Reviewed: Optimum G-P-S

[mikep288]

Reviewed: Optimum G-P-S

Intro:

First off, my thanks go out to Nick, Autogeek and Optimum Polymer Technologies for the opportunity to evaluate this product.

Now with that said:

Coming home after eagerly awaiting this packages arrival, I was very anxious to get it open and get to work. Unfortunately, between the weather and a house in need of decorating for the holidays, free time has been at a premium. I was finally able to sneak in a couple of hours, give this a try and put the info below together. For those who do these reviews regularly, my hat’s off to you!

Product being reviewed:

Optimum G-P-S (Glaze, Polish Seal)
Optimum 5.25” Microfiber Polishing Pads
**(Nick was kind enough to include a pair of these in my shipment)

Vehicle:

My daily-driven 2011 Kia Sorento SX, purchased 10/31/11.

Conditions:

Application Date and Time: Sunday, 12/4/2011 – 2:30pm EST.
Temperature: ~57° F.
Humidity: ~65%

Vehicle Condition:

Car was recently purchased and the only surface prep done to it was a full claying and a coat of Collinite 845 a week after delivery. My goal was to protect for winter and then to refine the surface and remove the complimentary DISO (Dealer installed swirl option) come spring time, after the road saltings and sandings had finally finished.

It had been very rainy here in Central NJ so the entire surface was pretty grimy from my travels to and from work. Last wash was approximately 1 week earlier.
I probably could have gotten away with just cleaning up a small area for demonstration purposes, but @ close to 60 degrees in December, I was more than happy to break out the hose and buckets.

Prep:

I started out with a thorough rinse to remove any loose debris, followed by a quick foaming, a couple of minute dwell and a second rinse to prevent the soap from drying on the paint. Once completed, I broke out the wash buckets, mitts, DP Auto Bath shampoo and DP Rinseless Wash & Gloss and proceeded to get everything good and clean.



After the final rinse, I took a few laps around the car to decide where best to place my tape line and to begin testing. I chose the rear-most panel as, upon inspection it was the most swirled and with it being nearly vertical, thought it would probably produce some decent before/after pictures.

What we have to start out with:




Some magnification and better lighting reveal even more as seen here:



and from another angle with camera flash (eek!):



Tape applied to give me a reference for before and after.




Setup and Application:

After setting up my work area, it was time to get to it.



***A big thanks goes out to this community for turning me on to the Werner work platforms that were on sale on Black Friday over at Lowes. In addition to being a great way to get to the middle of the windshield and roof, they make an excellent portable work surface.

Starting out, an Optimum Microfiber Polishing Pad (5.25”) was affixed to an Edge Products 5” DA backing plate. This pad on the 5” backing plate leaves a nice amount of overlap and provides a bit of a safety net, in case of accidental BP contact while polishing.



In following the product directions, I dampened the applicator before use. As is normally part of my routine, I chose to use a spritz of Pinnacle XMT Polishing Pad Conditioner, but as the manufacturer did not make any specific recommendations, I’m sure water could have also been used.

As has been mentioned in other reviews, it takes quite a few squeezes of the trigger to get product flowing, but once it is primed it performs well and without any drama. I gave the applicator the recommended two sprays of product to prime the pad and quickly realized that holding the sprayer too close to the applicator will result in a lump of it collected directly in the middle of the pad. To correct this, I simply dispersed the excess product from the middle of the pad with my fingers and spread it evenly over the surface of the pad, covering the entire area. Having learned my lesson, subsequent sprays were done from a greater distance (closer to a foot).

In applying my PC (original) to paint, I started at speed three (3) and increased to five (5) to work it in after the entire surface was covered. The product and pad combination seemed to glide across the paint and the working time was outstanding. At no time did the product dust or become grabby and I found that a little went a very long way. I found I had to resist applying more product as the initial amount I used to prime seemed to remain usable for most of the panel I was working. Application was so easy, I also had to fight the urge to run around the entire vehicle, but due to the limited amount of daylight I was left with, I knew I would have to postpone that for another time. Instead, I limited myself to the panel I taped off and its counterpart on the opposite side.

Being new to the microfiber polishing pads, I was not sure just how well these would correct and finish out, but they appear to have done an excellent job. The only thing I think I have to be more aware of in the future though is that if too much product is used, these pads will tend to “gum-up” and their cut will be reduced. I found this to be the case on my first pad, so I moved on to the second pad I was supplied, re-primed and got back to work(fun).


Removal and Observations:

Moving back to my test panel, I removed my tape line and the grabbed a Cobra Deluxe Jr. 600 Microfiber Towel to wipe off the dried polish. The residue left behind was extremely easy to remove and came off with just a couple of swipes. There was absolutely NO streaking to deal with.



To stay I was impressed with the result would be an understatement. The gloss and depth left behind was stunning. This car and its paint system are both new to me as I have always owned GM’s, so I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of correct-ability. With that, I can honestly say I feel like I have never seen its true paint color until now. The spider-webbing was gone, the color appears to have deepened and any/all cloudiness is gone with a slick protective layer now in place. Looking at the pads after use, you would have thought I had never washed or clayed before application, so some cleaning of the paint did take place in the polishing process.




Since application, the beading on these sections has been exceptional and right in line with the rest of the vehicles’ recently Collinite 845'd sections .



Only time will tell how long the protection lasts, but if it is as hard to get off of the paint as it was to clean off of my pads, I may be re-doing my Collinite application first J.

I may be exaggerating a little bit, but it did take me three tries with Pinnacle XMT Polishing Pad Cleaner to get to the point where I felt they were clean and ready to be reused. As always, YMMV, as everyone’s pad cleaning methods are different.

The only part of my testing this product that I did not enjoy was the fact that after application, the true paint condition was revealed and I have come to realize that I have my work cut out for me come this spring. The new clarity and lack of spider-webs and swirls revealed a host of deeper imperfections and RIDs that will need to be dealt with, with a somewhat more aggressive product. Mike Phillips has mentioned this time and again in his excellent write-ups and unfortunately, this was the case here as well.

Here’s a 50/50 to give an idea of some of the restored clarity:







Similar to the picture above in that I’m some-what out of focus, but thought it still made the point in terms of how much change took place. (Actually more so than another version I took that was in focus)











Conclusion:

Is Optimum G-P-S going to remove every mark on your paint and replace every bottle of compound in your detailing arsenal? NO! What it will do is provide an excellent product for in-between full correction touch-ups, or a product for those of us who may not always adhere to the best of washing and drying procedures. It is definitely worth a try!

As for the pads, I really like their ability to correct and how nicely they finished out. I do not have nearly as much experience using them as I do foam pads, but I am sure to be “correcting” that this spring and summer. If you are new to machine polishing your paint I would definitely give them a try. If you are more experienced and looking for something new to try, I would recommend them to you as well, as they may surprise you with their versatility and ease of use.

In closing, I highly recommend both Optimum G-P-S and their line of microfiber polishing pads.


Final Thoughts:

Before winning this giveaway I did not see a sprayable polish as anything other than a gimmick, but after using G-P-S, I can see myself purchasing and using Optimum Hyper Compound Spray and Optimum Hyper Polish Spray to finish the job. The sprayable compound format is for real and is a great alternative to the traditional polishing methods. Combine the format with a quality product from a proven, innovative company and you have a winner!

In the mean-time, Spring can’t come fast enough for me to use the entire Optimum line to get my new toy in tip-top shape.



Now where did the Mrs. hide my credit cards…?

A couple more afters:









*** Pictures were not manipulated in any way other than cropping and resizing.

Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it.
Sorry for the wait.


Additional products used for prep, application and removal:

• Autogeek Foamaster Foam Wash Gun / DP Extreme Foam Soap
• DP Auto Bath Shampoo
• DP Series Rinseless Wash & Gloss – added as a water conditioner
• Supreme Micro-Chenille Wash Mitt
• Pinnacle XMT Polishing Pad Conditioner
• Cobra Deluxe Jr. 600 Microfiber Towel

[jekyl05]

excellent review/write up... from what i also understand this product can be used by hand as part of a regular maintenance.

out of curiosity how many passes did you have to make to achieve the posted results?

[Pats300zx]

Excellent review. I just picked up a bottle of GPS as well. I can't wait for spring to give a full test.

[Nick McKees37]

Phenomenal review!

[silverfox]

Great review of two great products. The spray does take a bit to master but the benefits are obvious once you do. I'd like to see the glaze qualities looked at in future reviews by hand use. It's not practical to polish a car everytime you see scratches and with clear coats getting thinner and thinner Glazes are going to have a bigger role in car maintenance.

[Ron Atchison]

Great first time review!!

[mikep288]

excellent review/write up... from what i also understand this product can be used by hand as part of a regular maintenance.

out of curiosity how many passes did you have to make to achieve the posted results?

Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated!

While I can't say I have tried it by hand, what I am thinking and have heard elsewhere, is that application by hand may lean more toward the glazing/filling end than actually correcting. But this would depend, I suppose on how vigorously you perform your application. It will however, still look great and would be applying a very good layer of protection. I can say, with a DA this stuff applies like butter and is effortless in application. I consider it my new "magic swirl eraser" and am a lot less concerned about every little swirl I may add in my regular washing and drying cycle, in that I can now quickly and easily remove most of them, in the same time it would take me to apply a good coating of any other wax.

Mike

[mikep288]

excellent review/write up... from what i also understand this product can be used by hand as part of a regular maintenance.

out of curiosity how many passes did you have to make to achieve the posted results?

Just re-read my reply and forgot to answer as to how many passes...
I made two passes in total.
I tend to work by feel. Everytime I polish I try to work in small sections and crosshatch the area with vertical and horizontal passes until I feel the product has broken down sufficiently (if diminishing abrasive), or has done all it's going to do. That is typically what i consider my pass #1. I then like to follow with a second pass after wiping down and inspecting the results of the first pass, to see if with less correcting to do, I can amp up the result a bit and burnish the paint further.
Any other ?'s please don't hesitate.

[mikep288]

Great review of two great products. The spray does take a bit to master but the benefits are obvious once you do. I'd like to see the glaze qualities looked at in future reviews by hand use. It's not practical to polish a car everytime you see scratches and with clear coats getting thinner and thinner Glazes are going to have a bigger role in car maintenance.

Could not agree more! In many circles "glaze" is a dirty word, and filling an imperfection rather than grinding it and your clearcoat away is less than perfection but I tend to disagree. I am an enthusiast/hobbiest in search of products that make my car look better. If a glaze can do much of this without removing precious clearcoat, it has my vote and a place in my detailing arsenal. Thanks for the comments!

[CEE DOG]

Excellent Review!