What makes you think UC has too much cut? Did you try any test spots with it?
The idea of a test spot is not to do 6, 8, 10, 12 section passes, but to do a simple test to find what is starting to give you the results that you are looking for. I'll typically do *only* 4 section passes and compare those, one to another, till I see which one is heading in the direction I need for that particular job. From there its easy to add a few more passes to finish out the area to exactly what is called for.
I mean if you start with 205 and a white pad and after 4 passes it looks like you almost didn't do anything, then you'll need to go to a yellow pad and check. If with the yellow and 205 you're not getting it, then switch to UC, or switch to 105, or 101, or whatever you have on hand.
Take 2 (possibly 3) different pads with the same compound and do a spot. If one is starting to do it, but the other is really getting it done then you have your answer. Much easier to do the whole car only doing 4~5 section passes for each level than it is to wear yourself out doing 8~10.
By "least aggressive" it doesn't mean you have to work a section 8~10 passes, it just means not to use something that cuts away the clear with 2 passes. You have to have control of what is going on. Once you have the right compound/pad combo, then you use that same section that you just worked and work out your polish/pad combo. May be that you used 4 medium passes to get your compounding done followed by 1 light one. Then you only need 3 medium polishing passes and don't even need a light one. :dunno:
The KEY is to keep it consistent. If you need to, WRITE IT DOWN! Its easy to divide your hood into 8 sections and just test away. Compound them all (if compounding is what you're doing) and keep track of all the pads, and all the passes, and all the compounds. Once you have it for that vehicle then you'll know it. Next time you'll not have to work so long at it as you'll remember if it was hard or soft.
My GM cars for instance while all being hard, are all different. The Caddy is hard as steel. The Pontiac has been repainted so much (daughters car and has been wrecked all over through the years) has a ton of paint on it and is fairly hard all over, but not as hard as the Caddy. Then the GMC Denali has tinted clear that is still hard, but freaks me out every time I work it because it always turns the pads red! The Toyota's paint is pretty much as hard as the Caddy and doesn't really scratch if you're not off roading with it. But take the G35 and it'll scratch if you freaking LOOK at it wrong! Yet it takes a lot of buffing to get it right. (But it takes more fine polishing than hard compounding, just the way it is.)
