported very favorable durability.
I was concerned about the possibility of staining the trim while using the Epic. Detailers Paradise indicated that some trim would stain and others would not. They recommend avoiding getting Epic on the plastic and getting it off straight away if you are errant in your application. I did get some on my trim, but it wiped right off and no stain as of today. I do like the fact that with Zaino this is not an issue and in fact while using Zaino I would apply it to my trim without concern. Perhaps this is something the Prima chemists can work on.
So overall the Prima products get high marks for ease of use and results:
(rating of 1 to 10 with 10 being high/best)
Prima ..... Zaino
Finish = 7 ..... Z-PC = 8 (Zaino cuts better so is faster, btw Scratch X would get a 6 in my book)
Amigo = 8 ..... Z-5 = 7 (Prima is thicker and fills more/faster)
Epic = 8 ..... Z-2 = 9 (Zaino spreads thinner, is easier to remove and smells better)
Slick = 8 ..... Z-6 = 8.5 (Zaino smells better but the Slick is alien-blood green and looks cool)

Also I can not say enough about the Wizard trim/tire dressing. This stuff beats the Zaino Z-16 by a score of 9 to 7 because it is so much thicker, ability to get trim back to black and for its durability. You really need to beg Heather to make this stuff available on-line.

So I guess I will report back on the durability of the Prima system over time.

Oh and kenchan - on Friday (I took the day off from work) I installed my M7 USS, my new Ice Link Plus, drove down to Detailers Paradise to buy the PCDA and did all the detailing things. Then on Saturday I helped fellow NAMer anathema Zaino his fine PW/PW MCS. Does this make up for being so lazy last weekend (keep in mind that I am watching footbal today)?

Cheers,
Chuck

 

yeh, maybe on a rainy day. jk nice review.

not sure, but i think you may have put too much Epic on the pads
when you applied. when i did the Epic on my Civic, it wiped right off
after letting it dry for about 35min. it almost looks invisible when you
apply epic...then after about 30min the haze starts to show up. so
it can be a little tricky especially on a cold day like yesterday when i
did my app. best to let the panel warm up to the touch, then apply.

 

It was a little cold, probably about 45 deg F in the garage. That was probably why it was a bit difficult to remove. I put it on as thin as I did my Zaino. The Slick really helped though.

 

Heather - is there a lower temperature limit to put your product on?

 

Indeed, as a rule we recommend around 50 deg F as the cutoff temperature for Epic application. Having said that though, and as Kenchan has already discovered on his own, you can pull your car into the sun and it should allow you to apply it in below 50 deg temps just fine. The sun will usually warm it up just enough. Of course, if it's sunny and 20 deg F (as it can be here in Colorado!), then the sun probably isn't going to help enough!

FYI: Using the PC with a soft pad (ie, Black LC Finishing pad) to apply the Epic will help you get it on really thin and evenly. Zaino users usually have the thin application technique down really well though, so you can probably get it on just as thin by hand as you can with the PC!

Epic goes on/comes off easily by hand or with the PC in normal temperatures. The PC, Slick and/or some sun can help if you're doing it in the cold.

Kenchan- You're right... you're very good at answering your own questions!

-Heather

 

^^ thanks for the feedback, Heather!

i have some heat lamps in my garage that i can use during the winter if
i need to re-apply over the civic. i guess the ideal temp is
'warm to the touch' but in the freezing Chicago winter, i think warm
to the touch could be 32F! lol

i think i might want to invest in those IR temp gauges to take surface
measurements before applying. see, i answered my own
question again...

 

I have not noticed any increase in difficulty in applying Zaino at their cold cut-off temp, but it does take a LOT longer to dry and haze up

I would be interested in a side -by-side comparison with Prima against Zaino and Klasse in terms of gloss, slickness, and durability over time

 

I wonder if any Zaino gurus like BradB out there have done a side-by side