DFB's Garage

Ranger Wildtrak Detail 2025

The Wildtrak was last polished and coated in January 2023, the Can Coat EVO performed beyond expectations, easily lasting about 15-months. For a coating “lite” with a 12-month durability claim, and considering the car is parked outdoors 24/7, you really can’t ask for more really. I do wonder if the Capro Essence primer polish played a part in this.

I’ve been meaning to get this project done for months now, actually, more like a year. Last winter and into early spring, I was just too burnt out. I was also holding off on projects until my long service leave started, which flowed into my new cars arrival and following detail series, then a stint in hospital and recovery, then the polishing workshop, then the XR8 detail, then Christmas, then the Wildtrak’s body repairs…………………..all the while continuing to run my own business. Excuses, excuses………………….so, here we are, time to get this vehicle back to shape.

Decontamination & Prep Work -

This project began last week with a partial decontamination via an iron remover and clay treatment. Today, I foamed the car down with Carpro Lift, rinsed, then foamed with KCx Reactivation Shampoo.



Carpro Lift mid-dwell..................



This was my first use of Reactivation Shampoo, which an acidic soap designed to revive ceramic coatings, in particular breaking down and neutralizing mineral content. Obviously, there is no ceramic coating to revive here, but considering the vehicle sits outside in all conditions, the removal of potential mineral content is worthy endeavour. RS will also help strip away the spray sealants and drying aid’s I’ve used to limp the car through until now. This soap is pretty strong, so rather than eyeballing it, I made sure to measure this one out, 50ml in the bucket and 60ml to 940ml in the foam cannon.

Now, those quantities might sound a little anemic, and I've noticed GSF won't foam very well at similar suggested dilutions. But pleasingly, RS foams brilliantly at those numbers while also being exceptionally slick. It does have a rather strange aroma though, much like a bathroom shower cleaner.



With the car rinsed for the final time, I used the blower to remove as much water as possible, then went around with a large drying towel and Rupes Reveal Lite to finish the decon step. The Reveal also helps evaporate the moisture, especially helpful considering how flat the paint after the strip washing. At this point, the paint was squeaky clean!



The final step was to go around taping up various trims, some of which were treated with Solution Finish earlier this year. You can see I also taped the glass side of the trim while I was at it as I planned to polish the glass too.



Products Used In this Step -

- Gyeon Iron Remover
- Economax Clay Mitt
- Gyeon Clay Lube (Diluted 5:1)
- Carpro Lift (Alkaline)
- Koch Chemie Reactivation Shampoo (Acidic, Diluted 15:1)
- Rupes Reveal Lite
- Carpro Masking Tape

Polishing –

The goal for polishing wasn't for an all-out correction, just a refresh. My father couldn't care less about flawless paint, so I was not about to spend days using multiple steps or even trying various compound and pad combinations. I went straight to the ShineMate blue foam with Carpro Essence. Why? Because Essence does a few things at once, such as being relatively mild, in fact it uses the same abrasives as another favourite of mine, Carpro Reflect. However, Essence also leaves behind a layer of Si02, in effective priming the surface for a coating. That Si02 also has the ability to fill certain defects, which is kinda cheating but considering the goal, I really don't care. And finally, it's stupid easy to work with, doesn't dust and is a dream to wipe off.



A couple of tips when using Essence -

- Like any "all-in-one" type polish, you need to be mindful of what that CAN do to your pads and towels.................

- As you finish with each pad, put it straight into a bucket with water and APC, microfiber detergent or an alkaline soap such as Lift. Don't put them straight into water as you will make things worse.

- With your towels, you can be a little less anal, but be sure to wash them straight after your polishing session. If you can't wash them ASAP, put them into separate bucket of water with APC/detergent/soap and allow them to soak till you can.

- In both cases, you are avoiding the sealant from setting up in the fibres of the towel or foam material, in turn rendering them useless.

- For more cutting performance, run more passes to fully cycle the abrasives.

- For more filling ability, short cycle by spreading rapidly over the section and then completing a single set of passes.

- Essence is said to be best with a light foam finishing pad, and especially good on a microfiber finishing pad. In my case, I know it works well with the intermediate level ShineMate blue foam pad.



You will also see P&S Clarity Creme on the cart, that was teamed with a Rupes Coarse Wool pad on the LHR75 Pneumatic. There weren't really any scratches to deal with, I just wanted to deep clean the glass. Clarity Creme is brilliant at doing this, especially on an aggressive pad like that.

There were a few isolated scratches here and there that needed more than what Essence is capable of doing. For that I used Griot's Fast Correcting Creme on the iBrid Nano. Wow, that stuff is brilliant! Once again, I'm left wondering why that brand has been left on the bench for the Australian market. And yes, the headlights needed polishing AGAIN, so much for the special Opti-Coat headlight coating, which barely lasted 4-months of the supposed 12-month claim.

I also had some company today, no doubt wondering when it was time for walkies. At one point I had the front passenger door open, which obviously meant it was time for walkies and had him attempting to climb in.............sorry for the false hope buddy, maybe tomorrow.



Products Used In This Step -

- Carpro Essence
- Griot's Fast Correcting Creme
- P&S Clarity Creme
- ShineMate Blue Foam (4-inch and 6-inch sizes)
- Rupes DA Coarse Wool (3-inch size)
- Rupes DA Fine Foam (2.5-inch size)
- TRC Creature Edgeless
- Rupes Claw Pad Tool

- Rupes iBrid Nano Long Neck (2-inch backing plate)
- Rupes LHR75 (3-inch backing plate)
- Rupes HLR15 (5-inch backing plate)


After removing all of the tape and a quick wipe over with a damp towel to remove the dust created by Clarity Creme, I covered the car with two microfiber blankets and called it a day. Tomorrow, a more thorough wipe down with Eraser, followed by the coating.
 
Ranger Wildtrak Detail 2025 – Part 2

With the “hard” work done yesterday, today was about getting the coating applied.

Pre-Coating Prep -

According to Carpro, you can coat straight over Essence without using a panel prep. This was done to help prevent marring on really soft paint. Having said that, they also say using Eraser prior to coating won’t impact the layer Si02 left by Essence. They do however recommend waiting at least 1 hour before using Eraser to allow the Si02 resins to cure. Likewise, you need to wait at least an hour before applying the coating.

In my case, the car sat overnight, which meant I was good to go with Eraser. This was mainly done to remove any dust that had settled overnight.

Products Used In This Step –

- Carpro Eraser
- TRC Eagle Edgeless 500



Ceramic Coating –

There was no choice to be made which coating I was going to use, it was always going to be Gyeon Can Coat EVO. This was mainly because I already had an open bottle, but also because I know it well by now. I struggle with coatings, all bar Can Coat EVO and ADS Wheel I have found finicky.

Now, “real” detailers tend to snub their nose at Can Coat, suggesting it isn’t a “real” coating. And from an application point of view, they are correct. However, you cannot argue with the coating-like hydrophobic qualities and the gloss Can Coat provides, it even hardens the applicator like a “real” coating. Considering how easy this product is to apply, wipe on and wipe off with no flash timing, perhaps the “real” detailers see Can Coat as a risk to their skillset and business viability? While there are still some things to watch, for the most part Can Coat provides ceramic coating performance to a wider audience.

The whole point of Can Coat was to make it as simple to apply as possible. That is why it doesn’t come in a small glass bottle with a dropper or pipet. Nor do you apply it with an applicator in a criss-cross pattern, you don’t even need to wait for the coating to flash/sweat/rainbow before leveling. Instead, Gyeon’s application method involves spraying the coating into a folded towel, wiping over a section, then level immediately with a second towel. It’s as simple as that.

Now, having said that, I modify the Gyeon method by swapping the folded towel for a microfiber applicator. Yes, I know I said that you don’t use an applicator, but I’ve found using a larger microfiber applicator such as the TRC Pearl’s to be quicker and easier to manage than having a to continually re-fold a towel. Work smarter, not harder. The application is otherwise identical.

1. Start by priming the towel or applicator with 5 or 6 sprays, from then on you only need 2 – 3 sprays per section.

2. Working section to section, wipe the applicator over the panel, making sure to achieve total coverage. This can be hard to read as Can Coat is very thin, you often won’t see the product on the panel.

3. Immediately after application, wipe off the residue with a low pile towel. I actually then follow with separate towel to be sure I leave no high spots.

From here, continue working section to section using the same method.

NOTE - Always spray Can Coat away from the vehicle to prevent accidental overspray and possible high spots. I’d also remove uncovered vehicles from your working space, have the garage door down to eliminate wind, and absolutely avoid having a fan running. NEVER spray directly onto the panel.



For the Wildtrak, I applied Can Coat to all painted surfaces, taillights, trim and glass. I normally use Gyeon Quick View on glass, but I decided to see how Can Coat would perform instead. From here, I applied Opti-Coat Lens Coating to the headlights, then some Carpro Perl on the tyres.





Four hours later, I then applied a layer of Gyeon Cure. This helps protect the coating as it fully hardens and adds some slickness missing from Can Coat. Again, this went on the paint, trim, lights, and glass.



Products Used In This Step –

- Gyeon Can Coat EVO
- Gyeon Cure
- Opti-Coat Lens Coating
- TRC Pearl Applicator (QTY:1)
- TRC Edgeless Pearl (QTY:2)
- TRC Eagle Edgeless 500
- Scangrip Sunmatch

Finished Result –

Better late than never, the Wildrak is back to spec. At some point, I would also like to get the wheels off this thing and coat them as well.

 
Great job Deyon, GLOSSY paint, all the steps ALWAYS pay off in the end

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Don't know if I've said this before, but I always enjoy reading your writeups. I know you put a lot of effort and care into them. Great job on the Wildtrak as usual! I may have to try Cancoat myself now :)
 
Dirty Harry said:
Don't know if I've said this before, but I always enjoy reading your writeups. I know you put a lot of effort and care into them. Great job on the Wildtrak as usual! I may have to try Cancoat myself now :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words, greatly appreciated. I enjoy doing it, mainly because it gets me out of my own head. If someone learns something in process, that's great. Actually, often I end up learning too as I research and compile a post.

As for Can Coat, it's a remarkable product that punches well above its weight. I'm also keen to try the similar concept ADS Phobic, which is said to last up to two years instead of one for Can Coat. If I didn't already have an open bottle of Can Coat, I would probably have given Phobic a try on this car.
 
Not sure if it's just me, but this car seems to have really woken up after clearing the 1000 km mark (Yes, I know, it's taken me 7-months to do about 1200 km)



Full disclosure, I haven't been babying the engine, it been run in quite firmly. However, it now feels so much stronger and really comes alive above 5000 rpm. I've always been a fan of induction note over exhaust noise, mainly because a great induction note will please the driver more the exhaust hanging right out the back. The metallic, hard-edged induction note of this engine is so racy, and one of the key reasons why I chose to buy another Mustang.
 
My sisters XC60 was in the box seat, and for today, I decided to put together a video during the wash phase.

The video kicks with a rinse after cleaning the wheels and foaming the car down with KCx Active Foam. I then foam with KCx GSF for the contact wash, then the final rinse.


After washing, I blew dry and added another layer of Reload to the paint, door jambs via ADS Adapt, exterior glass by Opti-Coat Clean & Protect, interior glass by Stoner's, interior wiped down with ADS Pilot. Finishing off, the wheels got wiped over with Adapt and the tyres topped off with ADS Tire+.
 
DFB said:
Not sure if it's just me, but this car seems to have really woken up after clearing the 1000 km mark (Yes, I know, it's taken me 7-months to do about 1200 km)



Full disclosure, I haven't been babying the engine, it been run in quite firmly. However, it now feels so much stronger and really comes alive above 5000 rpm. I've always been a fan of induction note over exhaust noise, mainly because a great induction note will please the driver more the exhaust hanging right out the back. The metallic, hard-edged induction note of this engine is so racy, and one of the key reasons why I chose to buy another Mustang.
Click to expand...
Still thinking about those intakes Deyon

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Klasse Act said:
Still thinking about those intakes Deyon

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Click to expand...

That idea has been scratched, it performs and sounds good as it is. However, I am trying to resist a certain purchase for this car, but its a want not a need at the moment.
 
Big Dave said:
Watching that video soothed an itch that I can't scratch at the moment, so many rainy days means I've only been doing rinseless washes, and it's just not the same.
Click to expand...

Without trying to rub salt into the wound, but the weather here has been truly gorgeous of late. That won't last though, the nights are now starting to get very chilly.
 
DFB said:
That idea has been scratched, it performs and sounds good as it is. However, I am trying to resist a certain purchase for this car, but its a want not a need at the moment.
Click to expand...
Hmmm, I can't figure out what it could be since you said to the intakes, it's already got an active exhaust and you've got rims already

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Tasmania said:
Supercharger
Click to expand...
.
ce6916838e0d86ddb976feace0ebd169.gif


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Deyon, Dave, Tas...talk me through this ride. Btw I've been subbed to his channel for years, love his approach and content

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Klasse Act said:

Deyon, Dave, Tas...talk me through this ride. Btw I've been subbed to his channel for years, love his approach and content

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Ahhh, the Mitsubishi Magna, derided by most Aussies, sometimes unfounded.

First, we need to go back to the late 80's. Mitsubishi corporation bought out Chrysler and took control of the Adelaide factory. Initially, they produced Sigma's, but the Magna was their proper assault on the mid-large sedan market. Falcon and Commodore were at the top of that market, making 6 and 8-cylinder sedans, wagons, and in Ford's case, utes and vans too. The first gen Magna was a bit of a cross-over in that it was bigger than mid-size, but not as big as the large Falcon. Magna went up against the Camry, the Holden Camera (which was the GM J-Car), and Nissan Pintara (which was a 4-cylinder Skyline, yes we made Skylines in Australia).

Like the Camry, the Australian public didn't really aspire to owning a front wheel drive four cylinder. That was for a variety of reasone, chief amoung them being lower towing capacity. So, these cars were primarily bought by fleets, rentals and cost-conscious folk......................my father bought a brand new base model Magna Wagon in 1990 as the family car.....................but only because he got it cheap. He hated that car, primarily because of the wayward wet road handling, to the point where he swore off front drive for decades.

The second generation Magna basically a rebody, and carried on with the four cylinder engines. There was a V6 added shortly after. These 4-cylinder Magna's, they were renowned for blowing blue smoke within a few years on the road and being a rattle bucket. Having said that, along with Toyota, the Magna was build considerably better than anything coming out of Holden and Ford during the 80's and 90's.

The thrid generation Magna was a bit of game changer. It was now wider and longer to properly compete with the Falcon and Commodore. Early cars were built with a four cylinder engine, but that phased it out in favor of a 3.0 V6 for the entry level models, and the 3.5 for top end variants. This was also the first Australian made car with a 5-speed auto, and first with a manual mode. These Magna's are my favorite, of which the model shown in the video is the high-performance version offered for a short period in 2003 and 2004.

Why are these my favorite? Because they were far, far, far better build than any Falcon or Commodore. In that I mean build quality, material quality, superior refinement, superior engines, superior gearboxes. The engines were made in Australia, were super smooth and sounded fantastic. I remember driving a 3.5 automatic rental, that thing would rev out so smoothly to the sound of a lovely intake rasp......................it put my SOHC 4.0 Falcon to absolute shame. The OHV 3.8 Buick in the Commodore, please! (Sorry mate, I know you like them but they were well out of date by the 2000's). These cars also had frameless windows, like Subaru used to do. I also believe Mitsubishi exported these vehicles into Canada where they were badged Dimonte.

The Magna made way for the 380 sedan in 2005, the wagon was gone and the engine a 3.8 V6. In 2008, due to poor sales, they closed the factory and sacked the entire workforce within a two week period.

So, if these cars were so good, in particular the 1996 - 2008 versions, why were they sales proof to private buyers? Three words............................front-wheel-drive. Now, these days, front wheel drive is certainly NOT a bad thing, however, you need to understand the mindset of the time. Since the 1930's, cars sold in Australia had been primarily rear wheel drive. The top selling vehicles every month, every year, were rear wheel drive. That continued into the 80's, 90's and 2000's. Rear wheel drive was seen as being more durable, better at towing, better for performance. Also consider the Magna and Camry didn't come with a V8........................well, that sealed the deal for many. Put it this way, would you choose a V8 Commodore or Falcon, or a V6 Magna for the same money? Hell no, you buy the V8. Mitsubishi actually added an AWD system to the Magna for a few years, they were brilliant vehicles, but no one bought them.

The funny thing is, the whole rear wheel drive thing started to work against Ford and Holden in the end. Front wheel drive small cars took over as sales leaders, then 4WD SUV's and pickups took over. Rear wheel drive was seen as a disadvantage.

My favorite Magna? A 2004 VRX AWD sedan with the 3.5 V6, the VRX produced more power and had a very fruity exhaust note. Also available in Wagon.










The Magna Ralliart in the video was a competitor to the Falcon XR6 VCT and Commodore S (with the supercharged 3.8). The Ralliart was given a special front diff (manual only), a hotted up 3.5 V6, and a wild body kit that mimicked the Lancer EVO, including that preposterous spoiler. I remember watching a Ralliart compete in a motakana, it sounded so HOT, that engine was truly special.







 
DFB said:
Ahhh, the Mitsubishi Magna, derided by most Aussies, sometimes unfounded.

First, we need to go back to the late 80's. Mitsubishi corporation bought out Chrysler and took control of the Adelaide factory. Initially, they produced Sigma's, but the Magna was their proper assault on the mid-large sedan market. Falcon and Commodore were at the top of that market, making 6 and 8-cylinder sedans, wagons, and in Ford's case, utes and vans too. The first gen Magna was a bit of a cross-over in that it was bigger than mid-size, but not as big as the large Falcon. Magna went up against the Camry, the Holden Camera (which was the GM J-Car), and Nissan Pintara (which was a 4-cylinder Skyline, yes we made Skylines in Australia).

Like the Camry, the Australian public didn't really aspire to owning a front wheel drive four cylinder. That was for a variety of reasone, chief amoung them being lower towing capacity. So, these cars were primarily bought by fleets, rentals and cost-conscious folk......................my father bought a brand new base model Magna Wagon in 1990 as the family car.....................but only because he got it cheap. He hated that car, primarily because of the wayward wet road handling, to the point where he swore off front drive for decades.

The second generation Magna basically a rebody, and carried on with the four cylinder engines. There was a V6 added shortly after. These 4-cylinder Magna's, they were renowned for blowing blue smoke within a few years on the road and being a rattle bucket. Having said that, along with Toyota, the Magna was build considerably better than anything coming out of Holden and Ford during the 80's and 90's.

The thrid generation Magna was a bit of game changer. It was now wider and longer to properly compete with the Falcon and Commodore. Early cars were built with a four cylinder engine, but that phased it out in favor of a 3.0 V6 for the entry level models, and the 3.5 for top end variants. This was also the first Australian made car with a 5-speed auto, and first with a manual mode. These Magna's are my favorite, of which the model shown in the video is the high-performance version offered for a short period in 2003 and 2004.

Why are these my favorite? Because they were far, far, far better build than any Falcon or Commodore. In that I mean build quality, material quality, superior refinement, superior engines, superior gearboxes. The engines were made in Australia, were super smooth and sounded fantastic. I remember driving a 3.5 automatic rental, that thing would rev out so smoothly to the sound of a lovely intake rasp......................it put my SOHC 4.0 Falcon to absolute shame. The OHV 3.8 Buick in the Commodore, please! (Sorry mate, I know you like them but they were well out of date by the 2000's). These cars also had frameless windows, like Subaru used to do. I also believe Mitsubishi exported these vehicles into Canada where they were badged Dimonte.

The Magna made way for the 380 sedan in 2005, the wagon was gone and the engine a 3.8 V6. In 2008, due to poor sales, they closed the factory and sacked the entire workforce within a two week period.

So, if these cars were so good, in particular the 1996 - 2008 versions, why were they sales proof to private buyers? Three words............................front-wheel-drive. Now, these days, front wheel drive is certainly NOT a bad thing, however, you need to understand the mindset of the time. Since the 1930's, cars sold in Australia had been primarily rear wheel drive. The top selling vehicles every month, every year, were rear wheel drive. That continued into the 80's, 90's and 2000's. Rear wheel drive was seen as being more durable, better at towing, better for performance. Also consider the Magna and Camry didn't come with a V8........................well, that sealed the deal for many. Put it this way, would you choose a V8 Commodore or Falcon, or a V6 Magna for the same money? Hell no, you buy the V8. Mitsubishi actually added an AWD system to the Magna for a few years, they were brilliant vehicles, but no one bought them.

The funny thing is, the whole rear wheel drive thing started to work against Ford and Holden in the end. Front wheel drive small cars took over as sales leaders, then 4WD SUV's and pickups took over. Rear wheel drive was seen as a disadvantage.

My favorite Magna? A 2004 VRX AWD sedan with the 3.5 V6, the VRX produced more power and had a very fruity exhaust note. Also available in Wagon.










The Magna Ralliart in the video was a competitor to the Falcon XR6 VCT and Commodore S (with the supercharged 3.8). The Ralliart was given a special front diff (manual only), a hotted up 3.5 V6, and a wild body kit that mimicked the Lancer EVO, including that preposterous spoiler. I remember watching a Ralliart compete in a motakana, it sounded so HOT, that engine was truly special.







Click to expand...
Pretty spot on with everything you said, I got to drive a few Magnas, sedans and wagons, with the 3.0, and like you said it was smooth revving. I also got to drive the 380 with the 3.8 V6, they weren't a pretty car, and I thought the handling was off, but I discovered the guy never checked air pressures, 23psi wasn't good, 38 fixed it. He also thought hosing it was washing it, some people don't deserve company cars. As a comparison I drove my brother's Toyota Aurion a few times, also very smooth revving, and a very comfortable drive, but spooky handling with 200kw through the front wheels, not a drivers car.
 
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Big Dave said:
Pretty spot on with everything you said, I got to drive a few Magnas, sedans and wagons, with the 3.0, and like you said it was smooth revving. I also got to drive the 380 with the 3.8 V6, they weren't a pretty car, and I thought the handling was off, but I discovered the guy never checked air pressures, 23psi wasn't good, 38 fixed it. He also thought hosing it was washing it, some people don't deserve company cars. As a comparison I drove my brother's Toyota Aurion a few times, also very smooth revving, and a very comfortable drive, but spooky handling with 200kw through the front wheels, not a drivers car.
Click to expand...

The Aurion arrived a year after the 380 went on sale. Personally, I would have gone for the 380 as I actually didn't mind the styling in VRX guise, and the engine had a deeper tone to it. But yeah, the base and lux-spec models looked weird from the rear, where the VRX and GT had a different tail lamp that integrated into a lip spoiler.

VRX / GT -







Base / Luxury -



 
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