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I've wanted to do this for some time and finally got around to it. Unfortunately, my DSLR wasn't charged up and I couldn't find the battery charger for it, so my iPhone 4S camera had to suffice. At some point I'd like to redo this with better photographs, but I think these will suffice.
I set out to compare these two waxes side by side to see which one gave a better look. I've got an upcoming detail of a black car and wanted to not spend an hour with both of them in my hand deciding which to apply - so I'm testing them out today.
The test vehicle is a 2007 Chevy Equinox that belongs to my mom. It's a daily driver, but the paint is in pretty good shape. It has some minor swirls, but in this case that was preferable. People around here often say waxes are almost impossible to differentiate between on a well prepped surface. Hopefully, this means you can differentiate between them on a surface that isn't well prepped. By choosing this car vs. one that was immaculate and freshly prepped, I was hoping to get the effect of the wax only, vs. the compound, polish, and wax combo.
My process for the comparison:
1) Spray down hood with Last Touch.
2) Clay, using LT 1:1 as lubricant.
3) Apply Gold Class & Ultimate Wax by hand, wait 30 minutes, wipe off.
4) Apply a second coat after about an hour, wait 30 minutes, wipe off.
Here are the pictures:
The surface felt pretty smooth to begin with, but the car hadn't been clayed in a few months so I decided to take the few minutes and do it to make the surface as smooth as possible. As you can see the clay picked up a few contaminants left behind after quick-detailing.
The two waxes on the unwaxed hood. I only waxed the hood, as this made for the most logical test panel. The GCCP went onto the passenger side, the UW went onto the driver side. (Yes I know I need to clip the tags off of my supreme shines!)
Here are the two waxes during the drying process. The Gold Class on the passenger side is applied a bit heavier, as it doesn't spread out quite as easily as UW and I really wanted to ensure every square milimeter of the hood was covered.
These two images show the final product, after the second coat of wax has been wiped off. It's tough for me to discern any difference between the two sides as I walk look at them from these angles. However.....take a look at the next picture:
The left side of the car (Gold Class) is dramatically darker. The right side of the hood (UW) to my eyes looks a little bit crisper, but it's hard to notice anything else besides the darkening effect. This is interesting to me because I've heard UW is supposed to give a darkening effect as well. Ideally I would have done this in thirds, with one of the sections having no wax. For next time, I suppose.
Final Observations:
- Gold Class darkens the paint considerably more than Ultimate Wax.
- Ultimate Wax seems to impart a crisper reflection than Gold Class.
- Ultimate Wax is considerably easier to apply and remove. I did apply the Gold Class a little bit thick, but even so, anyone has who has used both will agree I suspect.
- As for which I prefer, I'd probably go with Ultimate Wax as the enhanced reflective clarity gives the impression of a slicker, more mirrored surface.
I set out to compare these two waxes side by side to see which one gave a better look. I've got an upcoming detail of a black car and wanted to not spend an hour with both of them in my hand deciding which to apply - so I'm testing them out today.
The test vehicle is a 2007 Chevy Equinox that belongs to my mom. It's a daily driver, but the paint is in pretty good shape. It has some minor swirls, but in this case that was preferable. People around here often say waxes are almost impossible to differentiate between on a well prepped surface. Hopefully, this means you can differentiate between them on a surface that isn't well prepped. By choosing this car vs. one that was immaculate and freshly prepped, I was hoping to get the effect of the wax only, vs. the compound, polish, and wax combo.
My process for the comparison:
1) Spray down hood with Last Touch.
2) Clay, using LT 1:1 as lubricant.
3) Apply Gold Class & Ultimate Wax by hand, wait 30 minutes, wipe off.
4) Apply a second coat after about an hour, wait 30 minutes, wipe off.
Here are the pictures:
The surface felt pretty smooth to begin with, but the car hadn't been clayed in a few months so I decided to take the few minutes and do it to make the surface as smooth as possible. As you can see the clay picked up a few contaminants left behind after quick-detailing.
The two waxes on the unwaxed hood. I only waxed the hood, as this made for the most logical test panel. The GCCP went onto the passenger side, the UW went onto the driver side. (Yes I know I need to clip the tags off of my supreme shines!)
Here are the two waxes during the drying process. The Gold Class on the passenger side is applied a bit heavier, as it doesn't spread out quite as easily as UW and I really wanted to ensure every square milimeter of the hood was covered.
These two images show the final product, after the second coat of wax has been wiped off. It's tough for me to discern any difference between the two sides as I walk look at them from these angles. However.....take a look at the next picture:
The left side of the car (Gold Class) is dramatically darker. The right side of the hood (UW) to my eyes looks a little bit crisper, but it's hard to notice anything else besides the darkening effect. This is interesting to me because I've heard UW is supposed to give a darkening effect as well. Ideally I would have done this in thirds, with one of the sections having no wax. For next time, I suppose.
Final Observations:
- Gold Class darkens the paint considerably more than Ultimate Wax.
- Ultimate Wax seems to impart a crisper reflection than Gold Class.
- Ultimate Wax is considerably easier to apply and remove. I did apply the Gold Class a little bit thick, but even so, anyone has who has used both will agree I suspect.
- As for which I prefer, I'd probably go with Ultimate Wax as the enhanced reflective clarity gives the impression of a slicker, more mirrored surface.
Keep it country!
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