AL417
06-17-2007, 06:54 AM
XMT180 Wax Review
03 Frontier
Background – this truck sits outside 24/7 it is used to haul gravel, lumber and other things. It’s definitely not a garage queen. The last time this Frontier saw any wax was probably a year ago or longer. The paint is granite metallic.
The Plan – Wash, clay, XMT360 topped with the new XMT180.
The Detail – As I washed the truck the water just sheeted off because there was no wax at all on it. The paint had its fair share of scratches from being used as a work truck but very little swirls probably because it sees very few hand washings.
I want to give you my initial thoughts on XMT180 so I’ll skip the specifics of the prep and cut to the waxing. The weather yesterday was hot and humid. We reached a high of 93 and I was working in direct sunlight.
The wax is purple and has the grape scent just like XMT glaze. Very Yummy.
I tried applying XMT180 several different ways.
By Hand – I followed the directions and applied a very thin coat by hand, let it haze and then buffed it off with a Cobra indigo mf. I had to work a little harder at buffing it off than I prefer. I would say that I found it a little more difficult to remove than NB when it comes to buffing by hand. It buffed off clean and left the metallic flakes in the paint popping. It was also very slick. I did several sections by hand and then switched to the PC.
By PC – I wanted to see how this paste wax would do when applied by PC. I used a red Edge pad for application. I was able to cover a lot of area because a little bit of this wax goes a long way. I let it haze and buffed it off with the white Edge pad. This method was much easier and faster to do and again the XMT180 left the paint wet, glossy and slick. I didn’t see any color change in the paint just that the metallic’s now popped and the paint had depth and clarity.
To be honest when I first started using this XMT180 I was comparing it to MaxWax and NB. To me MaxWax is one of the easiest waxes to use and it always yields great results. After the first few panels that I applied XMT180 by hand I was not overly excited due to the buffing/removal factor. I was happy with the way it left the paint and I wanted to give it a chance. I like to hand wax but in XMT180’s case I much preferred using the pc. In either case the wax gave the paint some true depth, metallic pop and left it so slick that I was very impressed by it.
Conclusion - I can’t comment on XMT180’s durability just yet but so far this seems like a fine wax. I’d like to see what this wax does on non-metallic paints too. I am not able or ready to put this wax in a niche as far as metallic vs. non-metallic or that it’s better on one color over another. I like that I used XMT180 as the lsp for XMT360 this combination was a good choice for testing out XMT’s new wax. All I know is from its initial use it performed to the Pinnacle XMT standards that I expected.
BEFORE
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/AL41759/03%20Frontier%20XMT180/100_2383.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/AL41759/03%20Frontier%20XMT180/100_2385.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/AL41759/03%20Frontier%20XMT180/100_2391.jpg
AFTER
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/AL41759/03%20Frontier%20XMT180/100_2407.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/AL41759/03%20Frontier%20XMT180/100_2412.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/AL41759/03%20Frontier%20XMT180/100_2417.jpg
And Then It Rained
Did I Tell You About the Beading??
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/AL41759/03%20Frontier%20XMT180/100_2428.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/AL41759/03%20Frontier%20XMT180/100_2422.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/AL41759/03%20Frontier%20XMT180/100_2427.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/AL41759/03%20Frontier%20XMT180/100_2429.jpg
03 Frontier
Background – this truck sits outside 24/7 it is used to haul gravel, lumber and other things. It’s definitely not a garage queen. The last time this Frontier saw any wax was probably a year ago or longer. The paint is granite metallic.
The Plan – Wash, clay, XMT360 topped with the new XMT180.
The Detail – As I washed the truck the water just sheeted off because there was no wax at all on it. The paint had its fair share of scratches from being used as a work truck but very little swirls probably because it sees very few hand washings.
I want to give you my initial thoughts on XMT180 so I’ll skip the specifics of the prep and cut to the waxing. The weather yesterday was hot and humid. We reached a high of 93 and I was working in direct sunlight.
The wax is purple and has the grape scent just like XMT glaze. Very Yummy.
I tried applying XMT180 several different ways.
By Hand – I followed the directions and applied a very thin coat by hand, let it haze and then buffed it off with a Cobra indigo mf. I had to work a little harder at buffing it off than I prefer. I would say that I found it a little more difficult to remove than NB when it comes to buffing by hand. It buffed off clean and left the metallic flakes in the paint popping. It was also very slick. I did several sections by hand and then switched to the PC.
By PC – I wanted to see how this paste wax would do when applied by PC. I used a red Edge pad for application. I was able to cover a lot of area because a little bit of this wax goes a long way. I let it haze and buffed it off with the white Edge pad. This method was much easier and faster to do and again the XMT180 left the paint wet, glossy and slick. I didn’t see any color change in the paint just that the metallic’s now popped and the paint had depth and clarity.
To be honest when I first started using this XMT180 I was comparing it to MaxWax and NB. To me MaxWax is one of the easiest waxes to use and it always yields great results. After the first few panels that I applied XMT180 by hand I was not overly excited due to the buffing/removal factor. I was happy with the way it left the paint and I wanted to give it a chance. I like to hand wax but in XMT180’s case I much preferred using the pc. In either case the wax gave the paint some true depth, metallic pop and left it so slick that I was very impressed by it.
Conclusion - I can’t comment on XMT180’s durability just yet but so far this seems like a fine wax. I’d like to see what this wax does on non-metallic paints too. I am not able or ready to put this wax in a niche as far as metallic vs. non-metallic or that it’s better on one color over another. I like that I used XMT180 as the lsp for XMT360 this combination was a good choice for testing out XMT’s new wax. All I know is from its initial use it performed to the Pinnacle XMT standards that I expected.
BEFORE
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/AL41759/03%20Frontier%20XMT180/100_2383.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/AL41759/03%20Frontier%20XMT180/100_2385.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/AL41759/03%20Frontier%20XMT180/100_2391.jpg
AFTER
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/AL41759/03%20Frontier%20XMT180/100_2407.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/AL41759/03%20Frontier%20XMT180/100_2412.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/AL41759/03%20Frontier%20XMT180/100_2417.jpg
And Then It Rained
Did I Tell You About the Beading??
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/AL41759/03%20Frontier%20XMT180/100_2428.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/AL41759/03%20Frontier%20XMT180/100_2422.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/AL41759/03%20Frontier%20XMT180/100_2427.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/AL41759/03%20Frontier%20XMT180/100_2429.jpg