BudgetPlan1
08-01-2016, 08:20 AM
Tuf Shine
Noticed the Tuf Shine product recently, figured I’d give it a shot so I wouldn’t have to mess with Tire Dressings that immediately disappear in the rain. Overall, good initial impressions of results, if the durability is as advertised it will have been worth the time…lotsa time, that is. Was doing 2 different tire types/brands on two cars, both of which used separate tires dressing brands in the past.
Car 1:
2004 Corvette w/ Michelin Pilot Sport A/S ZP tires. Tires purchased in May of 2012, car not really driven in rain much, previously maintained with Zaino Z-16 Perfect Tire Gloss. Likely applied every other week at most, from April thru November. Since car didn’t see much rain/inclement weather tires always looked pretty good.
Car 2:
2016 Subaru WRX w/ Dunlop Sport Maxx RT Tires. Car purchased new in October 2016, realistically about 10K miles on these tires, tires mostly always dressed with Wolfgang Black Diamond Tire Gel, at least once a week from April thru current. Daily driver so it sees all sorts of weather, rain strips the Wolfgang stuff easily, was getting tired of applying after rainstorm when, as a whole, car otherwise looked good due to coating/’sealant applied Spring 2016.
In the end, the combo of tire & dressing resulted in unique prep work/results.
From Zaino info, description of Z-16 Perfect Tire Gloss
We created Zaino Z-16 Perfect Tire Gloss™ to solve these problems once and for all. Z-16 Perfect Tire Gloss™ is a non-oily, rubber and exterior vinyl finishing treatment. Our unique formula contains Ultra-Gard™ UV(40) and our exclusive moisturizing and antistatic solution to prevent drying, cracking and browning. Z-16 Perfect Tire Gloss™ helps repels dust and dirt to keep your tires looking great, longer. One application of Z-16 Perfect Tire Gloss™ leaves an incredibly durable, water repellent, perfect looking satin finish, that`s only slightly glossy and dry to the touch.
From Wolfgang info, description of the Black Diamond Tire Gel:
Wolfgang Black Diamond Tire Gel consists of German super polymers, deep conditioning agents, and cutting edge protectants. This unique rubber protectant achieves spectacular results without relying on drying butyls, alcohols or petroleum distillates. No environmentally hazardous chemicals or additives go into Black Diamond Tire Gel. It is 100% biodegradable and safe on tires.
Anyway, the combo unique to each vehicle resulted in significantly varied results, but more exhaustingly, significantly different prep time/effort.
The Michelin/Zaino combo required, no kidding, about 15-20 scrubbings of the tire until (as specified in the Tuf Shine instructions) the final scrub with their tire cleaner came out white, indicating all previous dressing was removed and tire was ready for the Tuf Shine sealant application. Utilizing a combo of the Tuf Shine tire cleaner, Eagle One A2Z Wheel & Tire Cleaner (best available locally when I realized the Tuf Shine bottle wasn’t gonna make it through 8 tires) and a local detail supply house in-house tire cleaner (Professional Detailing Products). Scrubbing was done over 2 days as someone somewhere mentioned that initial cleaning resulted in more goo leaching out overnite. So off I went, Eagle One, supply house cleaner, Tuf Shine cleaner…over and over until it FINALLY came clean. Used a Chemical Guys ACC_204 Curved Tire Brush for the Eagle One and local supply house tire cleaner, then the Tuf Shine tire brush with their cleaner, hoping for clean, white foam after each ‘cycle’. Took many cycles but finally came out clean. Applied 3 coats of the Tuf Shine tire dressing, left Michelins with a pretty glossy appearance. Worth noting that previously the Michelins seemed to come out with more gloss/shine regardless of tire dressing tried.
The Dunlop/Wolfgang combo was much, much easier to scrub out, only needing around 3 ‘cycles’ of the above mentioned trio of cleaners to get the supremely satisfying white foam result. 3 coats of Tuf Shine dressing resulted in a far more subdued look with respect to gloss.
In the end, if this stuff is durable and long lasting, I’ll be happy as ‘refreshing it’ going forward will be no big deal. I’ll let the Michelins fade a bit as they are a bit glossy to me right outta the box but really happy with the more subdued ‘clean’ look of the Dunlops.
Michelins (chrome wheel) vs Dunlops
http://www.autopia.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=31401&stc=1
If you’re gonna try the Tuf Shine, and have been dressing your tires for awhile, I’d be sure and get more than the initial bottle of the Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner although if I was just doing the 4 Dunlop/Wolfgang combo tires, the bottle in the kit likely woulda been enough. Unfortunately, ya really don’t know how hard cleaning your tires is gonna be until you start scrubbing.
I followed up the Tuf Shine w/ Gyeon Q2 Rim coating since the wheels are/were off the car(s) anyway. Having used only the WG Uber Ceramic before, with respect to coatings, the Quartz/Gyeon stuff was quite an interesting experience, due to heat in the mid-80’s with somewhat heavy humidity as well. Still have the WRX painted wheels to coat, maybe I’ll haul them in the air conditioned house and coat them on the dining room table; I’m sure that will go over well. Another plus is my Chemical Guys tire brush, with blackened bristles from previous use, now looks nearly new due to running though numerous scrubbings and ounces upon ounces of tire cleaner.
More on the Gyeon Rim later…man, how do people coat those really intricate wheels? I think the gray, painted Subaru wheels are gonna take a looooong time to get in all the narrow spaces. If anyone has any best practices for this task, I`d love to hear them. My sausage fingers are likely a bit fat to fit in some of those places on the painted Subaru wheel.
Noticed the Tuf Shine product recently, figured I’d give it a shot so I wouldn’t have to mess with Tire Dressings that immediately disappear in the rain. Overall, good initial impressions of results, if the durability is as advertised it will have been worth the time…lotsa time, that is. Was doing 2 different tire types/brands on two cars, both of which used separate tires dressing brands in the past.
Car 1:
2004 Corvette w/ Michelin Pilot Sport A/S ZP tires. Tires purchased in May of 2012, car not really driven in rain much, previously maintained with Zaino Z-16 Perfect Tire Gloss. Likely applied every other week at most, from April thru November. Since car didn’t see much rain/inclement weather tires always looked pretty good.
Car 2:
2016 Subaru WRX w/ Dunlop Sport Maxx RT Tires. Car purchased new in October 2016, realistically about 10K miles on these tires, tires mostly always dressed with Wolfgang Black Diamond Tire Gel, at least once a week from April thru current. Daily driver so it sees all sorts of weather, rain strips the Wolfgang stuff easily, was getting tired of applying after rainstorm when, as a whole, car otherwise looked good due to coating/’sealant applied Spring 2016.
In the end, the combo of tire & dressing resulted in unique prep work/results.
From Zaino info, description of Z-16 Perfect Tire Gloss
We created Zaino Z-16 Perfect Tire Gloss™ to solve these problems once and for all. Z-16 Perfect Tire Gloss™ is a non-oily, rubber and exterior vinyl finishing treatment. Our unique formula contains Ultra-Gard™ UV(40) and our exclusive moisturizing and antistatic solution to prevent drying, cracking and browning. Z-16 Perfect Tire Gloss™ helps repels dust and dirt to keep your tires looking great, longer. One application of Z-16 Perfect Tire Gloss™ leaves an incredibly durable, water repellent, perfect looking satin finish, that`s only slightly glossy and dry to the touch.
From Wolfgang info, description of the Black Diamond Tire Gel:
Wolfgang Black Diamond Tire Gel consists of German super polymers, deep conditioning agents, and cutting edge protectants. This unique rubber protectant achieves spectacular results without relying on drying butyls, alcohols or petroleum distillates. No environmentally hazardous chemicals or additives go into Black Diamond Tire Gel. It is 100% biodegradable and safe on tires.
Anyway, the combo unique to each vehicle resulted in significantly varied results, but more exhaustingly, significantly different prep time/effort.
The Michelin/Zaino combo required, no kidding, about 15-20 scrubbings of the tire until (as specified in the Tuf Shine instructions) the final scrub with their tire cleaner came out white, indicating all previous dressing was removed and tire was ready for the Tuf Shine sealant application. Utilizing a combo of the Tuf Shine tire cleaner, Eagle One A2Z Wheel & Tire Cleaner (best available locally when I realized the Tuf Shine bottle wasn’t gonna make it through 8 tires) and a local detail supply house in-house tire cleaner (Professional Detailing Products). Scrubbing was done over 2 days as someone somewhere mentioned that initial cleaning resulted in more goo leaching out overnite. So off I went, Eagle One, supply house cleaner, Tuf Shine cleaner…over and over until it FINALLY came clean. Used a Chemical Guys ACC_204 Curved Tire Brush for the Eagle One and local supply house tire cleaner, then the Tuf Shine tire brush with their cleaner, hoping for clean, white foam after each ‘cycle’. Took many cycles but finally came out clean. Applied 3 coats of the Tuf Shine tire dressing, left Michelins with a pretty glossy appearance. Worth noting that previously the Michelins seemed to come out with more gloss/shine regardless of tire dressing tried.
The Dunlop/Wolfgang combo was much, much easier to scrub out, only needing around 3 ‘cycles’ of the above mentioned trio of cleaners to get the supremely satisfying white foam result. 3 coats of Tuf Shine dressing resulted in a far more subdued look with respect to gloss.
In the end, if this stuff is durable and long lasting, I’ll be happy as ‘refreshing it’ going forward will be no big deal. I’ll let the Michelins fade a bit as they are a bit glossy to me right outta the box but really happy with the more subdued ‘clean’ look of the Dunlops.
Michelins (chrome wheel) vs Dunlops
http://www.autopia.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=31401&stc=1
If you’re gonna try the Tuf Shine, and have been dressing your tires for awhile, I’d be sure and get more than the initial bottle of the Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner although if I was just doing the 4 Dunlop/Wolfgang combo tires, the bottle in the kit likely woulda been enough. Unfortunately, ya really don’t know how hard cleaning your tires is gonna be until you start scrubbing.
I followed up the Tuf Shine w/ Gyeon Q2 Rim coating since the wheels are/were off the car(s) anyway. Having used only the WG Uber Ceramic before, with respect to coatings, the Quartz/Gyeon stuff was quite an interesting experience, due to heat in the mid-80’s with somewhat heavy humidity as well. Still have the WRX painted wheels to coat, maybe I’ll haul them in the air conditioned house and coat them on the dining room table; I’m sure that will go over well. Another plus is my Chemical Guys tire brush, with blackened bristles from previous use, now looks nearly new due to running though numerous scrubbings and ounces upon ounces of tire cleaner.
More on the Gyeon Rim later…man, how do people coat those really intricate wheels? I think the gray, painted Subaru wheels are gonna take a looooong time to get in all the narrow spaces. If anyone has any best practices for this task, I`d love to hear them. My sausage fingers are likely a bit fat to fit in some of those places on the painted Subaru wheel.