subduedracer

My favorite wax to use us called Fleet Wax. Its made for boats, cars, and airplanes. Works very well. Better than anything I've used. It also cleans the paint well.

http://www.nealsharbor.com/Merchant2...ct_code=col885

draco067

the real question is, have you tried Zaino, and how does it compare? People always post "such and such wax is the best", but really how many other waxes have they compared, and have the compared among the "best" waxes?

markd

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-show-shine-26/online-wax-comparison-zaino-wins-again-dammit-39438/

subduedracer

I have tried Zaino. Its great. But it is very costly for what you are getting. This stuff is cheap and works just as good. I think some brands are charging for the name.

RXE16T

Meguiars Gold Class for me.
Absolutely swear by it.

areexer

NuFinish...two coats...removed with a microfiber cloth...in the shade...keeps my black rx looking and feeling "smooth".......have tried most waxes except Zaino...hear itt's good stuff????

kride

Post some pics so we can see.

mysql101

JFYI, if you want to try out zaino, buy this:

Code Name Quantity Price/Ea. Total
Z-2 Z-2 Show Car Polish for Clear Coated Car Finishes 2 $12.95 $25.90
Z-7 Z-7 Show Car Wash 2 $7.95 $15.90
Z-6 Z-6 Ultra Clean Gloss Enhancer Spray 2 $9.95 $19.90
Subtotal: 6 $61.70

I bought two of each, so if you bought only one of each to try, that's $30 for basically all the zaino components you'd need - which would last you 6 months to a year if applied properly.

XDEEDUBBX

my favorite is meguiars tech nxt wax...that stuff is the ****...not really expensive, smells good and has a really deep shine to it...then again i have over 50 coats of wax on my 8...

mysql101

is that a wax or a polish? cause if it's wax, your car is going to start looking yellow with 50 coats of wax

Genesis

I like JasonHamilton's point....Zaino is NOT expensive, especially for the results it provides. You've spent some hefty $$$ for your car, so spend a tiny bit more and give it the gleam it deserves

8's enough

i to was a gold glass user until i tried nxt now thats all i use

truemagellen

I'm still happy with NXT since my 8 is garaged at work and at home the wax application seems to last forever, but I still do it every month and a half usually (more in the summer)

XDEEDUBBX

not sure if polish or wax but after 50 coats plus...there are still no swirls, no roughness in the paint...feels smooth as hell...really shiny in person..

markd

Deedubb: 50 coats?! There are numerous posts on the Meguiar's forum that emphasize the law of diminishing returns. For NXT, the company says, it loses its usefulness to layer more than 3 coats.

Jason: NXT is a polymer sealant.

markd

Found a relevant thread on Autopia regarding NXT layering (well, at least the first post of the thread): http://autopia.org/forums/showthread...threadid=33096

c2k4-8

I used Zaino on my Vette - wanna try the NXT though.

markd

Subduedracer: I re-read all your postings on this thread and just now realized that you are talking about Collinite. I mentioned this on another topic here, but apparently several people on Autopia are going to be using it for their winter detailing. Good stuff. Is that stuff only mail order? If you can get it at a marina store, I might consider getting it along with some 303 Protectant the next time I'm in the local shop. For now, I still have a little bit of NXT Tech I have to use up, and then for some reason, someone in my household bought a bottle of Prestone wax/sealant, so now I have to go through that bottle. The Prestone is actually holding up really well (on top of 2 coats of NXT)--so far, great durability, and it has been raining horrendously here in the South for the past 2 weeks. I think it takes away slightly from the gloss, but I can't tell if that's because I now have 3 layers of sealant on my paint. Plus, it's Prestone, which I probably wouldn't put a lot of stock in for quality detailing purposes.

staticlag

Winning Blue

I used NXT for the first 4 months of having my 8(at the recommendation of this forum), it was during the hot and dry summer (avg temp about 90) months that I used it, my car was usually driven at nght and kept in the garage during the day.

I liked how very dark it made the paint look, and it was nice and smooth after application. I got comments like "wow look at that dude's car!" and the usual girls flashing. Everyone commented on how they liked the deep and dark apperance of the paint. I really liked how it made the car look at night on the day of application, very dark and shiny while reflecting streelights and looking very deep and oily, like glass was poured over my car.

What I didn't like about NXT:
I wore off so quickly! I kept my car in the garage 80% of the time, hand washed it with armour-all car wash when it would get noticbly dusty (about 3 to 5 days depending on how many miles I drove it) kept it out of sun and heat and in about a week and a half that dark shine was gone(even at night)! Slickness, gone! and Dusty! I actually feared washing my car because I knew it would degrade the wax so much.

One time I tried to layer the NXT, I put five coats on the trunk lid, I could not tell the difference between this section and the rest of the car which had only 1 coat. One time I also applied the NXT while the car looked clean but not before washing, it turns out there was some dust on the bottom sections of the door and applying the NXT only made swirl marks on my doors.

For two months I drove around with embarassing swirl marks (not really that bad that a reguar person would notice, just really annoying and VERY obvious to the car care enthusiast) on my car. It would annoy me so much, but the performance was much better than the turtle wax original carnuba paste that I was using on my other Nissan Maxima. Just decided to go a bit old skool with the turtle wax.

I really didn't get into waxes much, I was also using Meguire's Hot Shine for my tires and thats about it, and was more than a bit disappointed at how often I HAD to wax my car to keep it's finish consistent.

I then read about Zaino on this forum, went to the website, loved the pictures of the cars that people submitted. But it was so expensive! ~ $80 for the basic kit! I kept using the NXT though September, wishing I had the extra cash to buy some Zaino (taxes were 3K on my car! and Im paying for it myself).

So I splurged, I decided that I could make up the extra money and just buy the zaino. I was getting stressed out at school and needed something to take my mind off the work.

The day the zaino came I followed all the instructions, Dawn, claybar. Then I put my first coat of Z5 on it with the ZFX enhancer.

I waited about 45 min, and buffed it off with a nice soft towel. I wasn't too impressed. It didn't look anything like the NXT!, I thought, damn, this sucks, I hoped my car would look like the submitted photos. Granted it was shiny and very slick, it just didn't have that "sock you in the face" darkness of NXT. I was doing the application in my garage btw.

Disappointed but still hopeful, I grudgingly applied 2 more coats of Zaino (it had gotten dark outside already). For you non-zaino users, zaino recommends only layering 3 coats per 24 hour period so it can set correctly.

The next Day I added two more coats of zaino, but didnt get around to taking it out of the garage or driving it.

5 coats of Z5 at this time (it would usually take about 45 min total to put a coat on)

(10 min of prep: get towels mix ZFX and zaino and let it set, 25 min or so to dry, then about 10 min to buff off and apply the z6 enhancer spray; the whole process is a bit complicated at first, but by your 3rd or 4th coat its not even an issue)

So, I drove my car on day 3.

JESUS! the swirl marks were gone! Completely gone! NXT had only made the marks look shiny and stand out against the darkish looking paint. But the z5 COMPLETELY filled the marks! They were bad too, long streaks along the bases of the doors that would catch the light at certain angles.

The car still didn't look as dark as NXT, and I was still kind of disappointed because of that. But I started to appreciate Zaino for what it was. I started to look at my car differently.

It was a shiny blue, the paint was smooth as butter, there wasn't the slightest mark on the paint surface (Oh, and I deffinetly scoured every inch of the finish for one, I'm kinda a perfectionist). I thought that the zaino definetly blew the NXT of the water in those categories, but again I really missed the dark look!

I really wanted the NXT look, so I tried putting the rest of the system on the car to see what it would do.

--Z5 is for swirl marks and is to be used as a reguvination base finisher of sorts, its not their actual "for shinyness" polish
--Z2 is the polish that is supposed to be used as the actual finishing top coat of wax for maximum shine

I applied 4 coats of z2 over 2 days but didn't drive it in between waxings, I was hoping to be suprised when I saw it in daylight (as I usually only waxed at night and drove my other car to work during the day).

When I drove it next, I was shocked!

Words can't describe how freaking shiny this bastard was!!!!!!!!!!!

REDICULOUS!!!!! OBSECENLY shiny!

My car was ludicrisly shiny, It looked like a two way mirror. When my car was parked at the curb of my house, I could clearly see the reflection of the green green grass in the side panels where the swirl marks used to be! When I parked I could see the reflections of other cars and the parking lot marking lines wrapped around my car from 75 ft away!

You really have to see my car to believe how shiny it is in person. My car is just as shiny as the pictures on the zaino site, and even shinier in person!

It still doesn't look dark like NXT and I still wanted that look, but with the new comments and stares I defiently had an easy time of letting go of that urge.

So I would wash my car like normal, when it was dusty about every 3 - 5days, and the wax didn't dull during an entire month of this! It didnt collect nearly as much dust as NXT and looked fabulous even when dusty. It rained hard for 3 days and I wanted to test the wax to see if the rumors about its durability were true, so I left it outside and drove it all 3 days. 3 weeks since waxing and water beaded like pearls on the surface of my car, spectacular! After it rained I washed it, and It looks like the day I waxed it!

So, I started getting bored over weekends, and decided to put some more wax on my car. I have at total of 15 coats of zaino(8-z5 and 7-z2) on my car now, 6 months since I bought my car. And words can't describe how shiny it is! Very easily the shiniest car in town!

I was so impressed by zaino that I even put his zaino decal on my window! And I'm a total "stock" freak perfectionist!

Bottom line:

NXT is great! it has a great unique look that really attracts attention thats very easy to use, just put on and buff off and you have that great look. But you really need to take advantage of that ease of use because the durability is horrible! Its truely disgusing how fast the quality fades. I would have to plan to wax my car the day of a date or going out with friends, just to get the great super dark NXT look I really loved.

Zaino is king of waxes, anywhere, anytime, anyplace. Its got the best system for protecting and shining your paint finish. Its got a definetly unique, out-of-this-world shine that commands attention. And it is durable as hell! I have yet to actally need to wax my car! I Do it merely for pleasure now, to spend quality time with my baby. But, Its system is ardurous and long. Instead of applying one coat and being done with it, to get optimum results you add a coat of their z5, buff, wipe down the car with z6, and then shine it again with z2, buff that off and finish it with z6!

Thats like 2 hours of work if taking it easy(go inside and watch some tv while stuff is drying)!

And thats for one round of zaino!, its true effect is achieved though multiple rounds of this! (though you can stop anytime you want in the process and it will be fine) (Its not like baking a cake, where if you stop in between you get no result; Its more like stacking cookies, you have a ready result, but the higher you stack them, the better it is)


Zainoing your car really turns into its own activity, not merely a means to a great looking car. Me an alot of other people enjoy it, though its not quick by any means, its so easy that anyone can learn it.

The work required turns many people off, but if you are looking for the ultimate shine, hands down, it is worth it.

quack_p

Thanks for the detailed post, staticlag. My only experience is with Zaino, but it's nice to know all those hours are worth it.

valpac

iTrader: (2)

Been using NXT. Good stuff. Bought the Zaino. And just finished my first application. Wash, clay, wash, dry, Z2, Buff, Z6, buff, Z2, buff, Z6 buff. 6 hours.

Zaino vs NXT.
Shine? Nod goes to Zaino (slightly) Does look a bit deeper, too.
Ease to apply? NXT. Zaino requires a little more effort as your trying to spread it thin.
Ease to remove? Zaino. Since the dried product is thinner, less elbow grease needed to remove haze.
Product left behind? NXT. Leaves more residue on the car. Also more "dust" in the buff towel.
Longevity? Dunno. I applied the NXT every two weeks even though the slickness was still there.

Gonna use the remaining NXT on door jams and such, but I think its Zaino for me, too

Hybrid-RX8

If you guys hail ZAINO that much.. you should "REALLY" try ZYMOL.... it is in a completely different catergory than all the waxes you speak of

6speed8

Zymol is still just a WAX (a very high quality one at that) and it will yellow, and cannot last as long as Zaino. And talk about cost! The real Zymol (not the blue stuff they sell in Walmart by turtle wax) is very expensive.

10kRPMS

I use the Zymol Japon for Japanse cars it retails for $50 for 8oz.The stuff is an amazing wax. but just that it is a wax and wears off fast.

psbjames1970

Cost effective, very easy to use, and looks great...

Eagle One Nanowax

http://www.eagleone.com/_products/3,2081616.asp

I use it on mine and it does wonders. Plus it lasts a good solid 2-3 months and it retails for under 10.

It doesn't yellow and it is both a wax and polish (acts like a polish but does provide the wax protection). I used it on my Mustang before my RX8 and the paint stayed looking new and shiny.

I am still investigating Zanio though and may jump to it... I wonder how it holds up to excessive salt. I find that the Eagle One does a good job of protection against salt. This is WHY is it important to wax/polish before winter sets in. It protects the vehicle.

Anything you do, don't get the cheapy turtle wax (YUCK)

BTW, here are some pics