AudiOn19s

Looks good John. Sorry I've been soo busy that I'm useless in getting you those detailing supplies you wanted. You Should have stopped by Saturday when I was detailing that WS-6...beautiful car with some bolt-ons...owner dropped it off and said to take it for a spin if I wanted!!!...never did though he wanted to drive the M3 in return...HA

Phil...thanks a million.

How bad are the wheels? I use Klasse AIO (All In One) on chrome as it's mainly a chemical cleaner with a little protection in it and works great on chrome. Meguiars ColorX is a similar formula and available locally. I'd start with the least agressive approach first on chrome and only move up to the more abrasive stuff if you have to.

If anyone could point me towards some local Auto-x events in the near future it would be greatly appreciated. I let my SCCA membership lapse and the only thing I'm a member of anymore is gropus that do full track days and I desperately need to get my wife to an auto-x event to learn car control before putting her on the track at Mid Ohio at the end of may....and yes I thought of finding a big parking lot and teaching her there but I don't need any trouble with the law and it's been a couple of years since I've auto-x'd and I really miss it. Thanks for any help guys. Andy

Doesn't one of the Coughlins (JEGS) have a Yellow TT Lingenfelter Z06???...that one might do pretty well against bikes. or maybe I'm just misinformed.

Z-6 is a pure QD...not additional protection just gloss enhancers. It's great to use on something that's a couple days old and dusty and needs to be spruced up without a complete wash or just as a gloss enhancer after a wash. Optimum is literally like Z2...but applied like Z6 detail spray. It provides UV protection, and a synthetic protection to the car and has great longevity for a spray...now it still won't give you durability like a true sealant that's applied to the surface left to haze then removed...but from what I've seen it's a great short term alternative. If you're a Zaino user...Sal just release Z-8 last week...it's very close to the Optimum stuff in that it actually has polymers in it that provide protection and will make your origional Zaino applicaiton last longer (is there really a need to make zaino last longer?). YOu're probably better off using Z-8 than Optimum as Optimum has a small caranuba content in it which would cause bonding issues if you tried to layer Zaino on top of it down the road. Andy

As I ponder your question more...do you have time to fully dry and quick detail (with a spray) your car after running it through the wash...maybe a 15 minute deal at best?...if so I may have your solution. I've been using a new product that is a spray sealant. It's made by a company called Optimum and literally is a sealant (like Klasse and Zaino) that is applied like a Quick Detailer. Spray on the surface and rub in like a Quick detailer...no hazing and removing, no wait time at all. I Did a 5 week test on the Audi and was still getting beading after 4 weeks of washing (I hand wash that damn thing like 3 times a week) with nothing else on the surface. I eventually got bored and have since moved on to other things on there but I still use this stuff like it's going out of style for upkeep inbetween full details. I think that it might work great as a stand alone product for you. It cannot be used exactly like a QD though...if there's dust or anything on the surface it will clump all of the dust up and leave deposits...but if you're using it right after a wash it could be exactly what you need. Then even if the high pressure wash blows all off the protection off of the paint you're immediatly reapplying protection to your car. Here's a link to it. http://www.autogeek.net/optimum-spray-wax.html while you're there do yourself a favor and pick up a waffle Weave drying towel and a nice plush microfiber cloth to use with the Optimum....your CTS-V will thank you. http://www.autogeek.net/xlarcobwafwe.html http://www.autogeek.net/miracletowel.html Andy

Wow...I sure am slow this morning huh!!!... In general...the Gold Class stuff you put on there will probably only last a couple of times through the high pressure wash...maybe not even that depending on the chemicals used in that wash. Some of those places use a pretty strong pre cleaner in order to get the best results which works great at removing dirt but also works great at removing wax from the surface of the car. Polymers like Zaino will last longer but again running through an automated high pressure wash will greatly reduce longevity of any product simply because of the chemicals used and pressure used. There's many more things to consider as well when looking at longevity...half of the reason Zaino users get soo much longevity out of Zaino is they put 5-6 layers on the paint at the start of the season and always hand wash...it goes a long way in helping the product last longer. Realistically I'd say be prepared to wax the car once a month for proper protection if you're running it through an automated wash every week. If you take the time to do the entire Zaino Process on the car you might get 2-3 months...beading in the rain is the best way to tell how much surface tension (protection) remains. As for the Rejex...never used it but heard great things...as for NXT don't even bother as you'll get more durability out of the gold class that you've already got, it's really that disappointing. If I missed anything or can help out more feel free to keep the questions coming... Andy p.s. I offer wash packages too!!!

They did dyno it but the results were less than impressive in N/A form becuase they built the bottom end for a blower project. not sure if they're done with the whole blower project or not yet but it strikes me that in N/A form with all of the stuff that they did to it it still only made just over 300hp to the wheels. Andy

It's the 2 day is only 385 for the no-frills package...the $500 give you meals and accomodations if I remember correctly. My interpritation of the NASA is it's more geared towards competition cars and I'd need to add extra safety equipment to my car to participate and there's not as much instruction involved...but it's been awhile since I've seen te NASA site. Can someone please clear up what is needed for the NASA events and how much instruction you get that day? At this point the Tracquest event is looking much better than the BMW CCA event later this year that's even more expensive yet. Thanks for any input on the NASA events...I'm very intersted in learning more. Andy

I'm trying to get my "ducks-in-a-row" in order to be able to go to this event...Never attended a Tracquest event before but they come highly recommended. Anyhow...throwing this out there as an FYI to any that might be interested in going. www.tracquest.com for more info

www.andyzainodetail.com Take a peek (sorry it's under infinant construction) and give me a ring. Andy

And to answer the origional question...Sean (buck) is correct...you need to use the Clay bar and then Zaino...and I'd recommend using some sort of swirl remover inbetween....but removing swirls by hand is a very tiring. Beau. I'd have to disagree with you on the Z5 swirl filler. It doesn't do anything to remove them rather fills them in and you need 3-5 coats of it to really make a difference...it's a bit of a pain in the neck. I've quit using it all together because it takes me half the time to buff the entire car and truely remove them rather than fill them in. It is a great quick fix though if you don't have a buffer. Andy

Sean...sorry I should have made a post when I ordered last week but I was completely out of something that I thought was on the shelf in the basement and had to put a hurry on my order. Out of curiosity what do you need???...do you have any of the new formulation of Z2 yet??? I'll be sure to post here in the future before making any big orders again...my bad guys. Andy

Doggunracing: Do you know when the Nelson days start...I keep trying to go to their site and it's been down for some time. Andy

Black...nothing more rewarding than a clean black car. Proper wash technique and an hour a year with a buffer and it will look better than new for a long time to come. Just don't let the dealer prep whatever you get...I've fixed too many cars that had dealer-installed swirls prior to pickup. Andy

Did I hear someone in desperate need of a wash and wax???

Varioram: You're correct...My post was based upon common bolt-on upgrades for the 993. There are forced injection routes out there to make the car wicked fast but at the cost of buying an entire new car...but just like my M3 the car is soo close to it's potential from the factory that there are very few "cheap" mods for the car that are worth while in it's N/A form. Maintenance cost is another factor...but if you can do most of it yourself and rely on the dealer for what you cannot do then you should be OK. Speaking of which...I have a good friend that's a wrench at Byers...if you want his info PM me and I'll get it to you...I'm sure it will save you about 1/2 of your maintenance costs. For instance. Anyhow...yes the Evo is tempting...and it's a very nice car, easy to mod, and the M3 has been handed it's ass by a couple of them lately, but I'm over the point in my life where I try to be the fastest guy on the block. You're a little younger than me and maybe the Evo's a good move for you right now...but if it were me I'd be keeping the 993.

I'm a calfit member but I wouldn't be if I didn't live right around the corner from the new Polaris facility. I think I paid like $80 up front and $26 per month now for the membership. YOu really need to go check out the one closest to you to make sure it's right for you. When I joined I knew I was moving to the Polaris area and that the new facility was awesome...BUT worked out at the one in Gahanna for the first few months of my membership and I've never worked out in a worse dive in my life. Hell all summer they didn't even have Air conditioning...imagine running on a treadmill in a poorly ventalated gym on a 90 degree day...it was horrible. The new Polaris facility is great though and I have no complaints.

I too am going to vote for the Porsche...BUT disagree with everyone in some respect to the Porsche. Mod the crap out of the suspension on the porsche and you've got money well spent and you'll turn an already great handling car into an outstanding handling car...BUT spending money on power mods for the porsche is flushing money down the toiloet. European car had a project 993 that's never in the magazine in the project car section becuase everything they've tried to do to the car has been useless as far as increasing power goes. So...my advise is do suspension and be happy with it. If you're looking for speed the 911's not got much potential to get any faster than it already is (it's not exactly underpowered though). Andy

Wow...this is one ugly thread....but I'll try to contribute with facts and not my opinions. Rane: the 323 and 325 cars have the same 2.5 l motor...the 325 has a little better torque because of revised cam profiles but they're both listed as 184hp. The E46 cars got a bit fat and more luxurious than the E36 cars. The E36 M3 would be my choice in your price range. The 95 was a 3.0L OBDI car as listed earlier. It will respond better to basic bolt-ons than the 96-00 cars. the 96-01 cars increased to 3.2L again...more torque but no more power (245hp) The E46 M3 finally got the Double Vanos 3.2L that the European E36 cars had. 8000 rpm redline, 333 hp, ect. Yes it's a fatter car than the E36 but much faster too. With this car you have to realize that it's a GT not a true sports car. It's more of a compromise between an all out sports car and a luxury GT.

I could't agree with you more. Both of my cars get synthetic oil and get it every 3500 miles and one of them is a BMW. I see BMW's recomendation of 15k mile changes as a way to cheap out of maintenance costs on the cars. Crappy part about the whole deal is the M3's oil is mandated to 10W-60 and Castrol is the only manufacturer that makes a 10W-60 because BMW worked exclusively with them when all of the bearing issues started to occur on the M3's and this is part of the solution. Cheapest I can find the stuff online is $10 a quart. Cost $17 at the dealer. BMW will test the oil on engine failures and void the warranty if you're not running the correct oil. The cool part is that I've got a 100K mile engine warranty as long as I follow the rules. None the less...it's still going to get oil every 3500.

Suspension is the first mod I've done on every car I've ever owned...including the M3...coilovers will be here TODAY!!! Googley...welcome to the Nationwide family...It's a great company to work for. Where are you going to be working? I work downtown in Plaza 3

John...must be the season for new cars. Congrats on the new ride and great pick on the color combo. I'm forcasting a polishing and Zaino session in the near future

Wait until you see what's in store for the new M3!!!