Finishing polish for new Audi with very hard paint

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Potatohead

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Hey everyone, first post here, although I have been lurking for a long time.

A bit of a back story, I acquired a new Audi RS3 a few months ago. I don't know if it's from the factory or the dealer but there is some very fine micro-marring when the car is in the sun. It really is minor, but I want to take care of it. I had some products in the garage and so far I have tested GG Liquid Wax 3-in-1 (an AIO) on a white pad, that did nothing really. Changed to orange pad and not much change. So I went to GG Complete Compound (fairly mild for a compound) with orange pad and it is getting the deeper stuff but still leaving some light haze and micro-marring behind. It looks different than the rest of the car however so I believe it is haze from the product itself. So I followed that with 3-in-1 and a white pad still does nothing, so I switched to a microfiber finishing pad and that is getting ~85% of it but I have to use a fair bit of pressure. It is very minor but I know it can be better.

So I have been researching the best finishing polishes to use for this and my mind is now spinning. I do not want an AIO as I am going to put a sealant on (I have some Fusso Coat) for winter. I have been considering mainly Menzerna 3500/Jescar Finishing, Sonax EX 04-06, Griot's Perfecting Cream and Meguiar's Ultimate Polish, but I am not sure if they are going to be aggressive enough with the paint being so hard. I also seem to get a better result from a microfiber finishing pad but I do have some orange and white foam pads as well. Of course if something else will work even better, I'm all ears.

Thanks
 
Without pictures or being there it will be hard to say, but as the owner of a black GTI with eaqually hard VAG family paint I can share my experiences.

Sonax EX 04-06, might do it for you on an white or orange pad, but depending on the amount of haze it might be doubtful. I tested it on my GTI this summer and while it left a nice shine, it didn't put a dent in any of the mild defects on my car. I've tried Ultimate Polish in the past as well with even less of a result.

Here are the combinations I've used with success

- Blackfire Compound on a white LC pad: Great one-step that corrects most defects and finishes out LSP ready
- Wolfgang Swirl Remover on a white LC pad: Also works great in one-step, though *slightly* less correcting ability than the Blackfire.
- Blackfire SRC Polish on an orange pad: Cut was about the same as the Wolfgang and finishes out just as well. The SRC polish is no longer made, but the Blackfire Polish seems to be very similar.

On the hard paint I've found I can do most annual "clean up" and defect removal of the paint with a more agressive product on a white pad in one step. It corrects nicely, but finishes out ready for whatever coating or sealant I'm using.
 
Here is a pic. To the right of the sun you can see there are little tiny 1/8" 'tick marks' around. These are consistent over the hood, fenders and top of the doors. I'm assuming whoever did it at the dealer didn't worry about the sides.

I am willing to use whatever product necessary, obviously. Being in Canada it's a little harder to find some of them. The Wolfgang stuff is not too bad to find. The ones I listed earlier are easier to find but that is not a deal breaker.

36CWYvq.jpg
 
I purchased Blackfire Polish (BP) in the last 90 days, and wholly disappointed in it related to my 2018 Honda Accord Sport. The Sport had extremely limited marring at all - paint is in awesome condition but rough to the touch. Since I am putting a coating on it, needed a pass that would finish with minimal correction so I decided early on I was going to use LC Black Finishing pads. Wolfgang Finishing Glaze (WFG) beat out BP easily - just on feel alone (lunar silver metallic paint).

Menzerna SF-3500 toasted both BP and FG!!! BP lost by a wide margin and TSR simply lost with a very good showing; but the feel-test was noticeable within seconds. Net-net, SF-3500 is far far far better than BP given my car and pad choice. My recommendation - stay away in your case as Audi's tend to have harder paints than Hondas. BTW, I have a Flex 3401.

Certainly perform test spot(s). And if this was my car my initial approach would be SF-4000 with a polishing pad on those sections where there is too much marring, and revert to a finishing pad everywhere else. SF-4000 had a 9 on the gloss scale whereas SF-3800 is a 10 - so only need the 10 if you want (and can recognize) jeweling. I'm interested in Jescar but sometimes if you have a good thing there is more risk in changing, so will let Jescar and Menzerna handle how they evolve the USA market with their products.
 
What about Essence? Some guys are recommending that instead because it will simply fill whatever it doesn't get out. Then put Fusso after three hour cure time.
 
Potatohead said:
What about Essence? Some guys are recommending that instead because it will simply fill whatever it doesn't get out. Then put Fusso after three hour cure time.
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Don't expect Essence to fill in deep defects.

You may just need a better compound. Do you have access to Sonax Cut Max or Meguiar's D300? Sonax EX 04-06 is a nice finishing polish.
 
It might be that a finishing polish won't be strong enough to remove the defects.

Menzerna 2500 should be able to clear away the damage, and finish to a very high gloss. It would also set you up to further refine with 3500 of so desired.

I'm not sure the 3500 alone would have the "teeth" to remove the defects.
 
When I did my S5 the paint looked good but it took FG400 and a MF pad to correct and I finished with either 3800 or 4000 (I could not see a difference in finish quality). 2500 and I also tried Adapt but not enough cut. Here are closeup picture of before and after of my hood. My color is quite hard to find the defects on and the closeup was the easiest way.

D1.jpg

D2_1.jpg~original
 
^It looks great

I’m not sure what I want to do really. I tried another test spot with the Griot’s compound I have with an orange pad and it looks crummy, lots of these marring marks. So I went over it again with the AIO and a white pad and it still doesn’t look great, I don’t think it did much. AIO with a microfibre finishing pad and I am back to where I was before testing, this gives me the best results. I don’t feel the marks are all that deep at all but the paint is very hard making it tough to get them out. I have also used this compound on my wife’s Jeep and it worked great.

I know I can compound the whole thing heavily but I am trying to avoid that on a new car. I don’t think the AIO I have is cutting enough to remove all the haze which is why the microfibre pad works better. So I am hoping a more aggressive polish would work or just use Essence and fill some of it.
 
The last Audi I did I used Grior's Fast Correcting Cream on the a Boss white pad. Worked it 6 full passed and it looked incredible. I didn't need to do anything after that put did use a finishing polish on a black finishing pad to try and get just a little more gloss, If I got any more gloss it wasn't visible to the naked eye.
 
I did a blue Audi A8.

I used the blue/yellow Rupes liquids, and blue/yellow microfiber system. The top only needed the yellow combo, but all the areas hit with tha car wash brushes needed the blue followed by the yellow.
 
That looks like micro marring to me. Griots correcting cream should work well and finish excellent on hard paint.

I do find it strange that complete compound with an orange pad is leaving micro marring on hard paint.


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When I do German cars I reach for Menzerma. Menz 3500 should clean up minor marring and light scratches.
 
WRAPT C5Z06 said:
That looks like micro marring to me. Griots correcting cream should work well and finish excellent on hard paint.

I do find it strange that complete compound with an orange pad is leaving micro marring on hard paint.


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I agree and I’m not sure why. On my wife’s Wrangler it worked great.
 
The last Audi I had was black and hard as viking toenails! I cut it with Menz HCC 400 and LC blue foamed wool. I finished it out with Menz 2500 on LC orange pads, both on my Flex 3401. Except for a few RIDS it came out very very nice. There were a few sections I had to hit twice with the 400/wool approach before being satisfied that 2500/orange can take it from here.

Yes, Audi's are a b***h to dial in an effective combo sometimes.

I do NOT like to just pound out paint with too aggressive of a cut. I like to find what is going to get down to remove the majority of the marring/scratches and leave as much clearcoat as I can. Especially on older paints.
 
Potatohead said:
I know I can compound the whole thing heavily but I am trying to avoid that on a new car.
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Paul A. said:
I do NOT like to just pound out paint with too aggressive of a cut. I like to find what is going to get down to remove the majority of the marring/scratches and leave as much clearcoat as I can. Especially on older paints.
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This is why I like to use the milder compounds like Blackfire or the Wolfgang Swirl Remover on a softer polishing pad. The paint is so hard you aren't removing much clear, yet it is removing defects and finishing out all in one step..
 
Potatohead said:
Here is a pic. To the right of the sun you can see there are little tiny 1/8" 'tick marks' around. These are consistent over the hood, fenders and top of the doors. I'm assuming whoever did it at the dealer didn't worry about the sides.

I am willing to use whatever product necessary, obviously. Being in Canada it's a little harder to find some of them. The Wolfgang stuff is not too bad to find. The ones I listed earlier are easier to find but that is not a deal breaker.

36CWYvq.jpg
Click to expand...

If the paint is in fact very hard, (and Audis are known for this), then I'd try Wolfgang Uber compound with a foam "polishing" pad.


:)
 
Desertnate said:
This is why I like to use the milder compounds like Blackfire or the Wolfgang Swirl Remover on a softer polishing pad. The paint is so hard you aren't removing much clear, yet it is removing defects and finishing out all in one step..
Click to expand...

Mike Phillips said:
If the paint is in fact very hard, (and Audis are known for this), then I'd try Wolfgang Uber compound with a foam "polishing" pad.
:)
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Well, after many hours of research, last night I decided I needed to make a decision and ordered the Sonax EX 04-06. It should have more cut than the AIO I am using and also uses diminishing abrasives which I am hoping will help too. I kind of wish I saw these posts first, lol, oh well. If it does not work I will try the above.
 
So I did a couple test spots today, the Sonax seems to be working. It’s a little hard to tell because there was no sunlight today and my LED light is only average but there is a definite improvement at the tape line. I tried a white pad with decent results and an orange pad with better results. Two passes of medium speed heavy pressure low arm speed, then four to five passes at high speed and gradually lower pressure and higher arm speed. Seems to work. I’ll do the whole car in about another month then seal it up for winter.
 
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