EX-P: A first look at the production version

[awd330]

As a result of winning the “Name the Product� contest, I was entitled to receive a free bottle of EX-P. The initial cases of EX-P made their way from the factory to Steve’s warehouse on Friday morning. By Friday afternoon, I had a bottle in my hot little hands.

The first thing I noticed was that the color was different from the prototype samples. Steve explained that he had decided not to add any artificial colors to the production version. The prototype version that I received in December had the same banana yellow coloring as the regular EX product, while the production version is more of a milky grey. The scent is also different from regular EX and reminds me of coconut and vanilla.

Does anybody remember the old paper labels that used to come on bottles of EX?

[awd330]

Since Friday, I have had the opportunity to try EX-P on two vehicles. The first car is my “beater� (a beige metallic 1996 Ford Explorer with 143,000 miles on the odometer). The second car is my “daily driver� (a light greyish green metallic 2002 BMW 330xi).

The prep for the Ford was a quick once over with Spray & Wipe followed by Polish with Carnauba applied by PC with a polishing pad. The EX-P was then applied with a finishing pad. Waited 45 minutes and then started wiping. Amazingly, I discovered that it was easier to wipe off than the prototype version which was already easier to wipe than regular EX. I would put it on the same ease of use level as S100 paste wax... simply effortless. I even tried wiping with a variety of MF towels to see if one type/weave would work better than the rest. No difference was apparent to me, and I am very picky about my towel choices. After wiping, I ran my hand along the surface and “whoa�! It was soooooooo smooth and slick. The surface had a warm glow about it, and the metallic flakes really shimmered. However, the most pleasant aspect of the finish was its clarity. For a car that has spent a good portion of its long life in airport parking lots, “clarity� shouldn’t even be a pipe dream. Yet, that’s how I would describe the look with EX-P.

[awd330]

143000 miles and still pretty clear.

[awd330]

Metallic flake shimmers

[awd330]

For the BMW, I decided to experiment with different prep combinations. As before, I started off with Spray and Wipe. Then I applied Polish with Carnauba, Pro Polish, and Vanilla Moose to various panels. All 3 products were applied by PC with polishing pads. EX-P was up next (applied by PC with a finishing pad). Waited 1.5 hours and found it just as easy to wipe off as before. Afterwards, I noticed that there were subtle differences in appearance between the panels. EX-P seems to take on the characteristics of the preceding layer. The Polish with Carnauba prep provided the same results as observed on the Ford – warm glow with shimmering metallics. The Pro Polish prep gave us an extremely clear and bright look that’s similar to Natty’s Wax. The Vanilla Moose prep resulted in a very wet and sparkly look.

[awd330]

another look

[awd330]

one more

[awd330]

For those of you trying to decide between EX and EX-P, I would describe the decision this way. If you prefer the looks of Natty’s Wax (clear and bright) rather than S100 (warm and deep), you will probably like EX-P more than regular EX. But if you prefer S100’s looks to Natty’s, then regular EX may be more to your liking. Personally, I prefer S100 on darker colors and Natty’s on lighter colors and as well as metallics. For the two vehicle described above, I prefer EX-P to EX.

My next plan of action is to add a third vehicle to the test fleet (a dark grey 2003 Porsche Boxster). On that particular car, I prefer using S100 instead of Natty’s Wax. So, I am going to do a comparison between EX and EX-P to see if my theory holds up. Afterwards, I will post a follow-up reply to this thread. Here is a photo of that car (with regular EX) from last summer.

awd330,

Great pics! Great work................ and by the sound/looks of it.......... great product!

[awd330]

In case anyone is wondering, the polishes were distributed as follows -

- Polish with Carnauba was used on all of the Ford panels as well as the roof of the BMW.

- Pro Polish was used on the hood, front bumper, and right side panels of the BMW.

- Vanilla Moose was used on the trunk, rear bumper, and left side panels of the BMW.

In the photo of the hood and left front fender of the BMW, you may be able to see the slight difference in shine characteristics. The hood with PP is very bright and clear, while the fender with VM is very wet looking.