wheel cleaner comparison: sonax, griots, P21S, wolfgang, mothers, eagle1, CG, APC+

tom p. said:
Many seek a product that is going to be a spray-on/rinse off resulting in a perfectly clean wheel. I don't know that such a product exists. Mechanical action seems mandatory when it comes to this task. (Do you break out the pressure washer everytime you do your car?)
Click to expand...



Do not give up yet! I'm going to keep trying things. Switching brake pads is an option. Ceramic brake pads + armor all protectant + griot's or sonax = touchless win? We'll see. I painted my track wheels black - out of sight out of mind - to avoid brake dust issues. Swapping pads for street and track use is no big deal. People who change pads and notice a difference on the street are mostly placebo *or* they are driving way too hard than is appropriate for public streets. Yeah there are some minor differences in peddle pressure, modulation, but when you are rolling up to a stoplight really its all the same. Imagine the conflict of an autopian track enthusiast. I do not have a pressure washer, no space to store it.



tom p. said:
Both Griot's and P21S offer super-duty wheel cleaners. The P21S is referred to as the gel and the Griot's is a new, HeavyDuty version. (I believe there's also a red version of the P21S not sold in the USA.)
Click to expand...



Yeah, I was using the heavy duty Griot's but did not know about the heavy duty P21S option. I think though that my P21S experiment is done.



tom p. said:
Please read the Meguiar's Wheel Brightener MSDS. It has some very specific health risks associated with it. Great cleaner, but I'd never consider it for weekly work.
Click to expand...



Yeah, did some searching and have decided to stay away from this one. I'm also going to be wearing disposable gloves from now on with all of these wheel cleaners, just does not make sense to skip gloves when I can grab a box of 100 for a few dollars.



tom p. said:
Your wheels really don't look that dirty in your fotos. Do they get much worse than what you are showing us?
Click to expand...



Unfortunate result of the images being severely reduced in size. I never let my wheels get like that volvo in the Autoglym review, that is just disgraceful. But with the chrome finish my wheels do get worse if i let them go 2-3 weeks in the winter. The problem is that with this chrome finish even light dusting dramatically changes the wheel appearance. After washing, I can drive the car literally 5 miles, stopping just a couple of times, and get out and write my name on the wheel dust.
 
extrabolts said:
After washing, I can drive the car literally 5 miles, stopping just a couple of times, and get out and write my name on the wheel dust.
Click to expand...



Yeah, this is a common topic at German cars forums. The heavy, black brake dust comes with the territory. However, some of the mfrs are fitting cleaner pads or dust-free pads now.



A change of brake pads is clearly the quickest and going to be the least expensive "fix" assuming you don't mind the labor involved. I also find that two light applications of the AA repellant works quite well....at least until the car is in the rain.
 
Guitarist302008 said:
I'll be glad to go buy you a whole box of it and send it to you if you pay the shipping lol, walmart is right up the road.
Click to expand...



Hmmm....don't tempt me. :happy:
 
Nice write-up. In the past I've just used Optimum ONR. I truly believe putting a sealant on like Werkstatt AJ helps big time.
 
John Styrnol said:
Nice write-up. In the past I've just used Optimum ONR. I truly believe putting a sealant on like Werkstatt AJ helps big time.
Click to expand...



Someone else had mentioned it before, but honestly, the armor all wheel protectant really did well for me... I don't use anything on my wheels now as the brake pads are very and really don't dust much at all. AJT is one of my all time favorite sealants though. Has an awesome look.
 
John Styrnol said:
.. In the past I've just used Optimum ONR..
Click to expand...



For some reason, on certain vehicles when I use ONR the brakedust seems to subsequently become more of a problem, like it bonds to whatever the ONR leaves behind :confused: Even QDing with FK425 doesn't (completely) solve the problem Weird, huh? Not like other people are experiencing it. Seemed especially bad with Hawk brand pads on the MPV I used to have.
 
Accumulator said:
For some reason, on certain vehicles when I use ONR the brakedust seems to subsequently become more of a problem, like it bonds to whatever the ONR leaves behind :confused: Even QDing with FK425 doesn't (completely) solve the problem Weird, huh? Not like other people are experiencing it. Seemed especially bad with Hawk brand pads on the MPV I used to have.
Click to expand...



Yeah, but hawk's are a nightmare. A great pad, but SERIOUS dusting with them unless you get the ceramic ones, in which case i'm not sure how much better they are.
 
I switched to low dust pads (x4) and Opticoated my wheels on my BMW. They went from the worse wheels to clean to the easiest overnight.
 
Guitarist302008 said:
Yeah, but hawk's are a nightmare. A great pad, but SERIOUS dusting with them unless you get the ceramic ones, in which case i'm not sure how much better they are.
Click to expand...



Eh, I'm all about the braking performance when it comes to pads and all my vehicles are probably in that "nasty-dusting" category. Still, I never have that "tenacious brakedust" issue unless I clean the wheels/tires with ONR; conventional cleaning doesn't result in that. I mean..they get *really* dirty, yeah...but they clean up very easily too. Unless I used ONR the last time.
 
Right, Hawk makes different types of pads. Mine were *not* low-dusting ones :grinno:



Never tried their ceramics, but yeah....Hawk pads + powerslot rotors are a good combo for a few applications.
 
John Styrnol said:
At the time of purchase I did not know it takes a special machine to turn the PowerSlot rotors.
Click to expand...



I get conflicting info on that; some say you can use a regular lathe as long as you do it right :confused:



The ones on my Tahoe could stand being turned, but the guys who've been working on that vehicle won't do 'em. The ones on my Crown Vic don't need turning and I never had to have it done on any of my other slotted/drilled rotors either. Some day I'll probably have to look into this....
 
Accumulator said:
I get conflicting info on that; some say you can use a regular lathe as long as you do it right :confused:



The ones on my Tahoe could stand being turned, but the guys who've been working on that vehicle won't do 'em. The ones on my Crown Vic don't need turning and I never had to have it done on any of my other slotted/drilled rotors either. Some day I'll probably have to look into this....
Click to expand...



The Ford dealership will not touch them. I still have a long ways to go till I need to take a look at them.
 
I hvae Opti-Coat 2.0 on my wheels and cars and then use a 4:1 dilution of Meg's APC+ on the tires, wheels, and wheel wells. I find this works very well.



I do however use Sonax FE on cars I haven't previously detailed to get the real baked on stuff after one cleaning with the APC+.
 
I'm not sure if this was discussed before but does anyone know if the Eagle 1 wheel cleaner that's currently sold in the silver bottle w/ blue label is the same formula as the old A2Z product that was in an orange bottle? I've used the version in the orange bottle plenty (still have some too) and it has worked great. Not a touchless product, it still needed some agitation but I was always happy with my results with it. (That old orange bottle version also took one of the top honours in the Guru Reports wheel cleaner test way back when, for what its worth).
 
The single biggest thing you can do to make your wheels easier to clean would be to apply Opti-Coat. Brake dust will have a harder time sticking to them and will clean up much more easily.



After that, experiment with different pads, then worry about fiddling with wheel cleaners. Btw Dawn is a great one.



Great review, thanks for taking the time to do it!
 
Great comparison!



I find for myself when detailing clients vehicles (most have really bad brake dust covered wheels), either APC+ or Sonax is the only real workable solution. Sonax is great if there is heavy build up, because the iron deposits that are not broken down by APC.



I'm not big on wheel cleaners, but when you NEED one Sonax is hard to beat. It has almost completely removed any need to polish wheels for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top