This fantastically striking Renault Megane Sport F1 belonged to Mark who had brought the car just six months ago. Mark was planning to attend a Renault Megane Sport meet the following weekend so wanted his example looking its absolute best for the big day. Mark had explained on the phone that the Megane Sport F1 was his pride and joy and although the car suffered from little in terms of defects he still wanted the Gold Waxxx Detail as he wanted to get rid of some very minor swirling and showed up under street lighting. He also wanted a basic interior and engine bay clean and although this is not something I normally offer, I agreed to do so on this particular occasion.

Mark arrived at 8.00am on a dull and overcast wintry Sunday morning and we headed indoors after looking over the car for a quick brew and a brief chat of the previous night's big boxing bout between Hatton and Mayweather. Mark had brought his laptop with him and since he was on his own and had travelled from Telford it had been agreed that Mark would stay indoors to do some work whilst I worked on the car.

I began the detail by rinsing the wheels and applied a dose of Meguairs All Purpose Cleaner diluted 4:1 and worked the formula with a range of wheelbrushes. The wheel arches were also treated with the same dose of APC and scrubbed clean with a long-handled brush. The car was then rinsed over and washed with Meguiars Shampoo Plus and rinsed clean. At this stage, the heavens opened and it began to rain heavily so the car was quickly transported into the warm dry garage. Once inside, the car was clayed with Meguiars Quik Clay with the aid of Meguiars Last Touch diluted 1:1 acting as lube. The car was extremely clean and the clay bar picked up very little although there was a load of tar spots on the lower wings and the aggressive nature of the clay bar did a fine job of removing these. The clay residue was then removed with Last Touch diluted 1:1 and a microfibre ready for polishing.

After setting up the halogens, I looked over the car in more detail and noticed there was very little in the way of swirl marks and the paintwork was in great condition. Obviously, the car had been washed correctly from the beginning of its young life which was great news. I set up a test area on the bonnet and proceeded to hit the area with a Meguiars Soft Buff Finish Pad sporting Menzena Final Finish PO85RD 3.02 with the Porter Cable 7424 on speed setting 5. After breaking down the polish and removing the residue it was clear that something more abrasive was needed as the area looked untouched. I then tried another Soft Buff Finish Pad primed with Meguairs #83 Cleaner/Polish and proceeded to hit the area once again with the PC7424 on speed setting 5. After wiping away the residue, the swirl marks were completely removed and the paintwork was left with a deep, glossy finish. I proceeded to use the same combination on the remainder of the bonnet and was happy to carry on with the same pad and polish combination on the rest of the car. Although the Megane Sport F1 is not the smallest hatchback around, the polishing stage did not take too long at all as the panels are extremely flat and easy to work upon.

The next stage of the detail was the interior and all carpets and seats were dry-hoovered with Henry and the plastics dressed with Poorboys Natural Dressing. The sills were then cleaned with APC diluted 10:1 ready for a coat of wax. The engine bay was next and after misting the plastics with APC diluted 10:1 and cleaned with a microfibre, the plastic coverings and hoses were dressed with Chemical Guys New Look Trim Gel which left a very nice matte black finish.

It had been agreed beforehand that the car would be finished with a single coat of Zymol Glasur wax. However, as soon as I had finished machine polishing I thought the liquid yellow paint would really benefit from a glaze and so I applied a coat of Chemical Guys EZ-Glaze II with an applicator pad and buffed immediately. The glaze did a great job of adding a superb nuance of wetness to the paintwork. Zymol Glasur was then applied with an applicator pad panel by panel and buffed immediately. The finish from the wax was fantastic with the wax adding a nice warmth to the paintwork as well as brining out some amazing flake which was visible under the halogens.

Next up were the wheels and the alloys received a coat of Chemical Guys Wheel Guard and the same was applied to the tailpipes. The tyrewalls were dressed with a couple coats of Chemical Guys New Look Trim Gel and the wheel arches with Meguairs All Season Dressing. Finally, the interior and exterior windows were polished with AutoGlym Fast Glass and the detail was complete.

Mark was summoned away from his laptop [and my nattering parents] and was shown the car outside of the garage (as the rain had finally surrendered for the day). Mark was delighted with the finish but was a little disappointed with the weather as he explained the metallic flake would have looked great in sunlight. Then out came his camera as we began snapping shots from all angles in unison. Mark finally tempted me with a few detailing products he had no use for and settled the invoice. After trying to figure out a route back home avoiding the motorways, Mark left and said he would return in a few months for a Bronze Waxxx top-up.



The photos - click thumbnails to enlarge