Pad Comparison chart accuracy??

[OBSSEST]

I will occasionally check out the "LC vs. Meguiar's pad comparison chart" that is floating around here, but I am starting to question it's accuracy.

I bought some white LC pads awhile back and put them aside after reading some threads about them being basically useless. Well, I have been trying them out lately in different ways in order to figure out what they do best.

According to the "chart", the white LC has slightly less cutting abililty than the Meguiar's yellow polishing pad. I am finding that when used with polishes like 105 or 205, the white LC pad might even cut a bit quicker than Meguiar's yellow, but it's negligible. The LC pad feels more FIRM and compresses less than the Meguiar's yellow, which might contribute to this perception.

Has the white LC pad changed? Why is it not as good as the Meguiar's yellow?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Pad Comparison chart accuracy??

Sorry we missed this one.......


First off, your final comment regarding the LC white pad "Why is it not as good as the Meguiar's yellow? " isn't a very accurate statement. As good as isn't really what the chart is about; it's about how much cut a given pad affords, all else being equal (liquid, tool speed, pressure, etc). Just because one pad offers more cut doesn't make it "better", it just makes it more aggressive. So for wax application, a less aggressive pad is usually "better". But really we think it was more a bit of a poor choice of words on your part than a true lack of understanding. We just don't want others confused by that comment is all.

Now, as for relative cut between the while LC pad and our W8207 - according to Todd's chart (and it is a chart developed by Todd Helme and not by Meguiar's or Lake Country) the two are are pretty much in a dead heat, as you can see below:



If you've ever looked through the threads with pictures from our Saturday classes you'll see all kinds of cars that we've corrected with the W8207 pad and Ultimate Compound. Given the results we've gotten with that pair, we would suspect equal results with the LC white, and even greater ability by swapping the UC for M105.

In the end though, comparing any two products on cut alone doesn't tell the whole story. For example, just looking at two LC pads, the white and green polishing pads as shown above, it's likely possible that you could swap places with those two if you used the white one (more aggressive of the two) with M205 at speed 3 with light pressure but used the green one (less aggressive) with M105, speed 5, heavy pressure. Now, please keep in mind that the above comparison was done as an example only - you'd probably never use those two pads in those ways under normal circumstances. Bottom line, there are a lot of variables at play here.

[BlackScreaminMachine]

Re: Pad Comparison chart accuracy??

I always like this chart when comparing cutting ability. Its in this section talking about Total Cut, you should check it out.

[JoeDirt]

Re: Pad Comparison chart accuracy??

I like that second chart...

[smack]

Re: Pad Comparison chart accuracy??

I like both of those charts. Very informative.

[TornadoRed]

Re: Pad Comparison chart accuracy??

Just what I've been looking for- I have only used 3M and Meg's pads, but wanted to know how equivalent LC pads compare without buying all 9 varieties. I have really liked the So1o pad that I have. Thanks Mike.