Just got the Guru Reports Wax Test!

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Metallic Mike said:
I still think the best tests are those performed on our own cars under real conditions, i.e. daily driving, weathering, atmospheric, etc.

but it's all based on personal opinion anyway

BTW, where's BF or Platinum?

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Couldn't agree more.

Don't know where the BF is, but there is still some Platinum on my car from June 20th. Kinda surprised me since it has been stated it only lasts 10 days. Still beads and sheets. At first I thought the beading and sheeting had to be the Medallion and 3M Paste Show Car Wax that I had used previously. Then I read where the UPP strips off everything that it is applied over, so I guess I was wrong about that, too. Just another personal opinion.



Charles
 
Metallic Mike said:
I certainly applaud the efforts of the testers, but in the end I still think the best tests are those performed on our own cars under real conditions, i.e. daily driving, weathering, atmospheric, etc.
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In the context of this report, I don't think you could objectively test 40 different products this way. There are too many variables.

[edit] But I guess that wasn't your point. :)
 
Platinum wasn't tested



BF was 11th



I still have a tin of Rain Dance (Brand new) that I won at a grab bag years ago, it sits right next to my #26. I guess I will have to bust it out and try again.



I still can't believe Meguiar's didn't rank that high. :nixweiss
 
That's why I feel each individual should test the product(s) that appeal to them the most and make your own informed and educated decisions about which is best for you. Maybe by testing this many products in a report in a relatively short length of time you aren't able to see the nuances of each product spearately over an extended period. If I went out and took 40 test drives to find the perfect new car, at the end of the day (or week lol), I'd probably be scratching my head trying to figure out which of the 40 was the best for me. But, narrow that down to 3 or 4 choices and the decison will likely become clearer and more focused on what you need and want. After trying 40 of anything at once, I don't think I could make a clear determination of which is the clear winner without some retesting and even more retesting, narrowing the best of the best. Basically, what I'm trying to say is pick the ones that interest you the most and try them out for yourself in your own environment. With some research, you should be able to narrow down your favorites to two or three products, which isn't an unreasonable amount to do your own testing. And, down the road, I'm sure you'll want to test others for comparison. As the years pass, you yourself will have likely tested dozens of products on your own, making you the informed consumer. This, IMO, is the real deal. As you find things you like better, you make a natural progression towards perfection for yourself. Otherwise how can I say one person's report will be the same as mine as we all have a differing opinion on perfection? Or, that the same goals were in mind? Tests are nice and all, but I'm more the independant type preferring to draw my own conclusions whenever possible.



:)
 
Were any of the thousand dollar Zymols tested? :p lol



I guess I'm going to have to buy it. There are things I'd like to know about their grading process. I find it interesting that a carnuba ranks up there with Zaino and Klasse. Was that just the appearance part? I can't imagine that Klasse would out rank Souveran on appearance with one coat. And I can't believe that P21S would out rank Klasse on durablity with one coat. I definatly want to see how these products were tested. It looks like a valuable resource.
 
Looking at the report and the score the Final Grade is not consistent with what is shown in large type representitive of each product.

For instance:



Klasse Final Grade B shows B with a 2.94

Zaino Final Grade B+ shows A- with a 3.53

Collonite Marque D'Elegance Final Grade C+ shows B- with a C+..



Maybe GeekySteve could elaborate on this and why there are two different ratings and which is actual.



It is not just these but a lot of the 46 are like this.
 
Been very busy with work since returning from vacation, so I apologize for not getting back quicker.



A few things to note:



1) The scores that were published by Green Monster are just the final scores, which are sort of useless by themselves. We have detailed notes (every two weeks) and then we further break down the grades into 4 "parent" categories (Performance, Durability, Ease of Use & Availability). The Performance grade is composed by averaging the results of 8 weeks worth of testing across a variety of criteria.



It's the 'ole "Don't judge a book by its cover" thing.



2) We didn't test Meguiar's #20 because it was an oversight on our part. I thought that someone else had ordered it, while they thought that I had ordered it. When we went to take product pictures, we realized we didn't have the #20...we have it now, and it will be tested at the next round.



3) Souveran lasted approximately 5 weeks before the beads were unmeasurable. YMMV.



4) We are currently working on producing a Wheel & Tire care test, but we are completely out of money. We can't advertise our current report because we're out of money, and we can't further our testing because we're out of money. It cost us (me and the publisher) over 6 figures to produce that magazine...



We could have included advertising, but then we'd be perceived as biased. We could have done an e-book, but then everyone would copy and paste the book online and for their friends. Having a printed copy makes it easier to go after people who don't honor the copyrights.



5) We have the $1,000+ Zymol's on hand, and will be testing them with the next Wax Test. I'm already preparing for Zymol's hot-headed reaction... :)



6) Addressing ejant's comments about inconsistencies - I think you're mis-reading the grades. The "starburst" is the weighted average of the performance, durability, ease of use and availability. The grade that's in the lower-right corner of the chart is the final performance grade, which then accounts for 40% of the overall score.



---------

Understand that we (I, especially) are not in this to make money- we can't make any money; it's impossible. I did this out of love of knowledge, and with the faint hope that people would appreciate our findings. But, alas, we've been accused of making millions of dollars, being owned by Zaino, etc. and so on. I've learned that it's impossible to make everyone happy (especially on the internet) - the test may not be for you, but I'd hope that you'd all respect our efforts and copyrights and understand our position.



If we can recoupe any costs and publish more magazines, we hope to include the following as tests: Glass Cleaners, Wheel & Tire Care Products, Leather Cleaner/Conditioners, Car Wash Solutions, Detailing Accessories, and then we'll move on to other tests...



Thanks,

Steve
 
Paul E - The Collinite can be tough to remove but is not too bad if you apply it thinly and remove after 1-2 minutes. I was very pleased with 3M IHG with Collinite until I came back a month later with S100 topper. WOW! Looked even better after another day or so. Deeper, wetter look. You will not be disappointed with this combo.



It has been 12 weeks since I first used the Collinite and topped with S100 twice since then. It looks great and beads like crazy.
 
I did my own testing all last year of a bunch of products including Klasse, Souveran, Blitz, Blackfire and Zaino. These were all applied over well prepped surfaces. I topped both BF and Klasse with Souveran and Blitz after a few weeks just to see how they reacted. Did not give Zaino a topper because Sal discouraged it.



My personal results showed that all the products looked pretty great initially. I had problems with Klasse hazing so I eliminated that product quickly. The waxes look great, but durability is very limited, no longer than 6 to 8 weeks. BF had durability problems as well, but shine was very close to wax for about 6 weeks and then started to fade even though I think there was still protection.



I pretty much left Zaino for last because I felt that it originally had a plastic looking shine and application/removal times were a bit long. When ZFX came along I bit the bullet and applied Zaino to my BMW. That was last spring before the weather started to get hot, must have been befor May..... The car is not garaged and is driven daily in Florida sun and rain. The Zaino shine is as good or better than any other product. I also feel that Z5 definitely did cover the very fine spiderweb swirls that I could not remove with the rest of my prep (SMR, FI II, PC etc). My Mustang is in the garage with BF and Souveran topper, but does not get driven much. The Souveran was applied about 2 months after the BF. I was driving the Mustang and my wife had the bimmer.



Anyways, I broke my foot about 2 weeks ago after getting tackled by 2 Dobermans playing in a park....thats a whole story in itself. The end result though is that I have been driving the BMW (Auto) rather than the Mustang with the clutch. During a rainstorm, I first noticed that the hood of the BMW was just starting to have slightly diminished beading. We are talking over 4 months with no topper. There were 6 coats on, 5 Z5 and one Z2 to be fair..... The rest of the car looked fine. I ended up washing the car and just puttintg on one coat of Z2 on the hood only...no ZFX. I wiped it off in about 30 minutes since it was sitting in the sun and dried very fast. Z6 follows every wash......



The bottom line.....Zaino rightfully holds the top spot in my testing and I guess confirmed by the Guru testing. I am waiting until some cool weather returns at which time I will clay and do another 6 coats after repairing some minor scratches and swirls. No more wax for me.....



I also regularly use Z16 on exterior rubber, and tires which won out over a myriad of products.



Zaino is the hands down winner for me for my daily drivers. If I were playing with a garage queen....kinda like my Mustang, IHG and a top quality wax like Souveran or P21s would be another alternative, but given Zaino's strengths and ease of application/removal, I will probably end up with Zaino on all my cars by the time the cool weather moves in.



H
 
Wow..I am surprised Souveran came in so low...Oh well...it looks like a nice report..I look forward to your other reviews of other products...(Tire Dressings, Glass Cleaners, etc) :up
 
Meguiars #26 should have finished higher, it was one of the only carnubas to still be beading after 8 weeks and as Steve will admit, they missed that detail when compiling the scores and only gave #26 a C for durability while the other carnubas that beaded for the full 8 weeks got a B- (P21S) and a B+ (Collinite's waxes), and according the charts, #26 was beading as well as the Collinite waxes.



Steve, could you recalculate the true score of #26 based on the oversite of it's durability? With that being 30% of it's score, it should move it up nicely.
 
I dont liek that Mothers Cleaner wax came in 8th, I mean ok its not a bad wax and its what I usually suggest for the person that wants to do it all in one step, but we all know you cant layer cleaner waxs.



Yes I realize this is a one coat type test.



I guess im just one of those people you cant please heh'

:nixweiss
 
Also, I was surprised to find that P21s got higher clarity and reflectivity grades than Zaino.



Carnauba surely can't beat 99.98% optical perfection, can it?:nixweiss



Just a thought;)



:wavey
 
bigboyhf,



It's been a while since I've seen one of your posts. It's good to hear from you again! Anyway, thanks for sharing your experiences. My experience with Klasse and Zaino have been pretty similar to yours... I get the hazing with Klasse SG too (I'm going to try to get it right though). Also, it's been about 4 months since my last coat of Zaino on one of my cars and it's still beading very well and very slick. Easily the most durable stuff I've ever used.



Zaniix,



I know what you're saying, but with the exception of products like AIO or P21S, Mother's cleaner wax is probably the easiest wax to apply and remove. Takes about ten minutes to dry and I got absolutely no smearing (unlike some of the Meguiar's & 3M waxes I've tried). Buffing took no effort at all and I thought slickness was right up there with the best. It was hard to compare the shine to other waxes, but I think its ease of use and regular availability allowed it to score pretty high.
 
Intermezzo said:
Mother's cleaner wax is probably the easiest wax to apply and remove.

I think its ease of use and regular availability allowed it to score pretty high.
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Absolutely true, (IMO). I recommend it often when asked what to use by friends that I know will never go thru a multi-step process to wax their cars. The best wax in the world isn't worth crap if it stays in the bottle, can, jar, what have you.



Charles
 
CharlesW said:


Absolutely true, (IMO). I recommend it often when asked what to use by friends that I know will never go thru a multi-step process to wax their cars. The best wax in the world isn't worth crap if it stays in the bottle, can, jar, what have you.



Charles
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I agree. It is super easy to buff off and gives good shine. I also recommend it to friends but they never do it...



They always find some time to invite me over for like a crawfish boil and have me use my rotary on their vehicle... Damn people always tricking me!
 
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