Josh Wardell’s MINI Cooper S

Comparing Zaino Z2, Prima Epic, and Ultima Paint Guard Plus waxes

Last year, the Utopia line of products were introduced including their Paint Guard Plus wax…at a whopping $75 per bottle! I was certainly intrigued by their longest lasting claims, and especially the fact that you simply swipe it on, no removal needed. I bit when they offered an intro sampler kit with a much cheaper smaller bottle (thankfully now available at a more affordable price). So after giving my MINI its yearly springtime polish, I applied it along side my old standby Zaino Z2 Pro. As you can see in the top image, the Zaino needs to be buffed off once dry…no need at all for the Utopia. It literally applies to the whole car in under 5 minutes.

But nothing is perfect. Though Zaino is not regarded as a rich, deep wax, once buffed off the single coat of Zaino was slightly darker than the Utopia. The difference was only visible if you looked hard or from certain angles, as seen here:

A full month later, I checked again. Both waxes seemed unchanged. Their durabilities were certainly equal so far. So I took the opportunity to compare to a third wax. I re-polished the front portion and applied Prima Epic. Though Epic is still a synthetic polymer wax, I find it shares some of the qualities of carnuba waxes; more effort to apply, tough to get an even coat, less durable, but perhaps most importantly a spectacular deep, dark look. As you can see below (as well as here), Epic is clearly darker and deeper than the others by a wide margin, easily visible to the eye.

A busy summer prevented me from washing the car for another month and half, but when I did, my past experiences were proven. The Zaino and Ultima were unchanged, but the Prima was gone, as seen below. A quick misting seen here still shows the lines between waxes as well.

I’ve been so busy this summer that I sadly only had the chance to wash my MINI less than once a month. But I must say it was nice to quickly and easily add a new coat of Ultima after each wash, in less time than any other step of washing. The included brick-shaped applicator is actually perfect to apply a light coat of the thin solution in one pass, just a few mists on the applicator for each panel. It also is the first wax I’ve used that truly leaves no residue on textured plastic trim. Despite coating the car with every wash, I’ve used less than a 10th of the small bottle all summer…so it’s not as expensive as it may seem.

So what’s the conclusion here? There’s no clear winner. Ultima Paint Guard Plus is the easiest wax I’ve ever found to apply that is still quite durable; perfect for those that don’t have the time to spend the extra hours waxing, or perhaps if you have a light-colored paint that won’t benefit from the added depth of others. Prima Epic is clearly the winner on looks, with an incredible depth that really makes darker paints look spectacular, but it is tough to apply and must be done often, so is only recommended for those who want to spend a large amount of time waxing their cars often (and that used to be me). And Zaino Z2 Pro is still an excellent choice for durability, reasonable ease of application, and decent appearance.