Gyeon Q² ONE - First Impressions & Gyeon Booster Testing

Loach

New member
I`ve been working with Gyeon Q² One for the past month, just want to share my first impressions. Q² One is their latest entry-level coating with upwards of 1 year of durability, positioned above CanCoat and below Prime. In this test I`ve topped One with Q² Booster on the right half of the hood, Booster is Gyeon`s fluorine based top coating.

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Let`s start off with the product details straight from Gyeon:


  • Q² One - Advanced quartz technology combined with user friendly characteristics.
    • Q² One brings the benefits of all forms of protection together. As easy to apply as a natural wax, glossy like a real glaze, durable and resistant as regular coatings. This fast-curing formula does not require special equipment and transforms your garage into a detailing studio.
  • Hydrophobic
    • With its superb beading, Q² One meets the expectations of detailing enthusiasts. A high water contact angle of over 110′ results in spectacular water behaviour and helps with regular maintenance.
  • Superb Self-Cleaning Abilities
    • One of the key characteristics of Q² One, especially when compared with other protective coatings, is its excellent self-cleaning ability. This ability can significantly extend the intervals between washes. Of course, the coating does not remain perfectly clean after a long drive in bad weather, but it does considerably help, and also makes it a lot easier to safely remove residual dirt afterwards.
  • Application and Precautions
    • Before you start applying make sure that the surface is oil free and completely dry. It is recommended to wash the car with Q²M Bathe, use Q²M Iron and Q²M Tar to remove impurities and degrease with Q²M Prep. Skin protection recommended. Work in a well-ventilated area. Store in a dark, dry and cool place. Keep out of reach of children. Never apply in direct sunlight.

"As easy to apply as a natural wax", this is the claim that stands out the most for me. It would make sense that you would want your entry-level positioned coating to be as user friendly as possible to drive new users into the coating game, but notice this claim doesn`t say "apply AND REMOVE as a natural wax". Out of all the coatings I`ve worked with, Q² One is one of the most physically exhaustive to wipe off from the paint. It applies smoothly like Prime or CQuartz, removal yields a much higher degree of drag from the towel and one of the least slick feeling paint surfaces directly after application. So while most coatings are as easy to apply as a natural wax, many of them (especially Q² One) will not be anywhere near as easy or user friendly to remove.

Application:

Perfect environment indoors - 75F temperature, low humidity, 2 coats of Q² One were applied for this test 24 hours apart from each other on the entire hood. I applied to a quarter section of the hood at a time, 30 seconds to 1 minutes of drying before removal. One coat of Q² Booster was applied 24 hours after the second coat on the right half of the hood. I let the panel sit for 4 days after Booster before the first rinse and chemical dumping.

Some notes:

It was difficult to get a full clean wipedown to remove all traces of residuals during the initial buffing. The good thing is as Q² One cures on the paint, the surface will become noticeably smoother and I didn`t have issues with the leftover residuals causing a full blown hologram nightmare. It cures well and the cure is more forgiving than others, the applicator cloth feels about as stiff as Prime and CQuartz after a week.

Rinse Test:

Q² One is nicely hydrophobic, one of my concerns was Gyeon would focus too much on ease of use and turn it into a "baby coating" that really dies off after a few months or doesn`t start off strong from the gate in the first place. This appears to be a true full coating in every manner, not quite as hydrophobic as CanCoat in the short term but it will compete well against Prime. For the rinse test I washed with Gyeon Bathe Essence, followed up with dry wipedowns of Super Clean at 3:1 dilution, LA`s Totally Awesome APC and Degreaser at full strength, and then multiple Prep-All (Aerosol) applications. Gyeon One performed exceptionally, no significant decrease in performance. As a reference, LA`s APC has destroyed Mohs in every short term test I`ve done with it so far.

Q² Booster:

My first experiences with Booster left me wondering if anything was actually bonding to the surface. This time I was able to pinpoint noticeable differences on top of Q² One. Most noticeably a HEAVY static charge buildup after going over the surface a few days later with the microfiber which actually increased the feeling of drag through the towel. Although the hydrophobic behavior didn`t increase at a noticeable level to meet expectations, the Booster side on the right half of the hood during the rinse and chemical test did have a very noticeable soap and chemical repellency. So much so that the Prep-All was beading up instead of laying flat upon contact like it was with the bare Q² One side. Cool stuff!




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Inside the 30ml kit:
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Comes with 4 suede MF applicators. New sprayer top for Cure!


Prep products:
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Static buildup on the Q² One + Booster side:
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Initial gloss is great!
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Beading:
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During the Bathe Essence wash, notice the difference Booster makes on the right side!
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Super Clean 3:1 Dilution:
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Dry Super Clean wipedown, notice Booster again on the right side:
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Dry wipedown with LA`s Totally Awesome:
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Prep-All sprayed onto Q² One:
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Prep-All actually beading up on Q² One + Booster:
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Final Beading:
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Conclusion:

Great performance results in the short term, and the performance makes sense for where it`s positioned in the Gyeon range. For them to come out with a coating that would outperform Prime in ease of use, this wouldn`t make sense to me. This would take away sales from Prime (now Pure). It`s not an entry-level coating as a result of its ease of use, it`s a budget-level coating for its less polished removal process and lower durability rating. I would not specifically recommend Q² One for beginners, CanCoat has a better application compared to One and I consider CanCoat their true entry-level coating (lower durability rating as well). CanCoat remains the most hydrophobic Gyeon coating I`ve tested, I will start testing this as a topper compared to Booster. As always, I can only speak for the results of my testing and you may experience different results. I would love to hear your experiences either similar or different!

 
Thanks for the review! I just think a lot of these companies are just making the choice to complicated in order to just have another product to sell.
 
Thanks for the review. Great write up. After I use up my waxes, I’ll seriously consider this coating.
 
Thanks guys! One thing I will add is I did see a drop in measurable gloss readings after applying the coating. This was more pronounced after the second coat, this isn`t unique to Q² One, it occurs with other coatings and LSP`s as well. Gloss readings out of the Rhopoint measured between 98-103gu with HD Polish+, after 2 coats of One it was down to 89-93.5gu, 94.5gu on the booster side. Polished again today this time with M205 and we`re back up to 98-103.5gu. Pretty significant measurable change but it`s not as noticeable in person, the coated panel looked great out in the overcast weather.
 
Re: Gyeon Q² ONE - First Impressions & Gyeon Booster Testing

How did it end up going?
Came out nicely, just trying to figure out the reason for the unusually tacky nature of the removal. Is it a side effect of another benefit I`m missing, maybe lessened propensity for leaving high spots or easier leveling of high spots at greater length of time after application?

It`s the tackiest coating I`ve used once it hits the paint. Which is a bit funny as when i first tipped the bottle to drip on applicator I was surprised how easily it ran outta the bottle; first thought was "Wow, this is thin (consistency) stuff...".

I`m gonna muck about a bit more on a crappy van hood tomorrow, leave a few high spots, see if I can buff em off after longer periods of time and just plain leave some high spots to see if they somehow dissapear after a while.

At points though during the removal, despite its somewhat reluctant nature, it gave a substantial and strangely satisfying feel to the removal on the panel. Also, even though it was wiping off rather tenaciously, it was wiping pretty much clean on the first pass, with just a little cleanup on 2nd buffing pass.

Regardless, when I left the car after applying one coat on Friday, it looked good. Coulda done 2 coats, small car, but gonna drop some CanCoat on it tomorrow, per Jeremy @ Gyeon suggestion. Good excuse to pull out the `ol CanCoat...love that stuff.

Gonna put the leftover One on a bare van hood, apply Cure afterwards per package instructions and see how it does going `strictly by the book`.

There just has to be a benefit to the somewhat quirky application.


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Came in yesterday, temperature inside warehouse about 62F. Clayed, compounded/polished/prep wipedown of bare hood of van.

Tried all sorts of intervals between application and removal ranging from 10-30 seconds per instructions to as long as 15 minutes. Left some high spots intentionally, applied thick, applied thin. Longer intervals meant for more buffing to get clean after initial wipe but in the end it came clean. Even the stuff I left on for 15 minutes buffed cleanly, albeit it with some significant wiping. I dunno...but if I were using it on soft, black paint I gotta believe the tackiness and the effort required for removal would definitely leave some marks. This one is puzzling for sure.

I`ve sent a note to Gyeon US Rep Jeff M outlining the experience, we`ll see what he has to say. Wonder if removing with a damp towel would help. It does end up curing nicely but quite the bumpy road to get there. Given the marketing copy of "Q2 One was formulated to offer incredibly easy application and removal..." I wonder if I`m reading or interpreting the instructions incorrectly.

At the end of the day it *does* work and perhaps the overall tackiness on application and removal is a trade-off for the ability to remove and high spots or excess product for a longer period of time after application...I just don`t know.
 
Great feedback Budget, always good to hear your results! Unless this early batch of One is a bad batch, with its removal properties it should have a very tough time competing against CQUK. CQUK has a proven high durability, and better application for the same price. I could say the same thing with regards to the newer McKee`s 37 coating which is a killer value at 4oz for $45 - great performance so far and easier application than both One and CQUK.
 
Well, I guess all we can do now is see how it performs. I`ll see both vehicles used on each day, kinda different usage between the 2 so that`ll give it a little variety.

Just kinda peculiar.
 
Great review! I agree Q2 One is a bit harder to remove than I`d like it be. GYEON globally is working up a few new application techniques that will help. I will post a write up on it when they are complete.
 
Good deal...looking forward to any updates. Now Syncro...that stuff seems like a real winner, loved working with it and the results are incredible. Nice packaging of 50ml Mohs + 30ml Skin. Even large vehicles can get 2 couts outta 50ml, `normal` vehicles will see 3. Good stuff.

Great review! I agree Q2 One is a bit harder to remove than I`d like it be. GYEON globally is working up a few new application techniques that will help. I will post a write up on it when they are complete.
 
Thanks Loach for the good review and honest opinion. I was looking at this coating to try on wife`s car however I may now go for something else now.

Good to see you back on youtube as well.
 
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