I am guessing your opinion is that it doesn't really matter. Noted.
No, this is simply a pet peeve of mine, that wheels are a special temperature case, but this has not been my experience and is not backed by any valid technical basis that I know of. A black hood in the sun gets too hot to touch, it's got a hot engine below it, and hood insulators or ventilation aside, there is still convection coming off a hot engine and exhaust manifolds.
I've never encountered a wheel that was too hot to touch, as I have with upper body parts. I'm sure if you're driving your car on a track lap after lap your brakes are going to get damn hot, and probably the wheel, but for most of us I don't think that happens.
That's a really good question. Maybe someone who has one of those laser infared temperature thingy ma bobs could take the temperature of a hood that been sitting in the sun all day and wheels after a long trip or city driving.
I know Mike Phillips has done this, IIRC the hood temp was in the area of 200F.
Whatever happened to an opinion? They have become non existent for people like Setec who demand proof for opinions. My god.
I'm not sure what that means. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but when people come here seeking solutions, an opinion doesn't help if it's the wrong answer. As I noted above, a lot of people have an opinion that wheels require special treatment because they get hotter than normal paint. This is an opinion that I have never seen backed up by fact or objective evidence. To a large degree, wheels DO live in a different environment due to brake/rotor dust, but certainly there are cars that barf these contaminants out from the wheel wells onto the sides of the car, and even other cars.
As far as your tiff with FUNX over matte vs. non-matte finishes, as was noted by AGOatemywallet, there is a potential for a coating to change the appearance of a matte finish, so if that's important to you it should be considered.
As far as your original query, as I noted, I have never heard of Opti-Lens being used on wheels, never even heard it suggested. I have heard it suggested that Opti-Lens could be used on plastic trim. Opti-Lens is, from what I understand, the paint coating with extra UV inhibitors. I don't see where this would be of any value on wheels, although I do see that being a benefit for external trim pieces. I find Opti-Lens to be more difficult to work with than the other Optimum consumer coatings, and therefore I would not use it on wheels, myself (besides the fact it's much more expensive).
DLux is intended for plastic trim and they have thrown wheels into the "trim" category, along with rubber and tires. Whether this product is similar to CQuartz but with more UV inhibitors, in the same way Opti-Lens is like other Optimum coatings but with more UV inhibitors, I don't know. However, I would be of the same opinion that extra UV inhibitors, while a benefit for headlights and external plastic trim, is of somewhat less value for wheels.
Also in the "for what it's worth" category, while DLux is a well known trim restorer, when Opti-Lens came out it was suggested it would also restore trim. However, my limited attempts with using Opti-Lens for that purpose were completely negative (no restoration effect). Optimum has since come out with a dedicated trim product in their professional coating line (and those of you going to Detail Fest should ask Dr. G for a consumer version).
