As some might know, I chopped in my daily driver Audi S3 for a Macan a couple of months ago. So, finally I made time to detail it properly.
When I decided to change, I wanted something quite highly specced & reasonably quick to improve on the Audi. I looked at a GTS in Carmine red locally, & although it was nice, I just wasn't convinced I could live with that colour long term.
Sapphire blue is a colour I wanted for a while, so a road trip was in order...
I got the car home, & although it was reasonably clean, it had a few minor scratches & the paintwork had a rough feel about it after being parked under trees.
I knew I'd be giving it a ceramic coating, so wanted it up to scratch before starting.
First off were the wheels. I doubt the inside of them had been cleaned from day one as they felt like 80 grit sand paper on the insides, so off they came.
No before pics, but I took the opportunity to give the disks a bit of a clean up while I was at it. Silver Hammerite on the disks & a coating of Autofinesse Mint Rims on the calipers.
The wheels seem to have brake pad compound embedded in them, the worst I've ever come across! I tried Megs Wheel Brightener, Valet Pro Dragon Breath & Autoglym wheel cleaner, none of which made any impact.
I resorted to a clay bar which did the trick, but marred the paint.
Next I had to tidy them up with the DA with a heavy cut followed by a finishing compound. That was most of day one.
The actual bodywork was cleaned up using a Megs clay bar kit. This made a big difference to the feel of it, & smoothed the paint off.
The next task was to get rid of the swirls & minor scratches, most of which were up the passenger side. I suspect that the previous owner lived up a tree lined drive way judging by the scratching on it.
There was only one deep scratch on the passenger door which had to be dealt with using 4000 grit wet & dry. Thankfully the paint on these cars is quite thick, with the paint gauge reading a healthy 120 - 140 micron on most panels, so plenty to work with.
I did a heavy cut using the DA & Lake country orange pads with Poorboys
SSR3 followed with the finessing pads with Menzerna Final finish compound.
The paint was cleaned off using Gyeon Prep, & coated with Gyeon Q2 Syncro.
Once the prep is done, The Syncro consists of a coating of Q2 MOHS and Q2 Skin. Easy to apply & buff to an amazingly slick finish with a deep gloss. I'm really impressed with the end result. If it lasts as long as the Q2 I used before, I'll be happy.
The glass was also given a good clean & prep and given a coating of Gyeon Q2 View. Having used it before, I swear by it too. It's like a much more advanced, permanent version of Rainx.
The tyres, again were coated using Gyeon Q2 Tyre. It's the first time I've used it, and already I can say it's the pest tyre product I've seen to date. It seems to bond with the rubber so there's no throw, and it's still there after a 100 mile drive in torrential rain.
Now the only thing letting the car down are the exhaust tips & wheel centres. At two years old and less than 12k miles on it, I'd expect better! I'll have to see what my local OPC say about them.
When I decided to change, I wanted something quite highly specced & reasonably quick to improve on the Audi. I looked at a GTS in Carmine red locally, & although it was nice, I just wasn't convinced I could live with that colour long term.
Sapphire blue is a colour I wanted for a while, so a road trip was in order...
I got the car home, & although it was reasonably clean, it had a few minor scratches & the paintwork had a rough feel about it after being parked under trees.
I knew I'd be giving it a ceramic coating, so wanted it up to scratch before starting.
First off were the wheels. I doubt the inside of them had been cleaned from day one as they felt like 80 grit sand paper on the insides, so off they came.
No before pics, but I took the opportunity to give the disks a bit of a clean up while I was at it. Silver Hammerite on the disks & a coating of Autofinesse Mint Rims on the calipers.
The wheels seem to have brake pad compound embedded in them, the worst I've ever come across! I tried Megs Wheel Brightener, Valet Pro Dragon Breath & Autoglym wheel cleaner, none of which made any impact.
I resorted to a clay bar which did the trick, but marred the paint.
Next I had to tidy them up with the DA with a heavy cut followed by a finishing compound. That was most of day one.
The actual bodywork was cleaned up using a Megs clay bar kit. This made a big difference to the feel of it, & smoothed the paint off.
The next task was to get rid of the swirls & minor scratches, most of which were up the passenger side. I suspect that the previous owner lived up a tree lined drive way judging by the scratching on it.
There was only one deep scratch on the passenger door which had to be dealt with using 4000 grit wet & dry. Thankfully the paint on these cars is quite thick, with the paint gauge reading a healthy 120 - 140 micron on most panels, so plenty to work with.
I did a heavy cut using the DA & Lake country orange pads with Poorboys
SSR3 followed with the finessing pads with Menzerna Final finish compound.
The paint was cleaned off using Gyeon Prep, & coated with Gyeon Q2 Syncro.
Once the prep is done, The Syncro consists of a coating of Q2 MOHS and Q2 Skin. Easy to apply & buff to an amazingly slick finish with a deep gloss. I'm really impressed with the end result. If it lasts as long as the Q2 I used before, I'll be happy.
The glass was also given a good clean & prep and given a coating of Gyeon Q2 View. Having used it before, I swear by it too. It's like a much more advanced, permanent version of Rainx.
The tyres, again were coated using Gyeon Q2 Tyre. It's the first time I've used it, and already I can say it's the pest tyre product I've seen to date. It seems to bond with the rubber so there's no throw, and it's still there after a 100 mile drive in torrential rain.
Now the only thing letting the car down are the exhaust tips & wheel centres. At two years old and less than 12k miles on it, I'd expect better! I'll have to see what my local OPC say about them.
