Should I top Menzerna Power Lock with something else?

what about a black metallic paint?

 

Blackfire looks better IMO on metalic black........

 

I really wonder if all this sealant and max business and how it looks is based on placebo effect. The detailer applied the wax may fool themselves into thinking that wax and sealant add another level of look. Has anyone done any study by taking pictures of before and after wax and/or sealant application under the same lighting condition. My point is that we spend all this time applying waxes to our car so it could look good to us and to other people but other people won't suffer from placebo effect like we do since they don't put hours of work into the paint of the car.

 

I think this varies from product to product, some folks SWEAR X is better then Y........

I do know that topping PL with a wax changes the look, my Blue sti looked darker and more defined, the gloss was there, but it had more d

 

I've often wondered how much of it was me just thinking it looks different and how much is it actually looking different. A big factor for me is generally it doesn't look that much different on just one section of the car, it is only when the entire car is done that the 'difference' is something I notice. That being said on my one car there is this great little bend around the back quarter panel that catches the setting sun just right on my drive home and different products have a different effect there. Some make a rainbowish look and others just have a normal reflection.

 

The difference may not be noticed by looking straight at a panel under garage lighting, but is more noticeable when viewing larger sections of the car at angles where reflections can be seen. Also, a lot of it varies with color. I swear that carbon black (dark blue metallic on E46 M3's) will never look as wet and deep as Jet Black. The metallic flakes rob a lot of the "patina" as bob calls it. I would have to say though, in my experience nothing makes a more drastic difference than a quality jeweling with 85rd....after a correction and jeweling, different LSP's (quality ones) won't be game changers like before and after 85rd is a game changer. The only LSP that would make a difference IMO is Swissvax...that stuff has a superior depth and wetness for sure.

I think actually a few years back one of the euro guys on detailing world, i think like ShineOn or someone did an LSP test where he prepped 10 cars the same and put 10 diff LSP's on and had a bunch of guys come vote which one was best in all different lights and none of them voted consistently for any of the 9 except swissvax concorso got consistent votes. I'll try and find that thread.

 

Yea I remember that too. Collinite 915 was one of the highest rated ones also, it's just a pain to use which is why I just picked up Concourso instead after using up most of my 915.

 

i agree with this 100% .....i will add that on the 3 cars i have used mpl and sonax premium class carnuba their is 100% a change in reflections especially around the more curvy parts of the car...rear fenders on a 350z ..

 

It was by DaveKG - here's the link: Big Wax Test - Looks Results - Full Review

Results showed BOS in front, followed by 915, with the others bunched together after these two.

 

That was an interesting test and a good effort but statistically a not meaningful result. Nine of the twenty people who participated didn't think they could see any differences and, for the most part, given the small sample size the results of the eleven people who did vote vary widely enough that the standard deviations are huge and the confidence intervals very low. This is not to say that there aren't differences but I wouldn't read too much into these comparisons.

 

I tried that and for me, AGHD attracted a lot of dust. Well to be honest so do most nubaswhen compared to a sealant. I loved the way it applies and comes off, and the smell (yeah I'm weird)

 

I think the lighting shifted on the pictures a lot too which makes it hard to compare those.

I often wonder how often the average person on the street would even notice the difference between a well prepped car and one that isn't. It often frustrates me how good another guys truck at work looks in the right light and at the right angle mostly because it is a darker color than mine and his paint is completely neglected, scratched, chipped etc.

 

there might be a way to test this more analytically. several factors should be considering are light angle and number of layer of each sealant of wax applied. First I would find the spot with the best reflection to set up a camera to take picture of before and after each subsequent layer of LSP applied. If the result show no different between the first to the last layer of LSPs, then continue with the next step which is applied one layer of each LSP take a picture and remove it before applying the next one. This should shows conclusive data whether you can see a difference with LSP and how much of a difference with LSP. If the test showed no difference in looks, I would buy a LSP with the greatest protection and last the longest and not worry about how it looks.

 

on fifth gear they had a meter that measured the reflectiveness of the paint. Anyone tried one of those? Although sometimes the less reflective finish to me looks better. I'd say it is just too subjective for scientific. I guess there's no reason to stop taking the placebo if it is making you feel better

 

if it looked better or worst then it would be a difference. What I am saying is that LSP might not make the paint looks different at all.

 

Prima Hydro spray wax really makes white paint shine like mad. I would use that after each wash as a drying aid and quick top up.

 

all goes to show, it's all in the prep....for LSP just have fun