Quick Review - Carpro Ech20

Audios S6

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Out of all the new SEMA releases, this was the one that most piqued my interest. And based on some of the hype that is already out there by the folks who have tried it before release of at SEMA, I was further cautiously optimistic about the performance. I recall some specific line to the effect that, 'you can't make it streak even if you try' and 'it's like wiping on gloss'; that would be nice.

The bottle seems to be easily stained by the thick, teal mixture. I found that the dilution on the bottle differ slightly from what is listed on another distributors site (the latter being more dilute). Those listed on AG do match the bottle. I chose to start with a diltution of 1:20, adding 2 oz of concentrate to 40oz of distilled water in a garden sprayer. The product itself is very thick, it clung to the sides of a small measuring cup that had come from a cough syrup bottle. I poured a little of the dilute product back into the measuring cup and stirred it to reclaim the concentrate. Once diluted the product appears more of a blue color through the opaque plastic of my garden sprayer. This product does not have a distinct fragrance, rather, the smell is a byproduct of the solvents/carriers and whatever magic they put in the bottle. As long as the product performs well, I can dismiss the less than stellar odor, though I do find that my work spaces smelled a bit like a body shop afterward.

After finishing a rinseless wash, I applied a light layer of Ech20 to one panel at a time as well as a light misting on the plush side of a 530 towel. After wiping on, I used a second 530 towel to wipe it off. Any streaking flashed away within moments. It went on and came off very easily, and the towels went smoothly over the paint. After the sun went down, the pattern of condensation on the car did mimic the wiping pattern, so even though you can't see any streaks, something of that pattern is left behind.

The surface has a soft slippery feel, almost oily much like a traditional sealant, I feel that is new to carpro products; Reload and the CQ options all seem to have a hard slickness to them. This was a pleasant surprise.

As for Gloss, yes, it's a gloss boss. I imagine at a more concentrated mixture it would have even greater gloss, but both of my vehicles showed a noticeable increase in gloss after using Ech2o.

I will most certainly be purchasing this again. I plan to use regularly as a gloss booster just before returning vehicles to clients. At its listed price point, it's not going to complete on price with UWW, but I feel Ech2O outperforms UWW in the finish department. I will need to do some additional testing on it's cleaning ability. For now, UWW will remain the waterless choice for me and Echo2 will be the gloss boosting QD. No pictures as this time, but it will be used tomorrow at the end of a detail so I can hopefully provide some photos at that time.
 
Great now I have to burn through my gallon of WG Sealant Spritz so I can start using this. GG's new BOS Detailer looks interesting too.
 
Thank you for the informative review.

Your experience with the product is similar to mine with Opti Instant Detailer & Gloss Enhancer. Maybe cutting it a little more with water would do the trick.

I will definitely try it.
 
thanks for your thoughts, i will be purchasing some when it is available...
 
OK, so a few photos from today on a brilliant black Audi A4. Car wash polished with HD polish+ and a number of different machines and pads. This was a workshop day for one of the local audi clubs, so application of Ech2O was by non-geeks with some instruction.

Requisite Zach McGovern photo



After spraying on and spreading with a 530, some streaks of product left behind



After buffing with a second 530. A little residue left, I made the guys go back and rebuff it and it came right off.



Couple final shots



 
I found with this product to keep it at the lower dilution rate. I found that at the higher dilution rates in a bit colder weather, it will streak. Keeping it at the lower end however, it was absolutely fine. I've used this on my cquartz UK coated car and my friends non-coated car so I do find it worked a lot better on the coated car than on my friends non-coated car. On a coated car at the lower dilution, after the panel is cleaned and I spray on a bit more with a clean towel, I don't need to flip the towel to the dry side to get it streak free. On my friends non-coated car, I did have to buff a bit more. Still a great product so far. As a waterless wash, I find its cleaning agents are on par with UWW+ but yes the price point is higher. The gloss is definitely much better with Echo than UWW. I think the recommended dilution rates are definitely a bit too high though.
 
I wouldn't know about colder temps yet. It was 70F the past 2 days in Minnesota, lol.
 
Thanks for the review. I'm quite excited to try mine. I have 4 liters coming along with 2 bottles of Essence Plus.
 
Ya it was 53 degrees here in Canada the other day when I used it so a bit more streaky in the colder weathers. That being said, I think most products are streakier in colder weather.
 
one thing i noticed on some other sites, they have the 500ml bottle priced at $15.99 while here at AG it's regularly priced at $8.99/$7.99 sale priced...
 
So to make a gallon for Quick Detailer: Shake well and dilute 1:15 ~ 1:25 would that total out to 8 oz mix with a gallon (128 oz) of distilled water?
 
Found one flaw,do not use on gold plated emblems such as most of them are on classic cars.
 
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