Opinions: Opti-coat or CQuartz

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HeavyMetal

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I realize these haven't been available to the masses for all that long, but I'm looking for an easy to maintain, fairly glossy coating for my nephew's car. He's a law student and doesn't have the time like we do. Sooooo.... Which of these is the easiest to maintain? Which is the glossiest?
 
HeavyMetal said:
I realize these haven't been available to the masses for all that long, but I'm looking for an easy to maintain, fairly glossy coating for my nephew's car. He's a law student and doesn't have the time like we do. Sooooo.... Which of these is the easiest to maintain? Which is the glossiest?
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Both are amazing. Both look fantastic. Both are easy to maintain. Probably why AG chose to stock both. I stock both. I have been playing with both since last summer. They have subtle differences. The big thing for me is that you can layer CQ. The advantage to that is when you get a stone chip, you don't need to compound off the coating on the whole panel like you do with OC. I have a chip right now on my Lincoln that I have filled and will wet sand flat and redo with CQ. I will only have to do the immediate area and will not need to buff the whole hood. Manufuacturer claims aside, real world testing has not yet proven which one lasts longer. If you get 2 years out of a coating, personally, I think that's amazing given the conditions we drive in. (thinking of Canadian winters). CQ is easier to apply, no question. Some report OC has a darkening effect on dark colours. I did side by side panels on my Infiniti FX35 and and saw no discernable difference in looks. Both repel water and dirt like crazy. do a lot of reading and decide what makes more sense for you.
 
You won't find a better summary than what Richy just provided.
 
richy said:
Both are amazing. Both look fantastic. Both are easy to maintain. Probably why AG chose to stock both. I stock both. I have been playing with both since last summer. They have subtle differences. The big thing for me is that you can layer CQ. The advantage to that is when you get a stone chip, you don't need to compound off the coating on the whole panel like you do with OC. I have a chip right now on my Lincoln that I have filled and will wet sand flat and redo with CQ. I will only have to do the immediate area and will not need to buff the whole hood. Manufuacturer claims aside, real world testing has not yet proven which one lasts longer. If you get 2 years out of a coating, personally, I think that's amazing given the conditions we drive in. (thinking of Canadian winters). CQ is easier to apply, no question. Some report OC has a darkening effect on dark colours. I did side by side panels on my Infiniti FX35 and and saw no discernable difference in looks. Both repel water and dirt like crazy. do a lot of reading and decide what makes more sense for you.
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Thanks Richy. I've read a lot on both including all of your posts on various forums. Your comments on the repairability and ease of application kinda seals it for me (pun intended).
 
Question: How long has Opti-Coat been around vs. CQuartz? :poke:
 
rwright said:
Question: How long has Opti-Coat been around vs. CQuartz? :poke:
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From what I understand in my reading on the Optimum forum is that OC has been in the testing stages (with differing versions) for at least 3 years. Different methods of application have been tried with it too.
As far as CQuartz, it has been around since last summer, but its predecessor, AQuartz was around before that. That would be a great question to pose to Avi frankly. I don't know the answer to that. I will PM him the thread and ask him to respond.
 
Great stuff guys..!...its been my experience over the years that my first "feeling" about something is usually the right one. When I over-think something, I usually regret it, and my initial inclination after reading through your reviews (and many others) regarding these products is that CQ makes more sense for me.

I agree...2 years out of any product is quite satisfactory, along with ease of application, and being able to layer it. In a nutshell CQ sounds like its a bit more "forgiving" for lack of a better term. Both sound like great products, but my first inclination was to go with CQ, and I'm sticking with it. I already love the Reload product, so the two should play well together.

I'm an Optimum fan and I really like their products, and I'm sure that Opti-Coat is a great product as well.

Now if only the snow would stop..!...its crazy, crazy weather.
 
I definitely think there is room for both products. In response to what Richard elluded to... Optimum is a company that I have a lot of trust in. If it is made for paint care and Dr. G engineered it then I trust it.
 
I was just messing around really :) Both have their place in the industry and it's really tough to decide which route to take. I want to say more but I don't want to cause trouble.

OP, this is going to be a tough decision and I wish you the best!
 
rwright said:
Question: How long has Opti-Coat been around vs. CQuartz? :poke:
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Cquartz launched 6 months ago, im in the nano field for 4 years now , i know all about this tech and have much experience, thats why we designed the cquartz.
i guess your question try to reflect how come i say up to 2 year, if its only sold for 6 months, today you can run lab tests which accelerate to the extreme normal conditions, and know this way the time .round about, and still the "2 years" dont mean anything basically, its all in the maintenance.
see our independent lab test results we show :
http://cquartz.com/images/stories/pdf/Cquartz KTR test-2.pdf
i think we are one of the only western company who show such test !

to show how well cquartz bonded and protect the paint, you can see this flame retarding video we done, this is Mercedes real panel paint! , average flame temp. 800 ~1000 deg.C.
this to show how bonding is not to fire the car paint ofcourse:xyxthumbs:

[video=youtube_share;W6vP2-kzuyU&feature=player_embedded] - cquartz on fire ! .wmv[/video]
 
Thanks for the info Avi and I wish you the best of success.

HeavyMetal, unless you plan to expose your paint to fire, acid, chlorine, etc. I think you will be fine with either choice. Only time will tell how each product will succeed, especially now that Opti-Coat has been released to consumers. Both have their pro's, both have their con's. What people really need to do is have both on hand and experiment with both products so that they can best determine what fits their given situation.
 
I have both, just put CQ on the gf's black car for my first use, and after doing the prep work, used a little round make up remover like CEE DOG used in his testing, well, the car was "sqeeky" clean and the applicator was not totally primed and it marred the hood. I tossed those and used the cotton applicator that came with the CQ and did the rest of the car. Last night I rebuffed the hood to remove the CQ and the marring and after polishing and stripping the hood, I reapplied CQ. I found once I got a feel for applying it, waiting around 15 minutes and going back over it with a MF, it was not bad at all and I REALLY LIKE IT! Next up will be my black car and I will use the OC so I can compare the two...
 
Tom Weed said:
I have both, just put CQ on the gf's black car for my first use, and after doing the prep work, used a little round make up remover like CEE DOG used in his testing, well, the car was "sqeeky" clean and the applicator was not totally primed and it marred the hood. I tossed those and used the cotton applicator that came with the CQ and did the rest of the car. Last night I rebuffed the hood to remove the CQ and the marring and after polishing and stripping the hood, I reapplied CQ. I found once I got a feel for applying it, waiting around 15 minutes and going back over it with a MF, it was not bad at all and I REALLY LIKE IT! Next up will be my black car and I will use the OC so I can compare the two...
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I should have stuck with the regular foam applicator for Opti-coat. My reasoning seemed logical at the time though... Sorry for the bad idea.
 
CEE DOG said:
I should have stuck with the regular foam applicator for Opti-coat. My reasoning seemed logical at the time though... Sorry for the bad idea.
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No applogy necessary, that might have been the best review I've seen!!! :xyxthumbs:
 
Tom Weed said:
No applogy necessary, that might have been the best review I've seen!!! :xyxthumbs:
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Thank you! I wish I could edit it to add a little blurb at the top about my second thoughts on the applicators.
 
Talk to one of the Admins. I'm sure they will let you. I would hurry though as everyone might get mad at you for causing scratches and raid your house.
 
I keep going back and forth between the two as well.

I really like CQ because its really easy to apply and layer. OC, having no experience with it yet and going off of reviews, seems more trickier to apply but I get the feeling it will last longer.

I think I may go for OC just because I already tried CQ and decide for myself which I like best.
 
IME HeavyMetal they both are very good products.
From my applications of both,I tend to use OC on vehicles that have soft paint because CQ has to be buffed (wiped) off and the CQ induced swirls when doing so.I have CQ'd (5) vehicles and I only get marring with the vehicles with soft paint.This is using the super soft blue suede CQ MF's.
The OC is a lil (very little) more finicky to apply but you don't have to wipe it off (only high spots),hence not leaving any marring on soft paint.
I have a 2001' Black TransAm (Soft Paint) that is OC'd and a 2006' Magnesium Chrysler 300 (Harder Paint) that is CQ'd.
So my personal rule of thumb for customers vehicle is:
Soft paint = OC
Harder/Hard Paint = CQ

Again,Just My Opinion
 
Being able to layer the C Quartz after a paint chip repair is reason enough for me to go with the C Quartz. I absolutely love the Optimum line but I am not willing to compound an entire panel to use touch up paint.
 
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