Anir

Since there has been a bit of discussion in the past about Zaino, I thought Rennlisters might find the following, somewhat objective comparison test interesting. It was performed by an NSX owner:

Zaino vs. Zymol vs. Meguiars

Allen

This is very interesting. When I bought my car, it still had the bottle of wax that was included in the car when purchased (I'm not sure if the dealer put it in there or if it came from Porsche). This wax was the Zymol "Natural" (the one with the same manufacture address as Turtle Wax). I had heard all the raves about Zymol, so I was thrilled to see a bottle of it in the trunk of my car! I began to use it and was thrilled with the results...I had no idea (until talking to other car guys and reading things here) that this wax was in fact NOT the "real" Zymol that I had been hearing about. I've never used the "real" Zymol because of the cost, but the "not-real" stuff looked pretty good to me. The moral of the story for me is that my eyes really did NOT decieve me...others do in fact like the stuff too. Eventually, I got around to using One Grand Blitz wax which I really like. I did a side-by-side between it and the Natural Zymol and the Blitz came out ahead by quite a bit.

E. J. - 993 Alumni

Good find Anir,

I wonder how much better the Zaino would have looked had he clayed the Zaino section too as per the directions.

E. J.

Jim Sullivan

Anir, thanks for the interesting link. The survey didn't give enough credit to the really neat thing about Zaino.. how ridiculously easy it is to apply and buff off. It makes you want to apply the Z1/Z2 combo every time you wash your car, which only adds to the shine.

bet

E.J.

Have you used the Zaino clay? If so what are your thoughts. I ask because of conflicting reports I get on clay usage. Some say it is god's gift to detailing and others claim that it really does damage to your finish and has the potential to become a big piece of sand paper. Just curious because I want to get rid of some swirl marks on my wife's black Volkswagen.

Greg Fishman

bet,
I would use the Zaino product called Z-5. I used it on my black race car and the results were very good. The paint on this car was far from perfect but this product really helped get most of the swirls out. I only use the clay (griot's, because that is what I have sitting around) to removed sap, marks left from bird droppings or similar, not seen a need to use it on the whole car. Take that last statement with a grain of salt as I am not a concours kind of guy but I do look for what gives me the best bang for the buck with the least sweat equity and by far that is zaino products.
Greg

mick

Anir
Very nice post. I've often wondered if it was my imagination or if the Zaino was as good as I thought. I've been using for about 3 months now and I wont use anything else. Your comparison test was a confirmation of what I guess I already knew. Thanks. mick

cstreetdude

Well I finally sent off my Zaino order form, if only you could order it online! I'm going to go get some 303 tonight and get my shine on.

E. J. - 993 Alumni

Bet,

As far as the clay, I have only used it on my wifes silver MB as the first step to the imperial hand glaze and blitz 1 grand wax route. That car turned out great and 3 months later the water still beads off very well. Of course it would help if she washed her car every once in a while too.

Craig in Texas

I can report on the use of a clay bar I used recently. I first used it on my '95 Porsche before applying Zaino. I did not really notice any advantage. Then I began to work on my 11 year old Z car which has spent a lot of time in the sun. I began by applying Meguiars Step 1 polish. The surface was shiny, but as I ran my fingers over it the paint seemed a bit rough. I went back and clayed the entire car with some clay from Griot's. In some areas I could feel the clay grabbing as it encountered paint defects and impurities. The paint then felt very smooth and slick. I think the clay bar is useful with older paint that has deteriorated.

LarryN

Thanks for the post Anir. Ok, so I'm finally coming around to the idea of trying Zaino - I'll have to admit to being skeptical after going through the three step process using the Mother's products readily available and reasonably priced at Pep Boys. A second coat of their carnauba paste wax the other day and I had a shine that tempted me to take a picture of myself taking a picture . So how much better could it possibly look? I suppose that's the question. The Zaino price does not seem too bad and I like the thought of it being easy to use - took me six hours to wash, clean, glaze and then wax using the Mothers, all by hand. Again, too bad you can't order on-line. I tried the Zymol cleaner/wax on my Hondas and felt it was quite a bit of work for the results. And I have a real problem conceiving the value of the more expensive Zymol products.

Sam N

Claying a car is done more to remove paint oxidation and/or imperfections that have built up over time and exposure to the elements. I would not "clay" a car to remove swirl marks. A glaze/polish is made for that purpose.

RSRRacer

EJ and Greg:

I cant believe the nerve of you guys to start discussing beauty products without my input. You know I am oh so proud of my garage queen.

Ride em hard, and put em up wet. Just make sure you feed her well and give her a nice place to sleep.

See ya

Chris

Matt Vaughan

Anir, the post was interesting, but the test was conducted on a Japanese car. And since the paint on a German car is different from paint on other cars, I think this test might not be applicable. Car Care Online http://www.carcareonline.com mentions a few of these differences.

For me, I'll stick with the REAL Zymol, which happens to be the Concours wax.


-Matt

Anir

Matt,

There are a lot of ways to skin a cat, and I've also achieved great results with Meguiar's & Zymol in years past. I've purchased many products from Larry Reynolds at Car Care Specialities, such as Blitz, 3M Hand glaze, Wurth products. He's a great resource.

However, I haven't seen any problems with using the Zaino stuff on German paint. Likewise, the "German-type" products recommended by Larry have worked great on my wife's Infiniti. I'm not convinced that this Japanese vs. German paint thing is all that important with some products.