Coating Test... Fairly Long Term Observation
#1
Posted 13 July 2011 - 12:17 AM
Thanks to the sifus for organizing this, silgt and Krismas. We also had jackson and Ka3tr0 with us and special thanks to David our host for letting us use his shop and provided snacks as well.
Before I proceed to pen down my initial assessments, here are some expectation settings and sharing my regular maintainance schedule.
The test is not meant to be a controlled test, it is more of a field test where we will go about doing the things we would normally do and this will be a closer representation to the masses.
Prior to the coating test, my maintenance schedule is, weekly wash (MG NXT) and monthly wax (MG NXT 2.0). I'll polish with AG SRP with a DA as and when required, usually in about 2 months to remove water marks that does not wash off. Every two weeks, I'll apply UQD to boost the water beading properties.
The DIT coating test was not done by "professionals" per se as we wanted to test the following criteria from a DIY perspective.
(borrowed from jackson's post)
1. Application Complexity
2. Coating preparation complexity
3. Durability - Water beading / water sheeting
*Feel free to add if there are any more long term observations we want to include.
Also, we can organize a monthly TT on whenever anyone wants to get together to view and evaluate the condition of the coatings.
As the primary focus will be durability of the coatings, I will refrain from applying any booster or topper to the coated panels.
One of the criteria of this test is that the coatings should not have any special maintenance method, thus I'll continue with my weekly wash regime.
To keep this test subjective, here are some info on where will the car be most of the time.
Weekdays - Day time covered, basement car park, night time uncovered car park
Weekends - Uncovered car park, unless I'm at a mall.
My Ride
My Ride was coated with 4 different brands
Left Front Panel - Aquartz
Left side of Front bonnet - NoValue
Right Side of Front bonnet - X1 (note this is just a code name and not a brand, please don't go search X1 glass coating in Google )
Right Front Panel - G'zox
(silgt & Krismas - Please correct product name if there are incorrect)
Preparation:
Bonnet was clayed and polished with AG SRP (using DA) the morning of the test day. Prior to the coating application the bonnet was rinsed and wipe down with IPA
The front panels were unprep'ed (was not expecting those panels to be used)
- Front panels had AG EGP (2 months ago) and topped with MG NXT 2.0 (reapplied 3 weeks ago)
- Prior to the coating, the panels were wipe down with IPA
Coating Procedure:
All products were applied using horizontal and vertical movements overlapping the previous layer.
Only one layer were applied (one layer means apply product, and buff)
Left Front Panel - Aquartz
- Fairly easy to apply, ever it has the shortest working area. The applied area will be hazing fairly fast. The applicator cloth have to be reloaded more frequently compare to the other products.
Left side of Front bonnet - NoValue
- Easy to apply have a large working area, a small dab on the applicator cloth will easily cover ¼ of a bonnet. Applied area have slower hazing/dry rate.
Right Side of Front bonnet - X1
- Very similar to NoValue
Right Front Panel - G'zox
- Very similar to NoValue
Removal Procedure (buffing)
Left Front Panel - Aquartz
- &*^%$# PITA to remove. Inflicted lots of swirls while doing this.
Left side of Front bonnet - NoValue
- Easy to remove, almost effortless. Wipe with MF towel and turn to clean side for final wipe.
Right Side of Front bonnet - X1
- Very similar to NoValue
Right Front Panel - G'zox
- Very similar to NoValue
Removal note: It is recommended that good lighting is available during buffing as the product does not haze like wax or sealant thus it is sometime difficult to spot areas that have been missed.
First 24 hours:
It was recommended by silgt that the panels remain dry for at least 6 hours.
Some coating will take between 1 to 5 days to fully cure. I managed to keep the car dry for about 2 days.
My Impression:
As it was already dark when we were done with the coating, I was not able to do any observation in direct sunlight. However, one thing I did notice that the panels does not "pop" up as much as with some waxes or sealants do immediately after buffing off.
This was also pointed out by silgt to allow the coatings to cure overnight.
The next day the panels does seems glossier to me.
After driving for 2 days I did notice that the bonnet is less dusty even without any washing. Could be due to the slicker panels.
Will follow up with some pics.
#2
Posted 13 July 2011 - 02:47 PM
#3
Posted 13 July 2011 - 03:03 PM
My Ride was coated with 4 different brands
Left Front Panel - Aquartz (Passenger side front quarter panel or fender)
Left side of Front bonnet - NoValue (Passenger side - also don't try to search for this one as it's also a code name)
Right Side of Front bonnet - X1 (note this is just a code name and not a brand, please don't go search X1 glass coating in Google ) (Driver's side)
Right Front Panel - G'zox Real Glass Coat (Driver's side front quarter panel or fender)
(silgt & Krismas - Please correct product name if there are incorrect)
#4
Posted 13 July 2011 - 08:04 PM
#5
Posted 13 July 2011 - 08:20 PM
I thought the new Meg's coating will be tested as well.
#6
Posted 13 July 2011 - 08:30 PM
I thought the new Meg's coating will be tested as well.
You are correct. 'X1' and 'NoValue' are not officially available yet.
And yup, Meg's M188 was there and applied onto one of the panel, but it's on Ka3tr0's panel. Check out Coating Test, post #137 pics no 3. Waiting for him to post up his reviews/observations.
#7
Posted 14 July 2011 - 09:10 PM
This is from me, a guy who is new to this detailing hobby trying to pick what are the best coating available for my car. I volunteered my front bonnet to see how difficult it is to apply all those coating. The panel suffered a white car syndrome with all the contaminants etched into the clear coat. Bro silgt went ahead and prepped it with "secret - almost no dust" polish while bro Krismas played with the new Dewalts "polisher".
We splited two sides of the bonnet, the right side were Meguiars M188 coat and on the left were Gzox real glass coat. Me and bro Krismas applied the M188, first impression - not good. Since my car is pearl white it is hard to see where i made my pass, it dried up pretty quick (contain alcohol ?) and need removal straight away. We saw couple of streaks after the application and unable to remove it even after many attempt by the sifuus.
We then followed with Gzox on the left panel, the application was far more easier than Meguiars M188, the coat layer does not dried up as fast as Meguiars and removal and buffing was super duper easy. From my untrained eyes, i could see the difference straight away when comparing both layer of coats in this product, the meguiars leaves a yellow color properties which make my car look dull like it was before we prepped it. The Gzox maintain the clarity of the pearl white.
If a person ask me now between these 2 product i would say Gzox wins Meguiars by a mile. The car were park outside under sun/night 24/7...water beading looks the same, cant differentiate between those 2. I had since remove boat coats and go with X1, i cant help looking at the streaks Meguiars does to my front bonnet, will see how this X1 hold up (Gloss is good !!). I see less dust settle on the car, will see if it remove the famous black stain mark at my door panel after the rain.
#8
Posted 14 July 2011 - 09:38 PM
#9
Posted 14 July 2011 - 09:40 PM
Well...maybe next time.
Please do update us guys. I guess I'll update mine here as well just for comparison sake....
#10
Posted 14 July 2011 - 10:39 PM
Ka3tr0 Inspects while bro Krismas hard at work
Our host lending a hand
Ka3tr0 hands on with the new Meg M188 (also read about his comment about the M188)
Sifu @ Work
Jackson doing QC?