Excellent "Wax test" - Worth the read.

[Emission]

I found this on the Porsche Turbo board earlier this evening. The test is pretty objective - but subjective in ranking. I don't think you can do a better test outside a lab.

You've gotta read it to see who wins...

Wax Test (http://www.nsxsc.com/nsexcitement/waxtest.html)

In case the link doesn't work, copy this:

http://www.nsxsc.com/nsexcitement/waxtest.html

[scottn2retro]

Thanks for the info Emission -

Where's the best place(s) to get Zaino? (I'll bet alee knows) :)

[Emission]

I think this is the place:

Zaino Bro's (http://www.zainobros.com/index.shtml)

[SONET]

Great link Emission, it was very informative. I can't believe people blindly pay $140+ for car wax. I'm in the wrong business.

--SONET

[JPinTO]

Originally posted by SONET
Great link Emission, it was very informative. I can't believe people blindly pay $140+ for car wax. I'm in the wrong business.

--SONET

I was blown away with the $144 "NSX" wax. I wonder how much Zymol "Ferrari" wax is, or Zymol "Kia" wax? What a scam!


But the Zymol guys happily support the NSX community!?! I guess that's worth something! :dunno:

[Guest84]

With such a limited playing field, naturally Zaino won! :)

[scottn2retro]

Ripsnort -

In your opinion, what would have been a more competitive field for Zaino to go up against?

[in_d_haus]

WHAT! no Griots? slackers! :-)

[Guest84]

Originally posted by scottn2retro
Ripsnort -

In your opinion, what would have been a more competitive field for Zaino to go up against?

Polymers or Acrylic based waxes, such as Klasse, Meguiars Polymer Seal, etc.

[Nat Brown]

Originally posted by Dave 330i
The problem with these wax tests is they are so subjective. ...

Unfortunately there's no incentive for someone to go to town with some sort of light wavometer to determine depth of shine or reflected light. In fact, when it comes to looks, one person may not like the mirrored shine over depth of shine (jetting). So looks don't count, at least when comparing depth with shine.

Longevity is not a big issue, provided the person doing the test is willing to wait the 6-12 months it takes for polymer to finally wear off. We all know wax wears off pretty quickly, especially in heat or with a high alkalline soap (car washes, dishwashing soap), but we have yet to have someone stick around long enough to tell us this objectively with numbers.

As for beading, size of beads, sheeting action, and other pseudo hyrdo analyses, these are tools of those frantically grasping to try to objectively measure what is an inherently subjective endeavor.

If I was cheap, not into hype, didn't care for putting a lot of labor into my paint -- aka Dave ;) I would find this test a vindication of the Zymol Turtle Wax product. Sounds like it's the best bang for the buck, although it probably lasts a small fraction of the time of polymer.

The real questions, as far as I can tell:

Does it look good?
How long does it last?
Will it bankrupt me based on longevity and cost? Find longevity and put a dollar amount on the product per month.

--gary

[Guest84]

Good post Gary! And, to add my philosophy, its much more important in the "Surface preparation, application/removal" stage than the product itself (within reason regarding the products!)

[Intermezzo]

Originally posted by SONET
Great link Emission, it was very informative. I can't believe people blindly pay $140+ for car wax. I'm in the wrong business.

--SONET

If you think that's expensive, check these two out:

Zymol Atlantique (http://www.autogeek.net/zymatglaz.html)
Zymol Vintage (http://www.autogeek.net/zymvinglaz.html)

As for the test, comparing a polymer to a wax is comparing apples to oranges.

[SONET]

From the Zymol Vintage site:

"This container is refilled for life at no charge."

Well, for $1,100 it better be! :tsk:

What a waste.

--SONET

[unleasHell]

It would have been real nice if they had included Klasse in their Test.


It appears that Klasse and Zaino are the top two waxes...

[Intermezzo]

They are the top two among products when it comes to longetivity. Also, among POLYMER PAINT SEALANTS, I think they offer the best shines. www.thewaxtest.org had Zaino going up against Klasse, but their website is still in the process of being redone. According to one of the people that organized the website and was involved with the testing of the prodcuts, both Zaino and Klasse were both going strong after a few months, but Zaino was doing a better job in retaining its slickness and shine.

There is a trade-off for this kind of durability though.....the shine is not as good...at least IMO. This isn't something that you can tell by doing a side-by-side comparison on a single panel. The difference can only been seen when done to an entire car.

[scottn2retro]

Intermezzo -

So for someone with a silver car (gee, how many BMW owners might that be) as opposed to a nice shiny black car, the durability vs. shine trade-off sounds like it might be a good way to go.

[Intermezzo]

Absolutely! In fact, I think the high glossiness of Zaino and Klasse work better than carnauba on silver or light metallic. While I prefer the look of a good paint cleanser/glaze + carnauba on a black or dark car, I still use Zaino on my silver car.