# DRC1000 6" Starter Kit Review



## Mick (Jan 23, 2010)

*WHAT IS IT?*

DRC1000 6" starter kit

*WHAT DOES IT BRING TO THE TABLE?*

Talk about a revolution! Previous advances have barely scratched the surface of buffing pad improvement. But the new DRC1000 (Diagonally Recessed Center), a true revolution, cuts to the very heart of buffing technology, making flat pads virtually obsolete. Here's why:

Trouble starts in the center. Whether you are a novice or a buffing pro, you can easily see the problem. Traditional pads load up the center with compound, quickly become saturated and create a central dead zone that leads to center smearing. This in turn obscures your vision, wasting time as well as costly compound. Until now, we've had to accept or work around this problem.

Now for the solution - the DRC1000 from Sabo Industries! The DRC1000 solves the problem of a saturated center by simply doing away with it. That's right, the center can't load up and saturate with compound because it's gone. A patented conical recession replaces the slow-moving non-working center surface area. It's a concept we perfected (and eventually patented) after years of testing in our own shop.

See what you've been missing. Designed with the auto detailing professional in mind, the DRC1000′s generous 1½-inch tapered and rounded edge provides greater visibility and a larger buffing edge. It's another innovation we've patented. And it's easy to see why. At 1,000 to 1,800 RPMs it won't create a knife-like edge that can quickly burn through a surface coating. What's more, the DRC's top edge tapers out where you can see it at all times, unlike traditional buffing pads.

*
WHAT AM I TESTING IT ON?*

2005 Honda Civic Type R (Bonnet only - To Be Revisited)

*WHAT DO I THINK OF IT?*

These pads arrived from Wax attack yesterday, and were already pre packaged in resealable bags (which i usually like to do with all my pads, so saved me a job ).

First impressions were good, and immediately i was liking how the back of the pads had a description of each pad and the level of cut it offers (Owning other pads where I have to write this on the back with marker(terrible memory ) this seemed a great idea, and I wonder why more pad manufactuers dont do this) and looks something like this:










And the front recess:










And a couple of pics of the Backing plate, fitted to my Rupes machine:



















As you can see, this has been designed to work in sync with the recess on the DRC pads, so the two fit together excellently.

here is the car in question that I will be initially testing these on:



















First thing is first (as you can see from the pics, I was only going to have an hour or two at most before i lost light, so made a conscious decision to just do the bonnet on this occasion, and to revisit in the next week or two and get the rest of the car done) I had to wash/decontaminate/clay the bonnet which was to be machined, which left me with this, ive also taped up as well:










So, I then took a couple of paint reading to see where i was at with the level of paint, having known the owner, i was sure the car had never seen paint, nor polish:



















readings were fairly consistently around this value, so I was happy to proceed on.

Started off with the GREEN pad (the black one is more for wax application/finishing as i understand it, so went in at the next most aggressive pad) and Menzerna final finish polish:










This gave me a slight amount of correction, but not great, so i stepped up the polish to Menz. power finish, and found this to give a good level of correction that i was happy with (sorry for mediocre pics, I left my P7 torch in my car when i picked my cousins up :wall: That and im not the best at capturing defects at the best of times):



















Compared to the original condition, and a 50/50:




























So then went over the other half, then went back over the whole bonnet with Menz Final finish to just remove any holograms etc I had maybe inflicted (although i couldnt see any), and then did an IPA wipedown to leave this:



















Although these pics are not the greatest, its clear to see an improvement, but the difference in the flesh was unreal, was so badly needing polished it was unbelievable (sorry Gordy ) :lol:

I then went back over the paint with my DJ homebrew wax, to test its durability (seperate review running on this). Overall I was happy with the performance of the pads, I felt the rounded edge of the pad helped me out a bit, as I was nervous about going near the sharp edges on the bonnet with a flat pad (and big thanks to CraigQQ for letting me pick his brain about things ). This leads me on to the pros and cons of the DRC pad system:

*PROS*
Pads are clearly marked for the level of cut they offer, eliminating guesswork.

Recessed centre does actually prevent pad from getting overloaded with compound.

recessed rear, and central mounting hole help to mount the pads centrally which could be a problem with other pads without these features.


*CONS*
Slightly more expensive than other "regular" 6" pads at £9.00 per pad (literally a few pence of a difference in most cases).

 occasionally, the sharp edge on a pad can be usedful for getting close to certain features on a panel, which this pad system lacks, although it wasnt an issue for me, I cna imagine it could be for some people who like to use the edges of the pads to get close to things.


Overall I was really impressed with these pads, being an amateur admittedly i am prone to perhaps using two much polish, so often the centre of pads have became loaded up with compound which has reduced my polishing effectiveness, so I can see first hand an immediate advantage with these, and for that reason I would definately recommend them, and can say 100% it is something I will be keeping in my own kit bag from now on :thumb:

Thanks to Wax Attack for supplying these pads/backing plate for review, which can be found by visiting their site, here.

I hope to revisit this review regularly and update on lengevity etc of the pads once I've had a chance to give them a more thorough review.


----------

