Most swirl resistant ceramic

[blsnelling]

I have a '02 Trans Am WS6 with only 22K miles that I am in the process of doing a full paint correction on. This car is 100% garage kept and will never see rain/weather. What ceramic coating would be most resistant to swirls from maintenance detailing? I have only washed it once since purchasing it in December. It typically gets dusted with something like ONR or a quick detailer. I'm considering CSL. I'm on the fence about EXO. I don't need the extra hydrophobic properties, just the most durability. What other options would you recommend?

69584

[JDGolden]

I think I read on here that Gyeon Q2 Mohs is a real winner in that aspect.

Nice car! Always wanted a WS6.

[The Guz]

Don't get too caught up in the swirl resistance or coating hardness. Coatings are not scratch proof or swirl proof. Follow proper washing techniques and avoid constantly wiping the paint to avoid swirls.

With that said any coating is going to last a long time in that condition. I would go with something like Cquartz Lite or Gyeon CanCoat for a garage kept car. They will last long and you will get multiple applications when the paint gets swirled up in a year or two down the road. Cquartz Lite is the more "swirl resistant" as it forms the harder layer.

[TTQ B4U]

They will all do fine in terms of swirls or micro marring. The key is in day-forward care when washing, but most most importantly drying.

[TNMIKE46]

Welcome to the 2002 Black WS6 world. Mine has a little over 62000 miles. Right now I'm finishing up working on my car. I used Griots Fast correcting cream then perfecting
cream, cleaned with CarPro Eraser then applied Wolfgang Ceramic Spray (super easy to apply). Results were great; deep black shine!

Enjoy your car, it's a fun ride. Mine is the 6-speed.

[blsnelling]

I'm using a denim pad with Sonax Cutmax to reduce factory orange peal. I follow that up with an orange foam pad and Cutmax. Finally, I use a black foam pad with Sonax Perfect Finish for a swirl free mirror shine. I was prepared to use Menzerna 3800 but it wasn't needed.

[MarkD51]

Welcome to the forum! Nice car, wish you the best of luck.

If it was any other color, I'd maybe suggest bypassing a ceramic coating, using something like Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0 and follow with Pinnacle Crystal Mist Spray.

Having owned black, I know what a bugger black is to keep swirl-mar free. Not because any other color is less prone to such, just that you see everything on black.

Yes, good ceramic coatings are more durable and less prone to marring. Of course nothing is going to make the car's finish bulletproof.

Carpro CQuartz UK is commonly one of your better coatings ranking very high on durability and mar resistance.
It's a little harder to work with than say some of these other spray and wipe coatings IMO, but the effort is worth it.

I might be inclined to also do all the wheels with ceramic with a wheels off detail. That has to be your choice? CQ UK will also work fine on Wheels, and so will CQuartz DLX. Some prefer DLX. I've used both products, both extremely good!

Thus, if you wish going that route, I'd say buy two 30ml bottles of UK, and buy a small addition of the Carpro Suede MF Sheets. The 16"x16" Sheets might be the best way to go, simply cut them down into four 4"x4" Sheets for coating applications.

With any Ceramic Coating, best not to get too inventive, and adhere to the manufacturer's suggested application procedures. Yes, a good panel wipe product like Carpro Eraser when all is done with correction and prior to application. Use clean towels and don't skimp with prepping.

A couple good soft MF Towels for final leveling-smoothing wipe, and good lighting so you can see how you are applying is a huge help.

[blsnelling]

I appreciate the feedback. As several have pointed out, I realize that nothing will make the finish swirl proof. I'm just looking to maximize my efforts. I've owned a lot of black vehicles, but have never had a garage queen that I wanted to keep as perfect as possible.

I'm getting the feeling that most are recommending something besides CSL/EXO. Is that because of price or performance?

[MarkD51]

I appreciate the feedback. As several have pointed out, I realize that nothing will make the finish swirl proof. I'm just looking to maximize my efforts. I've owned a lot of black vehicles, but have never had a garage queen that I wanted to keep as perfect as possible.

I'm getting the feeling that most are recommending something besides CSL/EXO. Is that because of price or performance?

There's a good many number of fans of GTechniq products. I have limited exposure to them only trying two. One was OK, and the other I had trouble with.

It's not that easy to swirl a vehicle that has a fresh CQuartz Coating upon it. You have to be using some pretty poor wash techniques, and filthy towels etc to do such.

Figure about 2 years with CQuartz UK on a regular day to day driver exposed constantly. A Garage Queen should hold up a lot longer.

As Mike Phillips, our forum guru master would advise, your pretty paint is going to be fine for a good while, even if there was nothing applied to it. It's when you "touch it", that's when the "fun" (Damage) begins.

Many members here go to extreme great lengths, not just the pros, but as well the hobbyists, Foam Guns, High Pressure Washers, Two Bucket washes with Grit Guards, the gentlest of towels for wiping and drying, some even use Blowers (Metro Vac) Leaf Blowers, anything to reduce rubbing which will cause sleeks, marring and swirling.

As Mike once touched upon, "swirling" under sunlight looks "circular", but that's not the case. Meaning swirling didn't occur because you were rubbing in some circular fashion, it's just the way the sun or a point source of light makes it look like such. Such is all totally random, and go every which way on a paint finish.

As for the durable coating like CQuartz, there's many videos here hosted by Mike Phillips, and as well you can find such with any specific brand coating posted on you-tube. Cory the USA distributor of CQuartz (Sky's the Limit) also had videos on you-tube applying these coatings I mention.

The more you study, the better your understanding and knowledge will go as far as the applications, the properties these coatings possess, and the pitfalls and mistakes of poor applications as well.

[MarkD51]

Now here's a simple vid on CQuartz application.

You might think, "crap, he's just wiping off all the coating he just applied!"

Nope! On a properly prepped panel, this stuff is on! And it's on with a rock hard glass finish and it's not coming off anytime soon! Some do 2 coats. IMO it's not that necessary. Not unless you missed spots from a negligent application.

You apply and wipe like this, insure no high spots, and then don't touch the paint for a minimum one hour time, and better to err on a longer time.

Then, once initially dry, the paint should get an application of a sacrificial product such as Carpro Reload, to protect against any water spotting should the vehicle get wet within the 7 day total cure time of such a coating.

After that, you simply maintain a coating with a proper coating compatible spray product that will mimic the coating's hydroscopic properties is all after a wash or two-few.

YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfgHFNpxTqE)

YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rAM78oDffM)

[blsnelling]

Many members here go to extreme great lengths, not just the pros, but as well the hobbyists, Foam Guns, High Pressure Washers, Two Bucket washes with Grit Guards, the gentlest of towels for wiping and drying, some even use Blowers (Metro Vac) Leaf Blowers, anything to reduce rubbing which will cause sleeks, marring and swirling.


I'm already infected, lol. I'm just a hobbyits, but already have the grit guards, foam canon, pressure washers, MF towels, blower, etc. Lol. Of course, I have an OCD type personality, so when I do something, I try to do it right.

BTW, I really appreciate the attitude and responses I've gotten here. I have a lot of years on a lot of forums and it's often not this way. Kudos to you guys!

[The Guz]

I appreciate the feedback. As several have pointed out, I realize that nothing will make the finish swirl proof. I'm just looking to maximize my efforts. I've owned a lot of black vehicles, but have never had a garage queen that I wanted to keep as perfect as possible.

I'm getting the feeling that most are recommending something besides CSL/EXO. Is that because of price or performance?

Nothing wrong with CSL/Exo. It is a nice combination and leaves a nice slick finish. CSL is easy to work with where Exo take a little more attentiveness to completely wipe it off. CSL by itself is ok but Exo is the icing on the cake as I have mentioned many times. Better hydriphobic's but also a better self cleaning effect.

Cquartz UK 3.0 gets many recommendations because it is a very good coating. It may not be as slick on its own as the two mentioned up above but it is more durable and has a better self cleaning effect. Add Gliss to it and it is just as slick as the CSL/Exo combo.

I would not bother with Gyeon Syncro or Mohs. They are just a step behind GTechniq and Cquartz.

I mentioned the use of a lite coating for a couple reasons. Number one any coating is going to last a long time on a garage queen so toss durability out the window in my opinion. The other reason is that people love to touch their garage queen. They touch it so much that they induce swirls from all the wiping. It is just normal to do so.

Which is why I recommended Cquartz Lite which is great and it's base chemical make up is Cquartz UK 3.0. Gyeon CanCoat is another good one and would be easier to apply that Cquartz Lite but Cquartz Lite is more durable as I mentioned. It just has the feeling of a real coating. It has a claimed life of 1.5 years but in the garage you can easily double that. Not to mention you get more product for future use. You can coat the wheels with it as well.

I would recommend to try and stay away from using the quick detailer and switch to a waterless wash if you do have to wipe anything down. I don't wipe down my 02 Camaro SS as it is my garage queen. If it gets dusty I will take it out and wash it. Overkill but better to keep it as swirl free as possible.

If it was me I would go with

Cquartz Lite and maintain with Elixir. I would add Essence if you have not already finished polishing.

Also expect a 98-02 F Body to have hard paint as you work on it. Mine does.

[Dr Oldz]

I say practice safe techniques touching the paint. Proper wash techniques, quality towels, etc.

Don’t get wrapped up in ceramic hooplas about scratch resistance. Be proactive not reactive.

[blsnelling]

Cquartz UK 3.0 gets many recommendations because it is a very good coating. It may not be as slick on its own as the two mentioned up above but it is more durable and has a better self cleaning effect. Add Gliss to it and it is just as slick as the CSL/Exo combo.


Bingo. That's what I'm looking for.

[MarkD51]

I say practice safe techniques touching the paint. Proper wash techniques, quality towels, etc.

Don’t get wrapped up in ceramic hooplas about scratch resistance. Be proactive not reactive.

True,
Nothing is going to protect against vandalism, severe neglect, or a mishap of say driving in a 40mph windstorm and a tumbleweed, or a cardboard box comes flying across the road and collides with your vehicle. Ask me how I know? LOL

Once living in southern New Mexico (14 years) sure had its fun moments out on the road. (I often referred to it as "The Land of the Tumbling Tumbleweeds" LOL) Those Tumbling Tumbleweeds are akin to a large ball of Barb Wire

Still, and using a multitude of products from here, and also some of my old standbys on a "test mule" vehicle, Wolfgang Sealant, Pinnacle Black Label Spray Coating, other Si20 sprays, Collinite, Menzerna Powerlock, etc etc, none had the mar-swirl resistance of the Carpro Coatings.

Thanking that others such as yourself have chimed in to help our new member here.

And yep, you are 100% correct, this is a fantastic forum, countless great members here, we're all sort of like one big family.

Here ya go, another lovely New Mexico mainstay for a 1-2 punch to your paintjob, those lovely little Dust Devils.

YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zujhPRcjEkc)