Ibis White 8P A3 170 DSG

[dubbers]

We bought this car a few months ago from a local dealer. It was 1 month old ex-demo model and as part of the price negotiations I waved the superguard/autoglym offer. I'd kinda expected the car to have had its paint prepped a little, but was wrong. Water lay flat on the paint even when clean, absolutely no evidence of beading. So I guess the car just had the transit wax removed and then was put on the fleet.
Anyway, I wanted to remedy this so I got all my favourite products together and set about a session of cleaning the outside of this car. As part of the experiment, and because the weather was so good this easter weekend I recharged & hooked up my Rinse Pimp (water purifier) for the entirity of the wet wash phase - partly to see if RP was any good and partly to see how much water I used (Hopefully this info will be useful to other members who have bought/ thinking of buying an inline water purifier).
The front of the 8P Audi A3 has an unhealthy magnetism for stone chips, the big bluff nose really gives no mercy to the stuff kicked up on the roads. You see on the photos just to the right of the grill a big 6mm x 4mm stonechip that goes deep.
The white paint should be easy in theory to clean - Up till now I have cleaned the car twice. Dirt and tar sticks to the paint like a limpet and the only way Ive found to remove it was two fairly hot washes (40c! ) mixed in the Megs Hyper Wash at recommended dilution ratios.
Ok, enough blah - here's my process and more importantly some white-eye-candy! :thumb:
Products:
Megs Hyper Wash, Super Degreaser, Wheel Brightener. (SD/WB Applied using individual garden pressure containers)
Sonus Green Clay Bar (As good as the reviews say it is. Needs very little lubrication compared with other clays)
Menzerna PO85RD
Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection
Chemicals Guys XXX Hardcore Wax
Megs Wash Mit, Various MF towels, Small wheel brush, Cheapo Jet wash and my PC (White pad)
Technique
Quick rekkie round the car - Dirty bum even with mud flaps!
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0461a.jpg"][/URL]
Dirty wheels
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0462.JPG"][/URL]
Dirty Nose
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0458a.jpg"][/URL]
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[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0464.JPG"][/URL]
Prime my water purifier
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0456.JPG"][/URL]
Take first water meter reading
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0465.JPG"][/URL]
Go round car with jet wash to loosen dirt from paintwork and wheels
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0466a.jpg"][/URL]
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0467.JPG"][/URL]
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0468.JPG"][/URL]
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0470.JPG"][/URL]
Next Stage - go round car with WB & SD - Take meter reading
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0471.JPG"][/URL]
Wheels
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0473.JPG"][/URL]
Post SD/WB - Meter reading
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0475.JPG"][/URL]
Wash with hot Megs Hyper wash x2 then clay with Sonus green clay bar. There were quite a few tiny tar/dirt spots on the rump on the car. The clay bar removed these quite easily with a very small amount of lubrication (in the form of very dilue Megs Hyper wash)
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0477.JPG"][/URL]
Take meter reading
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0478.JPG"][/URL]
Wash & dry final time
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0480.JPG"][/URL]
Looking cleaner
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0481.JPG"][/URL]
Roll into garage for closeup of paintwork with light
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0483.JPG"][/URL]
Tape up car ready for PC. I used Menz PO85RD, combined with a white pad. There were almost no paint defects. So it was a fairly quick on speed 3, and then dialling up to speed 6.
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0485.JPG"][/URL]
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0487.JPG"][/URL]
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0489.JPG"][/URL]

A bit of CG still to wipe off the rear bumper, but the effect is getting there. With two layers of AG EGP and two layers of CG XXX Wax.
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0499.JPG"][/URL]
Final Shots
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0498.JPG"][/URL]
Sun light test
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[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0505.JPG"][/URL]
Looking good this side
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0509.JPG"][/URL]
Its so white it looks black in the evening sun!
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0512.JPG"][/URL]
Kerching - job done
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/dw/DSCF0515.JPG"][/URL]

Cheers!:icon_thumright:

 

[SamDude]

Nice!

What was the final water reading/usage?

 

[dubbers]

Thanks! Really pleased with how the car responded to Menz/CG XXX Wax. Was a bit hard on the eyes tho' - white polish on a white car! Used just less than 60 litres after jet washing the car 4x for the detail. Hopefully help those ppl interesting purchasing inline water filters work out how long the filter will last.

 

[WX51TXR]

Great work, great write up, thanks for sharing, great to see! Very useful info on water usage too, been trying to estimate this for a while.

 

[jamiekip]

Thanks! Really pleased with how the car responded to Menz/CG XXX Wax. Was a bit hard on the eyes tho' - white polish on a white car! Used just less than 60 litres after jet washing the car 4x for the detail. Hopefully help those ppl interesting purchasing inline water filters work out how long the filter will last.

Quick tip for you mate - have read soemwhere on this forum that Audi are honouring sorting out rusted brake hubs - I noticed on one of the pics that yours has developed some rust - maybe worth a visit to the dealer to see what they can do under the warranty. I know a lot of the S3 boys have been ranting about it and some seem to be getting it replaced or professionally restored. It will make the motor COMPLETELY immaculate then

Great job on the detail though - you must have snow blindness after working on that!!!

 

[dubbers]

Jamiekip - The hubs do have a bit of surface rust at the rear - Well spotted! Car will be soon in for its 10k service, I see what our local Audi Dealer says about the hubs.
WX51TR - Cheers for the comments. Water filters certainly help avoid water spotting even if you work quickly/carefully. Hopefully the TT will be spot free this summer (but first got to remove last years water spots!! :eek)

Ed

 

[silver75]

looks clean

 

[jamiekip]

Jamiekip - The hubs do have a bit of surface rust at the rear - Well spotted! Car will be soon in for its 10k service, I see what our local Audi Dealer says about the hubs.

Yeah, sorry to have pointed it out - but if Audi are honouring sorting it out, get it done lad!
I'm expecting mine to go (most of the other S3 owners ahve had this problem and are pretty pee'd off!) and will be getting it resolved. It's a bit weak on a premium car for something so visible not to be treated to prevent rust!
My opinion!

Anyway, off thread - sorry!