Nismo New Year Maintenance Wash

2020 yo, time for a ceramic enriched New Year's Nismo maintenance wash to banish not just the dirt but the January blues too. So what better way to kick off 2020 than with a wash of my own car, the exterior of which hasn't been properly featured in a dedicated cleaning video since it was revealed back in August. Now I generally don't neglect it for obvious reasons but following the festive period it was looking a little sorry for itself with lots of rally style splatter and winter bird bomb strikes so properly dirty in my eyes lightly soiled in others no doubt but you can't please everyone and I can't risk being seen out and about in a ride this rank so what with it being January and all, resolved to get it sorted. Now I had treated it a few weeks prior with the hybrid solutions ceramic spray coating used on the 718 Spyder featured in a previous video so the aim here was to simply remove the dirt and revitalise the underlying protection with the remaining ceramic enriched turtle wax products that I hadn't yet properly got to grips with. So first up and before I got going with any wet washing was a quick demo of the ceramic 3-in-1 detailer which was liberally spritzed onto the dry surface before being gently wiped over with a plush towel then buffed to a super slick shine. Now while these kinds of products aren't really suited to the work I do I'm dedicated to the cause so was willing to put at least a few areas of my 4,000 mile pearlescent paintwork on the line but did ensure that any dirtier areas soak first. As with most detailers it's simply a case of spraying the lightly soiled surface then gently wiping it over with as decent quality a towel as you can find. Then flip, fold or swap it completely and lightly buff to reveal a nice slick and in this case ceramic enriched surface. Now as I say I generally don't use these types of products but if you like to maintain your lightly soiled car in between washes then you can't really go wrong with simultaneously laying some light ceramic protection down as you clean. With that test complete the muddy arches and previously protected wheels were then treated to a thorough pre-rinse with the pressure washer to remove as much of the crusty crap as possible prior to contact cleaning. Despite having fairly substantial steel brakes I never let the wheels get too ingrained so a shampoo usually suffices and what better one for the job here than the hybrid solution ceramic wash and wax which both reinvigorates any previous ceramic base protection applied or leaves a light layer of its own behind on unprotected surfaces making future cleaning even easier. Once the fairly routine wheel clean was out of the way then it was time to give the Nismo's body a once over with the same ceramic maintenance shampoo but not before it had been thoroughly blasted off first. A snow foam applied here might have helped in shifting some of the more stubborn grime however I wanted to see how well the encrusted dirt rinsed off the previously protected surface without a helping hand so left the foam alone. Wash buckets were then filled and frothed with a few healthy glugs of the mango scented luminous shampoo before it was used to wash the car from top to bottom with a quality microfiber mitt to simultaneously remove any light dirt still left on the surface and rejuvenate the protectant applied a few weeks prior. So as with most car cleaning products you're not supposed to let this one dry on the surface however another spectacular weather forecast fail from the Met Office who'd promised bright and clear skies all day meant that I didn't have to worry about that as I've been served up dismal damp grey ones instead. Now the shampoo isn't particularly foamy as it utilizes what Turtle Wax refers to as hydro glide wash polymers intended to provide slickness instead it's just that if you've been lulled into a false sense of sudsy security over the years like I have washing with a slick shampoo can feel a bit odd. Still with an occasional pressure washer froth up in the bucket it remained foamy enough for me to get the Zed satisfactorily washed. It was then methodically rinsed off until the suds were no more and it was here I could start to see how hydrophobic these products can leave the surface which was cool considering the car essentially only been given a spritz, wipe, buff and routine wash up to this point. Once I'd rinsed off all the suds I ran an open stream of water over a few areas to try and show the sheeting effect and illustrate how a car treated with these products will self dry to a certain extent. Now if you were using filtered water here you could simply leave it at that safe in the knowledge that what little of it remained on the surface wouldn't spot or alternatively use a blow-dry to drive the remaining rinse water away in contactless fashion reducing the chance of any further marks being inflicted. However as I was going to be finishing up with the ceramic wet wax here it was desirable to actually have some water on the surface. While it can be considered a simple dry-nade like the detail spray and shampoo this ceramic wet wax also serves to fortify any ceramic protectant already on the surface or leave some of its own behind on an unprotected one. Less is generally more so a few light sprays per wet panel is all that's needed and once you've gently dried the area off there's no extra buffing required to remove streaks or smears as thankfully it doesn't leave any. It can safely and effectively be used on most surfaces including glass and plastic to achieve the same slick and protected finish as it does on paintwork and while you don't have to employ it every time you dry your car off for the sake of a few extra sprays you might as well to ensure all parts are kept topped up and looking fresh. Because it's so versatile and easy to use I also treated both the faces of the wheels and the door shuts to the wet wax. The shuts more so because they haven't been separately washed with the ceramic enriched shampoo before drying them off with separate towels to prevent cross-contamination of the main one. Once that was done I called it a day there as a maintenance wash should always remain a relatively straightforward affair. So aside from being pretty foolproof in their usage another thing I like about the hybrid solutions products is that you can essentially pick and choose the ones that suit you. Now for me the ceramic polish and wax the dedicated spray coating and the wet wax have just finished up with were the most important but the other two are only going to complement these when used in unison. Still regardless of whether you choose one or all five there's still a great way of dipping your toe into the ceramic enriched pool without the hassle and worry of having to apply and maintain dedicated and far more expensive products. Now despite inevitably just getting dirty again soon there's still something satisfying about rocking a super clean car in the depths of winter when everyone else's is filthy because they've given up. Now while a weekly wash is preferable at this time of year I don't always have the time for that so instead simply jet wash the car down on a damp day to remove any loose dirt which helps keep it looking pretty clean in between contact washes and of course slick hydrophobic surfaces certainly help with this. Apologies for the lackluster light in the video as it certainly wasn't ideal for demonstrating new products or capturing after shots but I can assure you that the pearlescent white paintwork did look a lot more than Bobby Dazzling in person following its ceramic enriched maintenance wash. If you enjoy seeing the 370 then I'll hopefully be serving up an in-depth engine detailing and mod video similar to the one I did with my previous T5 with a follow-up sound check video so you can hear it growl as well as getting something filmed with its interior so stay tuned for that over the coming months and if you're not a fan then don't worry as there'll of course be plenty of other cars to tickle your fancy too. Either way thanks for watching this one and Happy New Year