HD Speed - Review

Angus

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For this review I’m going to share my first experience using HD Speed as part of my daily driver’s winter prep.



(*Spoiler Alert* I love this stuff!!!)

From 3D’s copy for HD Speed;
HD Speed polishes and protects the painted surface in one easy and simple step. Removes light to moderate surface scratches and swirl marks. This remarkable product restores color, depth, and gloss while adding a long lasting wax to the surface. Its exceptional open time allows longer polishing and waxing period, and less product use. Product works best when applied in a shaded area but is sun friendly when used correctly. Great for those who want quick, minor paint correction with protection.
In full disclosure: when I started my winter prep process using HD Speed was not what I had in mind. My plan was to try out another new polish I had just picked up but after a few passes with it, I was shocked to see a ton of haze appear. Crap! After changing my approach/ switching aggressiveness of pads/ amount of applied pressure/ arm speed - NOTHING was working.

Now typically I’ll use M205 on black CCS pad w/ my 3401 (speed 5) on my Honda’s soft black paint with perfect results. But I was fresh out of M205, the day was slipping by, and with it my window to get this done before the wife came home. Double Crap!!

Time for a miracle!! (enter HD Speed)



Check out what using a primed white CCS pad + 3401 @ speed 5 + a few drops of HD Speed did to the marring haze on my hood:


(corrected on the left/haze on the right)

HD Speed to the rescue! I wish I had taken the time to take a before and after photo of my face because I had the biggest $h!t eating grin from ear to ear when I finally had my approach dialed in thanks to HD Speed.

I quickly tackle the rest of the vehicle with ease. Here’s a 50/50 on my trunk lid:


(Notice the left side hazy vs sharp side sharp overhead light reflections)

On my rear bumper:

Before:


After:


More afters:











Additional Observations

HD Speed is interesting product and w/ a small learning curve. Unlike a lot of other polishes that need you make an X w/ product to first prime the pad, doing so with HD Speed will result in your pad quickly become caked with too-much product. By only using a few dime size drops of HD Speed, you’ll get amazing results. Plus once you’re done HD Speed also wipes off with total ease with ZERO dusting! You can work it over a huge section before you need to remove it!!

The only odd thing i noticed was the dark reside that had formed on the edges of my pad after I was done a panel:



The only place this didn't happen was after doing the bumpers. Not sure if it was paint transfer, old wax coming off, or what but I've never seen that before. It easily washed out of the pad, and the paint looks great so I don't think it was the start of clear coat failure. Who knows. Well, on second thought - I'm sure you guys have an idea or two!

Lastly I'd like the give David Fermani, Ben@3D, and the whole 3D/HD crew a special thanks and apology for my taking so long to review this awesome product. I picked HD Speed as part of a giveaway over on Autopia 3D/HD did earlier this year. Sorry guys!! But you've made a huge fan out me. HD Speed is now my go-to AIO product :) I can't wait to use it again.

As always, thanks for reading. I hope this review was helpful :)
 
Great review Angus. For me there is nothing NOT to love about this product. Great correction, easy to use, and no dust. I find myself reaching for it more than my other polishes.
 
Thanks for the review. It has become my #1 AIO as well.
 
Great review Angus. For me there is nothing NOT to love about this product. Great correction, easy to use, and no dust. I find myself reaching for it more than my other polishes.

Thanks, Pat! HD Speed needs to be in everyone's go-to arsenal. It saved my bacon!!!

Thanks for the review. It has become my #1 AIO as well.

Thank you, Sir! Such an awesome product. :dblthumb2:
 
Thanks for the review. Perfect timing too! I have a Subaru coming this morning that I planned on trying out speed for the first time with.

Owner didn't want to spend the money on a full paint correction, and speed seemed like the perfect product for the job.

After your review, and others I have read, I have no doubt speed will deliver awesome results.
 
Awesome review again ANGUS! Thanks for sharing my friend:)
 
Thanks for the review. Perfect timing too! I have a Subaru coming this morning that I planned on trying out speed for the first time with.

Owner didn't want to spend the money on a full paint correction, and speed seemed like the perfect product for the job.

After your review, and others I have read, I have no doubt speed will deliver awesome results.

Sweet! Very happy to hear it. The only thing tricky about HD Speed is learning how little product you need to use. After that it's smooth sailing. Don't even worry about wiping it immediately off either - you'll be amazed how it just refuses to dry out.

Awesome review again ANGUS! Thanks for sharing my friend:)

Thank you, Sir! Glad you liked it :)
 
quick question: is the "glaze" a misnomer? Are there fillers? Great results.
 
*Follow Up*

Given HD Speed has a sealant built in, I was curious to see if my pads had become hydrophobic and if I'd have to reserve them for Speed use only. To test this, I grabbed the pinkest (FYI: HD Speed stains) pad of the 5 used, and ran the pad under water to see if it would repel liquid:



Nope! Totally fine and not hydrophobic at all! Unlike my pads reserved for WDGPS 3.0, water did not immediately bead up and roll off the pads surface.



Now mind you, after each panel I toss used pads into a solution of DP Pad Rejuvenator and soak them for 15-20 minutes in order to clean out spent product. Had I not done this, then perhaps the results of my non-scientific test would have been different.

So other then a few new HD Speed pink stained pads, I don't see any reason not to keep using these pads for various polishing projects.



:dblthumb2:
 
So, I just looked on their website and the label there doesn't say "glaze". Maybe I'm making more out of this than I need to, but I would want to know if I'm correcting the defect or simply masking it.
 
any idea how long the protection will last? I just picked some up but we are at the start of a Chicago winter so I might wait until the spring and keep WDGPS on the car all winter.
 
So, I just looked on their website and the label there doesn't say "glaze". Maybe I'm making more out of this than I need to, but I would want to know if I'm correcting the defect or simply masking it.

Ok you got me wondering too! I remember David Fermani from 3D/HD commenting on this very question over on Autopia earlier this year. Here's what he had to say: "Speed does not fill in the sense of masking or hiding defects. What it does is add extra gloss due to the wax content in it. Speed is a combination of HD Polish & HD Poxy."

The thread then got a little heated on the question of fillers in HD Poxy = Fillers in HD Speed. From reading it seems like the HD Polish portion of HD Speed takes care of the imperfections and then HD Poxy protects/helps to darken the paint.

Full thread can be found here:

Autopia Forum - Auto Detailing & Car Care Discussion Forum

any idea how long the protection will last? I just picked some up but we are at the start of a Chicago winter so I might wait until the spring and keep WDGPS on the car all winter.

From researching an answer to the above question, it seems 2 months is the average most have seen. If you recently applied WDGPS, keep it on for now and use HD Speed for your spring cleaning. :dblthumb2:
 
Thank you for the review. Seems to reinforce the thought that it's one of the more capable AIO's. I did find the label to be interesting- seems like they threw on every attention getting descriptor they could think of!
 
Thank you for the review. Seems to reinforce the thought that it's one of the more capable AIO's. I did find the label to be interesting- seems like they threw on every attention getting descriptor they could think of!

You're very welcome! If you haven't tried HD Speed, I highly recommend it :)

Thanks for the follow-up Angus.
Wow, that thread was tense.

:dblthumb2:
 
Very nice review Ian! Car looks great.

Pretty surprised by the amount of correction shown on the rear bumper area.

Thanks for sharing.
 
Great review, Angus, thanks! Looks like an excellent and economical AIO.

Did you by any chance rub any black trim with your pads to maybe get that perimeter blackness?
 
Very nice review Ian! Car looks great.

Pretty surprised by the amount of correction shown on the rear bumper area.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, Mike! I know you're a Menzerna Man, but I'd highly suggest checking HD Speed out. I've love to see how HD Speed compares to Menzerna 3 in1 :)

Great review, Angus, thanks! Looks like an excellent and economical AIO.

Thank you, Sir!

Did you by any chance rub any black trim with your pads to maybe get that perimeter blackness?

It's a good question. I don't think so but maybe? At first I thought I was picking up paint transfer from the pin-striping, and then later I was wondering if it was leftover BLACKICE Wax from an earlier detail.
 
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