Just got my Guru Reports on Wax today

I

imported_WCD

New member
I just sat down and read through Guru Reports on over 46 waxes tested. Very interesting....PS' Carnauba did very well as did others. As anyone else here found the information helpful?



R Regan
 
www.gurureports.org



Zaino Bros Polish and P21S Concours-Look Carnauba had the highest marks. The publication is well down and gives excellent info on wax and carnauba..discusses the myths and what manufacturers will tell you. I didn't want to put this here so quickly as I'm trying to get P21S on my site..oh, well :)



They also did a glass cleaner test, a leather care test, and have a tire/wheel care test coming out...might be out already. If you order all of them as a package you save money. I didn't see that until I had ordered my wax test.



19.95 each



Hope that helps,

Robert Regan
 
WCD said:
I just sat down and read through Guru Reports on over 46 waxes tested. Very interesting....PS' Carnauba did very well as did others. As anyone else here found the information helpful?



R Regan
Click to expand...





I found it extremely interesting. Steve and the other guys tried really hard to cut through the BS that surrounds waxes and sealants.



You can tell a lot of effort and time was put into the report and it's probably the best review out there and an excellent guideline. They review more than one aspect of a wax and score each area separately. This lets a person choose a wax based on what's most important to them.



They stated that they regret pre-prepping the surface since it didn't allow the tested waxes to show their abilities to improve a neglected surface (fully stand on their own merits), but I don't agree. Protection/restoration are completely different animals and by not prepping the test panels, it would have cluttered the results. Several very good waxes would have flopped the tests because they are low/nonabrasive and simply couldn't compete with dedicated "cleaner waxes."



All in all, it's a well thought out look at a number of waxes from dirt cheap (Armor All) to insanely expensive (Zymol). I recommend buying the test and giving it a read...what you learn WILL surprise you.
 
I am a big fan of Guru Reports. Steve L in fact is making some rounds on local morning shows....



They are very well-done and analytical reports. The tire and wheel care issue is out and well done, but I am not sure the leather report is out. If it is I need to purchase. Last I heard they are working on a radar detector test. :)



My biggest surprise is the low marks for Zymol and also the Turtle Wax connection. This brand seems more hype than substance.



It did confirm my displeasure with Griot's Show Car Wax (boo) although I still like Richard's other products.
 
tom p. : They used a "made-by themselves" tool for testing depth of reflection, measured bead size, and used empirical data to come to their conclusions. Pretty much useful results for the typical user. Not quite as clinical as something like Consumers Reports does on their product testing.

They've got the Wax test on for 50% off now!
 
I really enjoyed my Wax Report, consider it money well spent. And I like Steve, too, so this is *NOT* a slam. But *MY* results with some waxes have been *VERY* different from theirs. So take it as a starting point and fun reading material, but note that YMMV.



Example: I finally tried P21s after reading that report (and all the favorable reviews here), and was seriously underwhelmed. *I* will stick with Meg's #16 when I want that kind of look. The #16 works a *LOT* better for me than it did for them, as do a few other waxes.



Oh, and for some reason, they list many (most?) waxes as being a "combination wax and cleaner" whereas a lot of those are actually straight, NON-cleaner waxes.



But for all the above griping, it's probably the single best wax test report I've seen. Much better, IMO, than stuff like the Consumer's Reports tests.
 
"The #16 works a *LOT* better for me than it did for them, as do a few other waxes."



I am very surprised by this. P21S for me has been a gift from God in terms of performance and ease of use - previously I had been a long-term user of Meguiars #16 and #26.



The problem with Consumer Reports is that they never test any of the better higher end brands in just about any category.



In any event, I have loved P21S so much that I purchased the entire line and everything I have liked except their windshield wipes (I use Invisible Glass or Sprayway and the Viper glass towel).
 
SilverLexus said:
"The #16 works a *LOT* better for me than it did for them, as do a few other waxes."...I am very surprised by this. P21S for me has been a gift from God in terms of performance and ease of use - previously I had been a long-term user of Meguiars #16 and #26.
Click to expand...



Heh heh, :cool: and THAT'S why people have to try products for themselves and see what works best for THEM!



And FWIW, I actually LIKE the Windshield wipes for traveling :D it's an easy way to clean the inside of a rental's windshield.
 
I thought the Wax Report was well-done overall, but there were a few major flaws. To me, the first was the fact that the color(s) of the test panels used was not stated, or even considered as a factor in the ratings; the color of the paint on which any given wax is applied is very relevant to its subsequent performance.



There were also a few odd inconsistencies (or "strange consistencies", if you will); for example, the writers assumed (probably correctly) that Armor All Protective Barrier Car Wax was in fact the same as Rain Dance Premium. Even so, every single ranking for EVERY single performance point is EXACTLY

the same. Even if the wax is in fact the same, two DIFFERENT test panels, observed mostly by subjective (rather than purely objective) methods would not likely produce the 100% EXACT same results, especially since the observations (subjective opinions) of several different participants were (I assume) averaged to achieve the final figures.



However, I appreciate the hard work Steve and his pals must have put into it, and I have found the Report to be helpful overall.
 
I haven't seen the Wax Report, and don't think that it's the right product for me (I believe the concept itself is flawed), but I laud the effort to bring some sort of order to a field full of confusion.





Tom
 
NHBFAN said:
How often does guru release the wax test?



I'd like to see a report with the newer products, e.g. NXT, FMJ, EX-P, WG, etc ...
Click to expand...



I dunno if it's gonna be serialized/ongoing. Suppose that depends on how well their various reports sell.
 
We won't be releasing a new wax test until the new VOC laws are in effect (2005) and the products have sorted themselves out. We also intend to finish other new reports before repeating old tests.



I realize the tests weren't "perfect" and that some mistakes have been made, but we learn from those mistakes and try to improve our processes with each successive test. I don't know that I'll ever turn the tests into "hardcore lab tests," because while a limited few may find lab results interesting, the majority of the public hasn't expressed interest in wax fracturing, gloss meter readings, deviation, etc. They're great tools for confirming findings, but the cost/benefit ratio isn't there. (Based on feedback of about 30k readers)



That said, I do have access to a very nice, computer controlled device that measures: gloss, color quality, texture and structure of planar and non-planar objects. When I compared some of the results that it found to those of our test staff's "eyes," there wasn't much new info garnered by the test equipment... It essentially allowed me to put a "numeric value" on the findings we'd already reported, which helps with verification but slows the test process considerably (and we're already pretty slow b/c of our thoroughness). :)
 
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