IG465 Is this the best 3 inch cordless polisher? Mirka AROP312-B

The full review: a head-to-head test of the Mirka AROP312-B against my Rupes HLR75, doing a real paint correction and ceramic coat on my 2020 Mercedes-Benz SLC300 — garage-kept, weekly washed, owned since new — to see how the Mirka actually holds up across an entire car rather than a few test spots. Using a 3-inch Koch Chemie microcut pad and Koch Chemie microcut polish in a cross-hatch pattern, I worked through the trunk on a single 2.5Ah battery and checked the app afterward: still over 80% charge. I made it through about half the hood — trunk, both sides, rear quarter, roof, half the hood — before that battery dropped to 5% and I swapped in the second. Mirka's kit ships with 5Ah batteries (mine were 2.5Ah since the 5Ah units were backordered when I bought), and I'd expect a single 5Ah to get most owners through a car this size, with a pair handling something larger like an SUV. Head-to-head breakdown: the Mirka is a third lighter (2.4 lbs vs 3.2), noticeably quieter and smoother with far less vibration — genuinely the biggest surprise of the review, since I didn't realize the Rupes had any harshness to improve on until I felt the difference. It also holds pad speed under load better. Where it loses: the trigger is a plain variable-speed trigger with no lock, so it's easy to let off slightly and unintentionally drop speed, versus the Rupes's rear-mounted trigger that's simple to hold steady all day; and the lowest available speed is 4000 RPM, a bit high for just spreading polish. Cost is the other big gap — $800 for the Mirka versus roughly $400 for the Rupes HLR75 (an 18V, 2.5Ah cordless unit, not to be confused with a corded LHR), meaning you could buy the Rupes plus a 5-inch Milwaukee polisher for about the same money. My verdict: if I'm buying for myself — someone doing a handful of cars a year, not for a living — I'd buy the Mirka again over the Rupes purely for the user experience, even at double the price. If you're a working professional watching the budget closely, the Rupes still makes a lot of sense and remains a genuinely good machine; I'm not knocking it. You can get it here: https://www.obsessedgarage.com/produc... Check out THOR get 10% off: https://thehouseofrags.com/?ref=ig10 Use Code: IMPROVEDGARAGE10 for 10% off diamond protech products or visit https://spn.so/5uidqija Check out obsessed garage here: https://bit.ly/3fy6Tal You can now use code IG to save 5% at carzilla! You can get NextLED here: https://mynextled.com/?ref=IG15 you'll save 15% at checkout with code IG15 My amazon budget pressure washer setup: https://www.amazon.com/shop/improvedg... The above are affiliate links that help my channel. Chapters: 0:00 - Testing the Mirka on the Mercedes 5:30 - Battery life through a full car 9:00 - My polisher history before this 13:00 - Mirka vs Rupes head to head 19:00 - Trigger and speed settings 23:30 - What the app actually tracks 26:00 - Who should buy which one 34:00 - Final verdict business: Jeff@improved-garage.com