peter pan

Thoughts on doing Ceramic coating on our new C8 Torch Red should arrive to us mid to late November. I enjoy maintaining our vehicles and will do the same on our new C8. I will do a strip wash and not sure if I will clay. I will do a decon before I do any buffing, I was thinking a one step like Sonax Perfect Finish, I have a 15mm Maxshine buffer, I use orange Lake Country pads for cutting, but also have white pads. Was also thinking for the ceramic coating to use Car Pros CQUARTZ UK Edition.

Also not sure of maintenance products as I going to upgrade over Turtle Wax Hybrid Ceramic products. I will also have HRE FF11 wheels, what to coat them with. We are getting the HTC, was also thinking of a mini polisher for some of the tight areas.

Thanks for looking.

Gixxerman

Just read through this section, same as any other new car.. but beware many are good but based on opinion.. you need to sift through to make your call

tractman

Just received my '22 Torch Red HTC. After examining the paint which is totally incredible....never ever had a Corvette with paint this awesome.....I will be changing my winter detail plan. I will do the normal preliminaries like IronX, Clay, and Chemical Guys Honeydew soap through the foam cannon. I went over every inch of my car with an LED Scangrip and found no major issues needing correction.....therefore, I'm skipping the more aggressive polish level where I always use Sonax Perfect Finish with a Yellow Rupes pad. I will now polish only with Menzerna P3800 Fine Polish using a White Rupes Finishing pad on my dual action buffer. I will inspect again then clean with Gyeon Prep to prepare the paint for a coating. I have chosen Apex Metal Oxide coating with the Apex Sheeting topper. I just looked at an Elkhart Lake Blue that Brian (Apex Detailing) finished with this product and was thoroughly impressed with the results.

NextOne

I have a Carpro ceramic coating on my C8. I'm one that likes to use the same "family" of products on my car. For maintenance, I'm using Ech2O for waterless cleanups, bird bombs, front end bug cleanups, etc. For a wash soap and foamer I use Reset. And for coating maintenance, I'm using EliXr after each wash. Perl (at varying dilutions) is great for Plastics, Engine, Rubber and Leather.

Then there's IronX for decontamination. That was my first Carpro product, and it lead me to the rest of their products.

The CQUARTZ UK Edition appears to do very well in the reviews I've seen. Looks like a sound choice.

vader86

Well when i did my GS at 500 miles in, I did the clay, and it was surprisingly needed.

Esoteric Detail

​​​​​​A coating is a great choice if it fits your particular needs & wants as far as car care goes, some considerations/info on that topic:

Will I be disappointed with a ceramic coating:


What coating manufacturers don't want you to know:


5 Common myths about ceramic coatings:


Making the right decision! Wax vs ceramic coating:


With all of that in mind, generally the 'Best Practices' as far as prep are (you can skip the 'Strip Wash'):

1. Wash

2. Chemical & Mechanical Decontamination

Chemical vs. Mechanical Decontamination - ESOTERIC Car Care!


Even if you think you don't need it, may as well clay as your are polishing anyway. Generally you don't want to clay without polishing afterwards as clay is abrasive:

How often should I clay my car? FAQ's by ESOTERIC!


3. Polishing

The Sonax PF you mention should do just fine even with your new paint which will likely have some level of defects despite being new and will need polishing regardless after claying.

You'll probably want a Mini Polisher to get into the tight spaces.

4. Wipedown with something like Gyeon Prep to remove polishing oils.

5. Apply coating.

There's a plethora of great consumer-available coatings out there, a bit of info on some of the easy-to-use coatings available to consumers that we use in our detailing operations each day. Daily driver Honda's or limited edition exotics, a great coating is a great coating no matter the vehicle it is on and ease of use in addition to exceptional performance is paramount for us.

Kamikaze Miyabi: The EASIEST glass coating in the world!:


ISM Coat v1.0 by KAMIKAZE-Collection!


​​​​​​Given the wide variety of products currently available to the care-care consumer, it’s a great time to find what best suits your needs be it wax, sealant, coating...all the way up to PPF + Ceramic Coating. While there is no universal best solution for everyone and every situation, it’s likely that there is one that is best *for you* and finding it can be part of the fun if one is so inclined. Sometimes the journey is as rewarding as the destination!