I'm new to detailing and I've started watching lots of Mike's Videos! Talked with my significant other and will be attending either the Feb or May 2 Day class in 2026 in FL.
Awesome, you'll have a great time plus it's all hands-on, so I'm confident you'll learn a lot of actual "stuff" you can take home with you and put into practice the next day. (or the next weekend)
About 4 months ago I bought a new 2026 Tesla Model Y and I will be clay barring it probably this weekend. I've put it up in the garage for the Ohio Winter already.
I have a fresh video and step-by-step article coming out for a 2025 Tesla. Although the roof is mostly glass, I found due to the height of the roof, I needed a work platform to comfortably and safely machine polish all the glass to remove water spots and some type of film-contamination on the entire exterior.
My kids will be buying me a Flex XCE 10-8 125 for xmas. I want to also purchase a Griot's G9 today along with some pads.
I always have to look up part numbers, luckily, I have a quick reference article for part numbers and nicknames.
The differences between the BEAST, Supa BEAST, and the CBEAST by Mike Phillips
From the above article,
FLEX XCE 10-8 125
- 430 RPM and 8,600 OPM
- Comes from the factory with a 5" backing plate.
This is the newest evolution of the original corded BEAST. I call it the
Supa BEAST. The word
Supa is short for
super and only the first letter in the word Supa is capitalized and the word BEAST is all capital letters. Like the original BEAST, this is a 8mm gear-driven fixed orbit - orbital polisher. I personally use and recommend swapping out the factory 5" backing plate and installing the optional 6" backing plate. This enables you to use larger buffing pads and thus take full advantage of the power this tool offers with a larger footprint.
Strong Recommendation
If it were me, I would get the optional 6" backing plate and then right from the get-go, invest your pad money into the appropriate size pads. If don't do it first, then if you do it down the road, you'll have to re-purchase a pad inventory. Not a huge deal, but the more important and BIGGER PICTURE point is,
A larger pad or footprint, smooths out the polishing action to make it smoother on you.
A larger pad gives you more REACH - that is you can fit the outer spinning edges of the pad further into tight areas. Comes in handy.
A larger pad covers more surface area thus you can work faster.
This tool has a LOT of POWER - a larger pad enables you to leverage all the available power.
A larger pad makes the polisher less tippy.
That's off the top of my head. Here's my article that includes a link to where you can purchase the optional 6 inch backing plate for the Supa BEAST.
Supa BEAST and CBEAST Backing Plate Swap by Mike Phillips
On Detailed Image
Flex XCE and XFE Backing Plate - 6"
Its only ever been hand washed and taken care of. What I was thinking about clay barring it and washing it. I was going to polish it as it doesn't really have any scratches in it. I looked last night some very very light if you want to call them scratches you can't feel them but if you get close to it you can see a few.
Even though it's new, it will actually make a dramatic difference in the gloss and shine as well as smoothness of the paint to clay and polish. And if you're going to install a ceramic coating, then you want to ensure any foreign substance, for example gloss enhancers from a car wash soap or detailer, (used at the dealership), is removed. You want to be down to BASE PAINT to do it right the first time.
What 5" pads would you recommend for something like this? I was also looking at the NSP 45 finishing primer. In the video Mike recommended getting about 6-9 pads to the whole car. Then my plan was to put on the Gyeon Cancoat EVO, Definitely would like some guidance. Thanks for any help.
It's no secret, I a HUGE fan of the Buff and Shine EdgeGuard foam buffing pads. The 5" fits the factory backing plate on the Supa BEAST and the 6" pads perfectly fit the optional 6" backing plates. When I say these pads fit perfectly, I truly mean it. There's a plastic center ring on the back of the pad and both size backing plates perfectly center and stay attached to the backing plate. And this is a nice feature when you go-up-on-edge, which you can do with gear-driven orbital polishers.
Besides the Buff and Shine EdgeGuard foam pads, I also like the RUPES DA foam pads as they have a similar cutout behind the outer edges of the pad. And this is a key design feature that other pads don't offer. And especially helpful with gear-driven polishers like rotary polishers and the FLEX Supa BEAST.
Let me know which pad size you're interested in and I'm happy to make some recommendations.
Mike
