Review - McKee's 37 Tire Coating - "New Formula"

[Setec Astronomy]

I'm one of the rare people that wants deep dark matte or satin rubber on my tires - helps the chrome shine the more, as my avatar reflects.

Not that rare. But honestly it sounds like, from your description of the "after" appearance, that you didn't get the tire clean enough.

 

[WileEC]

Not that rare. But honestly it sounds like, from your description of the "after" appearance, that you didn't get the tire clean enough.

I'm pretty confident I did. I used more than half a bottle of their cleaner/rejeuvenator making three/four rounds of product and scrubbing with a small Mequiar's tire brush, following the instructions on the bottle. Got to "white foam" as they suggest on their label. Can't imagine the tire being any cleaner. And, with other products, I have no problem getting the matte black I'm looking for. I was considering this one as it offered more durability. I still think it has that, but it was designed with more shine than the previous generation - the exact opposite of what I wanted.

When I talked to McKees, and they discovered my goal and the new formula, it was clearly a mismatch of product and desired end result. I didn't know they had just released the updated formula, nor how it had been tweaked.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

And, with other products, I have no problem getting the matte black I'm looking for.

Except this is a coating which is unlike other products. I'm comparing your experience with my own as far as what a coating looks like when the tire isn't clean enough. Look at what this other poster had to say about the gloss, even with three coats:

Cleaned and coated my wife's summer wheels for her Forester XT. Cleaned with McKee's Tire and Rubber Rejuvenate which worked really well. Coated 3 times with McKee's Tire Coating. Should get them installed Wednesday night and can then monitor longevity.

Appearance is pretty good, definitely not shiny or excessively glossy. Very slick feeling. I'll post a pic once there on the car.

But it's up to you. I happen to like Opti-Bond a lot. Bear in mind that the glossiness of a coating usually tones down a little with time, just like a dressing.

 

[WileEC]

And, that is in line with the many reviews I read - that applied to the older formula. Like I said, the first question McKee's asked was if the bottle I got had the new sticker. At that point, he felt he understood my experience. Since he knows his products far better than me, I defer to his explanation of my experience.

I appreciate you taking the time to help me understand what I experienced and I would readily agree that most don't take the time to get their tires clean, etc. In this instance, because I was new to this system, I tried to conscientiously follow the instructions to the letter of the law. I've never invested so much time to clean tires - with a special formula designed for that purpose. I nearly wore out the new Mequiar's tire brush I used for the cleaning. I would also mention, only because in some of the posts I read, this seem to be a variable that caused some issues - these were Toyo tires. They aren't new at all, having been scrubbed and had other coatings many times over the years since I got them. But, some did seem to have more issues with this brand of tire.

I'm aiming for as little glossiness as possible. Rubber, by itself isn't glossy - it's just rubber. Add more plastic and/or refine the surface and/or coat it and you are adding gloss. If you have ever seen real race tires, they are not glossy - they are just dark and black (much like the mark left on pavement after a burnout) and that is my goal, for all of our tires, as I feel it lets the wheels be the hero in the combo. All this said - it's just my preference. What someone else prefers for their car is up to them - not trying to suggest others adhere to my preference.