So as some of you may remember, I did some testing and reviewing of Wolfgang's new Exterior Trim Sealant and Ultima's Tire and Trim Guard yesterday. If you don't remember, or didn't see it here is the link http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...r-trim-sealant-vs-ultima-tire-trim-gaurd.html
Unfortunately at the time I didn't have time to get tires cleaned up and dressed due to a fast moving storm headed my way. So today I went out and tested both products on tires.
For pictures and prices of the products please refer to the original thread. This thread is just to add the tire portion of the review.
Ok, so the tire we have to test on today is on my wife's 2006 Ford Explorer. It has about 40,000 miles on it, and honestly isn't cared for as well as it could be. I dress them when I wash the car, but sometimes it's a month or more between washes. I figured this would be a good test for these products.
First I wanted to get the tire perfectly clean. To do this I ended up using Optimum Power Clean 3:1 and a stiff brush. It took three applications and heavy scrubbing to remove all of the brown spots on the tires. then I placed two pieces of tape on the tire to split it in half. The top half would be UTTG, and the bottom half would be ETS.
For application I used two brand new foam tire shine applicators. I applied each product to the applicator and spread it on the tire. On most surfaces a little of each product goes a long way. The same holds true for tires for the most part. Now you will use more product to get full coverage, but no more than any other tire shine product. Just a heads up so you know you will use more to dress the tires than you would to dress trim with the same product.
Here you can see the piece of tape on the right has been removed showing the original state of the tire.
Here are a couple pictures a bit closer up of both dressings and the undressed section. I know it's obvious in person, and think it's pretty obvous in the pictures that the ETS looks slightly darker and slightly more glossy than the UTTG. I personally like that look better, but it's totally up to each individual to decide what they like better. This can't really be a pro or con for either product since everyone likes a different look.
Here we have a very close up shot of the UTTG and the undressed section of the tire.
Another shot of the same here. As you can see the outter edge by the tread still is a little brown, but the UTTG did a pretty good job of covering it up. I'm not saying you should use this on tires that aren't clean, but it's good to know it will help you out if you miss a spot while cleaning.
Now we have the same close up look at the ETS and the undressed section of tire. Again I think it's pretty easy to tell that the ETS is still darker and has more gloss than the UTTG.
Again we have a little bit of brown by the tread, and the ETS covers it up well just like the UTTG.
Finally we have a couple close up shots of just the UTTG.
And here is just the ETS
Here is a little bonus picture. I was doing this test on the tires of my Cube which only have 15,000 miles on them and are well taken care of. I feel they look very similar to the other tire, but both might be slightly darker on the newer, well maintained rubber.
Final Thoughts.
It's quite obvious that both of these products are quality, and very similar. I personally like the look of the ETS better, but if all I had to dress tires was the UTTG I wouldn't be upset at all since it looks very nice as well. If the ETS gives the same durability that the UTTG has proven in the past then it's really a personal taste choice as to which product to buy.
Some may think these products are a little expensive to use on tires, and honestly I would agree. However, remember that these products SHOULD give you multiple months of protection while most tire dressings only give you a couple weeks at most.
Thanks for reading, and please feel free to ask question or add comments. Thanks!
Unfortunately at the time I didn't have time to get tires cleaned up and dressed due to a fast moving storm headed my way. So today I went out and tested both products on tires.
For pictures and prices of the products please refer to the original thread. This thread is just to add the tire portion of the review.
Ok, so the tire we have to test on today is on my wife's 2006 Ford Explorer. It has about 40,000 miles on it, and honestly isn't cared for as well as it could be. I dress them when I wash the car, but sometimes it's a month or more between washes. I figured this would be a good test for these products.
First I wanted to get the tire perfectly clean. To do this I ended up using Optimum Power Clean 3:1 and a stiff brush. It took three applications and heavy scrubbing to remove all of the brown spots on the tires. then I placed two pieces of tape on the tire to split it in half. The top half would be UTTG, and the bottom half would be ETS.
For application I used two brand new foam tire shine applicators. I applied each product to the applicator and spread it on the tire. On most surfaces a little of each product goes a long way. The same holds true for tires for the most part. Now you will use more product to get full coverage, but no more than any other tire shine product. Just a heads up so you know you will use more to dress the tires than you would to dress trim with the same product.
Here you can see the piece of tape on the right has been removed showing the original state of the tire.
Here are a couple pictures a bit closer up of both dressings and the undressed section. I know it's obvious in person, and think it's pretty obvous in the pictures that the ETS looks slightly darker and slightly more glossy than the UTTG. I personally like that look better, but it's totally up to each individual to decide what they like better. This can't really be a pro or con for either product since everyone likes a different look.
Here we have a very close up shot of the UTTG and the undressed section of the tire.
Another shot of the same here. As you can see the outter edge by the tread still is a little brown, but the UTTG did a pretty good job of covering it up. I'm not saying you should use this on tires that aren't clean, but it's good to know it will help you out if you miss a spot while cleaning.
Now we have the same close up look at the ETS and the undressed section of tire. Again I think it's pretty easy to tell that the ETS is still darker and has more gloss than the UTTG.
Again we have a little bit of brown by the tread, and the ETS covers it up well just like the UTTG.
Finally we have a couple close up shots of just the UTTG.
And here is just the ETS
Here is a little bonus picture. I was doing this test on the tires of my Cube which only have 15,000 miles on them and are well taken care of. I feel they look very similar to the other tire, but both might be slightly darker on the newer, well maintained rubber.
Final Thoughts.
It's quite obvious that both of these products are quality, and very similar. I personally like the look of the ETS better, but if all I had to dress tires was the UTTG I wouldn't be upset at all since it looks very nice as well. If the ETS gives the same durability that the UTTG has proven in the past then it's really a personal taste choice as to which product to buy.
Some may think these products are a little expensive to use on tires, and honestly I would agree. However, remember that these products SHOULD give you multiple months of protection while most tire dressings only give you a couple weeks at most.
Thanks for reading, and please feel free to ask question or add comments. Thanks!
rops: Thank you! :dblthumb2:
