Seems like a couple of evolutionary steps up from the commonly-available
Perfect-It II SMR (since there was a Perfect-It III and now the 3000-series).

Not cheap ($40/qt), but reportedly some seriously good stuff.

 

have not tried it... and if you do, be sure to post up your review!

here is more info:

http://products3.3m.com/catalog/us/en001/a...ler/output_html

 

I did find it online for $27/qt... I'll try it this weekend (of course it's more expensive locally, but *eh*)

 

if you have the older version and can try the two side by side (like simon did recently with his product reviews) on your car that would make a great post!

if not, next best would be a post with your procedures and evaluation- and if you can get some pics that would be great!!

in any case, good luck with it and i look forward to reading your review

 

Well, I missed this post before I started on my dad's 2002 TL-S with this stuff, otherwise I'd have done a side-by-side. I have used enough of the regular 3M SMR to have a good feeling on the two, though.

First off, I think that the 3000 series is like the NXT in the regard that they're both responses to the VOC requirements set into effect in January of this year.

Of course, this car ended up being a perfect candidate to test its swirl-reducing capabilities because my latest batch of clay seems to have been on the extra-abrasive side and left sweep marks ALL over the car, even from the very beginning spot. (not feeling too good on the Zaino products of late)... However, the 3M SMR cut those right out without a second thought.

The car is dark green, so it shows any sort of swirl or scratch and there are a few scratches from rather careless drying with the water blade (not MY fault). A little extra attention to these spots really reduced the appearance of these scratches considerably. I started with a cutting pad (orange Sonus) but switched to the green polishing pad, as it has more give and just feels better. The orange pad was overkill and not really benefiting the endeavor much.

You really have to work this stuff good, moreso than the regular 3m product (SMR II for Dark Cars). Another note - this isn't a light/dark dependent SMR. It tends to dry up pretty quickly unless you work a rather small spot. If you work it in well enough it will glaze very lightly and it's easy to buff off by hand. There is a decent bit of powdery residue everywhere though.

I plan on finishing with a meguiar's glaze and then 3 coats of zaino (z5x1, z2x2) and calling it a year for this beast. I'll post some pix when I'm done.

So, in comparison, I think this stuff has a little more cutting power, needs to be worked a little more, but the results are pretty damned good. Worth 2-3x the price? Eh, I dunno. I've got a quart of it to go through