Rupes Vs Menzerna

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Zubair

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Hi

I decided to try out my new Rupes system and what better way then to put it up against my tried and tested products that I use often on my details. The results were completely unexpected.

*First I tried the Rupes Yellow Keramik Gloss Fine Gel Polish(Cut of 3 or 4 out of 10 and Gloss 10/10) on my BigFoot LHR15ES as the system intended with the fine yellow pad against my Menzerna Power Protect Ultra(Cut 2/10 Gloss 10/10) with my DAS 500W DA using the Lake Country 5.5 " Flat Orange Cutting pad.

Winner in cut/correction and gloss: Rupes Keramik

*Next I decided to step up the competition and used Menzerna One-Step 3 IN 1(Cut 5/10 Gloss 9/10) also on my DAS 500W DA using the Lake Country 5.5 " Flat Orange Cutting pad.

Winner in cut/correction and gloss: Rupes Keramik

I was completely blown away, this is Rupes Fine/Finishing polish!

*I then decided why am I testing the Rupes mild polish against Menzerna AIO's, a fair comparison would be the Menzerna SF4000(Cut of 3 or 4 out of 10 and Gloss 10/10) which I swear by and make this a fair fight! Same machine but this time used the Lake Country 5.5" Flat White Polishing pad.

Winner in cut/correction and gloss: Rupes Keramik

*Next, same step as above I used Meguiars Ultimate Polish(Cut of 2 or 3 out of 10 and Gloss 10/10)

Winner in cut/correction and gloss: Rupes Keramik


Whilst the Keramik repeatedly beat the competition in correcting and finish, it, like the others above didn't remove all the swirls which wasn't my intention of the test anyways as I was certain before this I was gona have to hit the car with Menzerna FG400 as being an offroader and used as such had bush rash, tons of rids and swirls etc.

So, I then decided what the heck, lets try the Rupes Green Quarz Gloss Medium Gel compound(Cut of 5 or 7 out of 10 and Gloss 8/10) on its intended Green pad. The results? Blew me away! It behaved like a compound, got rid of 99% of the swirls and finished LSP ready!

I tried my best taking pics with my iPhone 6 but in the pics I could not show the improvement on swirls and the differences which were very apparent in real.

The Rupes as a system is absolutely fantastic! I am so impressed with my purchase that I intend to purchase the remaining pads and polishes and keep this in my arsenal as my go to for all my details indefinately!





 
Thanks for sharing your experiences.

It is important to keep in mind that the RUPES machine, pads, and polishes are designed to be used together. While the competition (Menzerna) is not part of a "system" it is designed to be used with positive drive machines such as a circular polisher and Hybrid DA machines. (Flex 3401, Makita Bo6040, etc)

DAT based products produce optimal results when used with consistent positive drive machines, whereas when used with random orbital machines the same results are not achieved based on the principle of the consistently variable drive path.
 
When my Wolfgang product run out might have to give them a try.
 
Mike@DedicatedPerfection said:
Thanks for sharing your experiences.

It is important to keep in mind that the RUPES machine, pads, and polishes are designed to be used together. While the competition (Menzerna) is not part of a "system" it is designed to be used with positive drive machines such as a circular polisher and Hybrid DA machines. (Flex 3401, Makita Bo6040, etc)

DAT based products produce optimal results when used with consistent positive drive machines, whereas when used with random orbital machines the same results are not achieved based on the principle of the consistently variable drive path.
Click to expand...

I didn't know Menzerna required rotary or direct drive machines only, all documentation I have on them state rotary and orbital. That being said I've always been super impressed with Menzerna on my 8mm orbit DA with LC Flat pads. I purchased the Rupes for comfort and really wasn't expecting this results to be honest. I have no idea how the Rupes polishes work without their pads or DA. I see no reason to find out as the combo of their machine/pad/polish system is absolutely incredible. That being said, Menzerna will still be used on my non Rupes machine. The Rupes system on the other hand, to me, is a very advanced, well thought out, professional, all in one system. It screams out "This is the future!" And you know what? I think it might just be right.
 
Zubair said:
I didn't know Menzerna required rotary or direct drive machines only, all documentation I have on them state rotary and orbital. That being said I've always been super impressed with Menzerna on my 8mm orbit DA with LC Flat pads. I purchased the Rupes for comfort and really wasn't expecting this results to be honest. I have no idea how the Rupes polishes work without their pads or DA. I see no reason to find out as the combo of their machine/pad/polish system is absolutely incredible. That being said, Menzerna will still be used on my non Rupes machine. The Rupes system on the other hand, to me, is a very advanced, well thought out, professional, all in one system. It screams out "This is the future!" And you know what? I think it might just be right.
Click to expand...


Menzerna can be used with DA, no problem...I do it all the time!
 
Zubair said:
I didn't know Menzerna required rotary or direct drive machines
Click to expand...

They don't. At all.
The Rupes system is designed to work together in that a lot of the pad + product decisions are made for you for simplicity, but the statement that you can't use Menzerna certainly needs to be qualified or it's just an opinion ( of someone always touting Flex? ).
 
I really liked the performance of Menzerna polishes with my Rupes machine and pads.

I actually prefer meguiar's d300 and m105 over the Zephir, or FG400 on the blue microfiber pad though.

The Yellow pad with m205, answer SF4000 is excellent as well.
 
Anyone try the Rupes gel, with another DA? I'm interested to see if they'd work with a PC. I've been holding off buying Menz for now as Meg's M101 and Car Pro Reflect seem to be my winning combo (for my hydro-tech pads and PC DA).
 
I'm gona use the Rupes as a system as it was intended and on my other DA continue with Meguiars Ultimate Compound/Ultimate Polish combo along with Menzerna FG400/SF4000. I also intend on getting a Flex 3401 to use with Lake Country 5.5" Orange Hybrid pads for more serious compounding as I feel every setup excels in its own right, no one machine does the best of everything. Depending on what needs to be done I will reach for that.

Flex-Cutting,Correcting,Compounding.
Rupes-Finishing,Jeweling,Medium Polishing.

Having different options of machines,pads and polishes makes detailing so much more fun and rewarding. Saying one brand is better than the rest and the be and end all of detailing would be narrow minded.
 
Zubair said:
I'm gona use the Rupes as a system as it was intended and on my other DA continue with Meguiars Ultimate Compound/Ultimate Polish combo along with Menzerna FG400/SF4000. I also intend on getting a Flex 3401 to use with Lake Country 5.5" Orange Hybrid pads for more serious compounding as I feel every setup excels in its own right, no one machine does the best of everything. Depending on what needs to be done I will reach for that.

Flex-Cutting,Correcting,Compounding.
Rupes-Finishing,Jeweling,Medium Polishing.

Having different options of machines,pads and polishes makes detailing so much more fun and rewarding. Saying one brand is better than the rest and the be and end all of detailing would be narrow minded.
Click to expand...


Didn't you just state this in another thread:

"I will state this again:

Direct driven machines such as rotaries and even ones that are hybrids like the Flex 3401-direct driven+orbital still have a chance of burning paint especially edges and will not finish off as well as a free floating machine. Direct drivens cut fast but free floating DA's finish better.

Flex-Cutting,Correcting,Compounding.
Rupes-Finishing,Jeweling,Polishing.

Also based on my experience yesterday on the link above I am 100% certain that the Flex is no match for the Rupes system when it comes to finishing."

Just so I am clear, you say on one hand above that you are 100% certain (based on your experience and opinion) that Flex is no match for Rupes for finishing and then in this thread say "Saying one brand is better than the rest and the be and end all of detailing would be narrow minded".

I really appreciated all your comments for Rupes, but everyone's eye is different so we all should be a little careful (including myself since I have made statements that in hindsight were too judgmental) in making bold statements like this where 100% certainty in your opinion may be the exact opposite of someone else.
 
In finishing I have no doubt long throw orbitals are superior in finishing. And yes no one brand makes the best of everything, how can the Rupes cut faster than a gear driven forced rotation machine? Each machine does something better. There isn't one machine or product that cuts and finishes the best.Maybe this is clearer?
 
Zubair said:
In finishing I have no doubt long throw orbitals are superior in finishing. And yes no one brand makes the best of everything, how can the Rupes cut faster than a gear driven forced rotation machine? Each machine does something better. There isn't one machine or product that cuts and finishes the best.Maybe this is clearer?
Click to expand...

On the bold, there are some guys out there that will claim the longer throw of the Rupes allows it to correct just as fast or faster than a Flex. Not having used either I can't say one way or the other, but my thinking is inline with yours, direct drive will correct faster.

Also, it seems like you are right that there isn't one machine that does everything the best. I guess that's why professionals have several different tools. I think the best thing for an enthusiast is to find the machine that they can get the results they are looking for and are most comfortable with. Thoughts?
 
It seems like the comparison would have been a little more valid if the polishes, compounds, AIO, would have been used with the same machine. By adding the variable of product and machine, I think the comparison suffers. Had you stuck with one machine or the other, then the product comparison would have given you a truer perspective on which product is superior.

Walter
 
MIsnowman said:
On the bold, there are some guys out there that will claim the longer throw of the Rupes allows it to correct just as fast or faster than a Flex. Not having used either I can't say one way or the other, but my thinking is inline with yours, direct drive will correct faster.

Also, it seems like you are right that there isn't one machine that does everything the best. I guess that's why professionals have several different tools. I think the best thing for an enthusiast is to find the machine that they can get the results they are looking for and are most comfortable with. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Completely agree, use what you comfortable with and what gets the job done.
 
whavens said:
It seems like the comparison would have been a little more valid if the polishes, compounds, AIO, would have been used with the same machine. By adding the variable of product and machine, I think the comparison suffers. Had you stuck with one machine or the other, then the product comparison would have given you a truer perspective on which product is superior.

Walter
Click to expand...

The comparison was a personal one to test my usual system vs the Rupes system.
 
Zubair said:
The comparison was a personal one to test my usual system vs the Rupes system.
Click to expand...

That's what I would have done as well. But, since you saw such a difference in results, it would've been nice to test the other products with each machine to see if the results were similar. Maybe you're usual system isn't as good as the Rupes system regardless of machine.
 
I did a test earlier, used Megs Ultimate Compound with LC 5.5" Orange Flat pad on both machines. I must admit my Rupes does NOT like this non Rupes pads, it wobbles and just doesnt feel as well balanced so I will not be using non Rupes pads again, and only did this to answer your questions. The Rupes equiped with the same compound and pad as the other machine still corrected faster and finished better. Damn I'm starting to love this machine even more! Heres a nice short accurate video on someone who uses both direct driven and orbital:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CdXhKZbftig

Were I detailing this car, I wouldn't use any other machine on it either:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yoNc-7uollE
 
IMHO (I'm no physicist - so if one is out there please prove me wrong), but the Rupes machine will do more correction per unit of time, compared to any 8mm machine, because it covers more surface area per unit of time, due to the larger throw.

The monkey wrench in this theory, as I see it - Is downward pressure. We all know adding more downward pressure while polishing paint will make your combo more aggressive. We also know that using a ton of downward pressure beats up the operator of the machine physically. The 3401 requires more work to control and more downward pressure. The machine can also "walk" for some users - requiring even more muscle power to keep it strait.

So, the question as I see it is - "What corrects easier?".

Rupes.

The only Rupes downfall as I see it is on complex curves, the machine can stop spinning. So, that is what they make a smaller machine.

My guess is the Rupes will always finish better (and easier) for two reasons:

1. Pads stay cleaner - better residue control due to larger stroke.

2. Lack of forced rotation.

Remember, imitation is the best form of flattery...

Where are all the Chinese direct drive 8mm machines?
 
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