Z2 or Z5?
 

I've got a Titanium Gray rx8 and I'm curious what you'd suggest as my first coat of Zaino? I haven't done any coats yet. My plan so far is as follows:

1. Wash with Dawn
2. ClayBar
3. Was with Z7
4. Polish with ?
5. Z6
6. Polish with ?
7. Z6
8. etc...

I would skip the dawn wash. Claying/Polishing will remove everything anyways.

1)Wash with Z7
2)Wash agian, but this time claybar while washing
3)Polish with Z-PC
4) Z5
5) Z2
6)ZCS

Or, you can replace Z5 with ZAIO and put Z2 over that, and top it with ZCS.

I also skipped the dawn wash. I washed with Meguire's gold, then clayed the car first, and washed again. My 8 is black and had lots of swirls and scratches when I bought it, so I started with two coats of Z5 (meant for swirl and scratch filling) and ended with a coat of Z2. I used Z6 in between each coat, just for the hell of it and since it came with the package.

1. The reason Zaino recommends Dawn is to thoroughly remove any old wax that might be on the car. So if you've ever waxed your car before, I'd do the Dawn first, before the clay bar. (If the clay bar removes everything—including old wax—then why would Zaino have you bother with Dawn?)

2. Yes, Z5 is the one you use if you have swirl marks, Z2 if you don't. Zaino recommends using Z5—several times, if necessary—until you don't see swirl marks anymore. Then you use Z2. (If you don't have swirl marks, you can skip Z5 altogether.)

3. If you're using both Z2 and Z5, Zaino says to make sure the last one you apply is Z2—because it has a little more gloss.