okay here is the deal. mitsu paint for their cars are single stage(no clear) for red, white, blue, and yellow. the tarmac black has a metalic flake in it so it is base clear( at least i know mine is cause i got the side repainted after someone rear ended me.) it is okay to buff your car. i would;
1st- wash car w/ simple green to remove all wax.( only use simple green if you are going to rewax right after!)
2nd- claybar your car
3rd- use your buffer to polish your car w/ a polish that doesn't have any wax including mirrors.
4th- if you can find it, use a product called REJEX, it works great, if not, then use a hard caranuba wax.
tips- use blue painters tape on areas you dont want wax/polish to get on. i.e weatherstiping, cowl area etc.
use diferent bonnets and rags for each stage.

the reason that red fades so fast is that to make red,they have to use oxides in the paint. the only reds that are highly resistant to fading is porsche and ferrari. they guard their paint secrets really well.

if you really want to, i would consider getting a clear coat put on, w/ a color/wet sanding done before to take some of that factory orange peel off that all of us have. make sure you ask for a lot of uv protect in it.
good luck!

 

my evos rally red and its a 04 it still looks good so far

 

The only time I noticed any paint coming of mine was when I clay barred it, and it was a minimal amount of paint. I have put about 6 coats of Z2 Zaino and 4 coats of Z5 with no paint residue on the rag. The Z5 has a pink tint to it though so I would be harder to tell than the Z2, which has a yellow tint to it.

 

there is a reason why they changed the paint for 05...

 

So then does silver have a clear coat?

 

What did they change in the paint? I havent heard change paints, besied the MR color and the new blue

 

i think so.most metalic paints do or else the metal would rust!