A review on TUF SHINE.

[STL WRX]

I wrote this review a few days ago and wanted to share with those of you here on Autopia.



I want to say if you are a lazy person this product is not for you. I easily spent 4 hours doing this right and if you are not a person that pays close attention to detail you will not get good results.



First I washed my Z using a 2 bucket method with grit guards, 2 microfiber mitts and Meguiar`s Gold Class wash. After the wash I dried using a waffle weave towel and a leaf blower. :icon39:



Included in the kit is: Tire cleaner, a lightweight tire brush, a set of thick gloves, application sponge and the tire clearcoat itself.







Now onto the TUF SHINE kit... I used a set of ramps so I was able to get to the underside of the tire to make sure I got all surfaces clean.



Here is what we are starting with... a tire that has seen road grime, brake dust and countless applications of over the counter tire dressings.







The instructions say to apply the tire cleaner and let sit for a minute and repeat up to 3 times until you get white suds. I had to clean my tires 4-5 times until I started seeing white suds meaning the surface of the tire was fully cleansed.



First cleaning...





Ewwwwww...





After about 5 cleanings, white suds...





After cleansing you should have a surface that looks like this.





Once your tire is clean and dry (I used my handy dandy leaf blower to speed up the drying process) it`s time for the first coat of TUF STUFF. Proceed to putting your gloves on and grabbing the included sponge. Shake the tire coating really well and start applying the coating liberally to the tires surface. Some areas on your tire you may need to blot to get into all the nooks and cranys. Make sure you smooth out any runs as you are applying the coating...



After the first coat...





Second coat...





And the finished product...





The tire as of the last picture appears to have a very shiny/oily look but by no means is this oily! It dries completely to the touch and after about 30 minutes your tire will have a smooth shiny surface that is dry to the touch and will not sling off like other tire dressings on the market.



You can apply up to 3 coats depending on how shiny you want your tires. One coat yields a matte look, two coats adds a shinier look and three coats is your "wet look".



Now for my opinion and initial impressions with the product.



Pro`s:

1. Included tire cleaner is awesome! Made the tires look new after about 4 cleanings.

2. Tire brush is light and sturdy!

3. Application of the tire clear coat is very easy... goes on in a liquid (not gel) form.

4. After the coating dries there is no oily feel to the tires so NOTHING will sling off onto your paint.

5. Dries to the touch completely.

6. The tires look AMAZING! I used 2 coats...



Con`s:

1. Very, very, very tedious work getting the tire surfaces clean! Like I said if your lazy this is not for you. Took about 4 hours...

2. If you have larger tires (SUV or Truck) your going to have to have more tire cleaner/degreaser. There is just enough included to do 4 low profile tires...



So now the real test comes... since this is supposed to be a permanent tire shine system I will post up how durable it is over the course of a months worth of driving. The product states that it`s permanent as long as you clean correctly using mild soap (I am going to use Meg`s Gold Class) and that you can touch up when needed.





UPDATE AS OF 5/6/11:

Well... it`s not even been 24 hours since application and it seems that TUF SHINE isn`t so TUF after all. I know I followed the instructions perfectly so I do not understand what has happened. I went out today to pick up at few things for mothers day and when I got home I was anxious to see if there was anything on the side of my car and how the tires looked after driving.



After a 17 mile round trip I looked at the tires to find this:







The tire has turned brown and the surface of the TUF SHINE has started to crack. The weather yesterday was good (around 75 degrees and not humid), the tires were spotless upon application of the tire clear coat and I allowed it to dry all day yesterday and overnight before driving.



I feel like it is unfortunate that this has happened seeing as though it looked great once it was applied. From a distance the tires still look shiny but once you get closer they look brown and the cracking in the finish is very unappealing. Does anyone have an idea why this has happened?



So now I suppose I will strip it off with degreaser and just continue to use Meg`s Hot Shine.

[stotte20]

awsome write up on the product. i myslef have used tuff shine on my own z, and my results were much better than yours. the tuff shine lasted up to 2 months on my car, my tires are lower profile than yours as i dont hvae the groves in my tires. but mabey the hot shine you used before did somthiig to mess up the way the tuff shine was able to bond. it is very strange though. mabey clean them again real qucik and add another couple of coats and see what happens. good luck

[extrabolts]

Bad deal on putting in all the effort just to be disappointed, but thanks for the review - hopefully your efforts will save someone else from the same result. I keep it simple with tires - spray with zep citrus, scrub with a tire brush, and run over it with some VRP. Leaves a nice look for a few weeks, which always gets me to the next wash.

[STL WRX]

I`m being contacted by the manufacturer next week and we are going to see if we can find out what went wrong here. I did some searching online and found no bad reviews on TUF SHINE at all and no similar cracking results.



So... we will see what happens. Stay tuned...

[David Fermani]

That looks terrible. Good luck getting that stuff off. Great review.

[gt08vapor]

great write up, to bad tht it failed the next day. keep us updated on what the company does. things like this will tell you how a company really is.

[STL WRX]

I was contacted by TUF SHINE yesterday and we are still working on sorting out what really happened. We have come to the conclusion that after 4-5 cleanings on my tires (even though the suds were white) they still had some previous tire shine left on them that could have over time penetrated the rubber.



I am being sent a new tire cleaner, clear coat kit and some of TUF SHINE`S detailer spray to try and do a review on as well.



I still have faith in this product since seeing photos on the net of others tires after months of use and I feel like Bob from TUF SHINE is all about results and great customer service! I should have all the stuff Thursday and depending on the weather Im giving this another go!

[Brad B]

I duplicated your problem (what I see as white marks and cracking in the siping of the tire) by applying too much clear coating too quickly. I also was not sure if the clear was mixed up properly. It may have separated some.



I am not a huge fan of this product for a number of reasons but glad to see your detailed review. Good luck with the re-test. I look forward to seeing some shiny tires!

[Bill D]

Even today in 2011, it still appears tires can`t be made permanently shiny--at least without some kind of initial kink somewhere. Until a chemical breakthrough, that probably wouldn`t involve the use of the many forms of silicone already in current products, happens, it seems it`s going to continue to have to be a fade-away,reapply ritual. I`m betting the components of tires themselves would have to be altered in some way, so that come shiny themselves out of the factory.It would be a good thing to maybe hopefully see sometime in the future.

[RaskyR1]

Nice review.



I`ve had it on both my car and my wife`s car for a few weeks and they still look great....I`ll have to keep an eye on them though. The gloss does seem to have diminished slightly, though I prefer a low gloss look.

[Bill D]

The diminished but still good gloss look is what I get from Z16 on Michelin Pilots. It works well on Pirellis too. I`ve noticed over the years different brands/models of tires often respond to different tire shine products differently. For example, IME Continentals seem to respond quite well to gel products while only so-so with water based ones.

[STL WRX]

Can someone tell me if wiping lacquer thinner over the tires will hurt them... I was told to do this by TUF SHINE to strip anything left on the tires.



Is this safe?

[Bill D]

I certainly wouldn`t do it. Not sure if any ill effects will be immediately apparent, but they could be down the road. Lacquer thinner has never been associated with tire cleaning and is used very sparingly,if ever, in detailing in general.Why chance it?



I`d rather use a dedicated tire cleaner or APC and some elbow grease in repeated passes if necessary to purge the tire of that stuff.

[RaskyR1]

The diminished but still good gloss look is what I get from Z16 on Michelin Pilots. It works well on Pirellis too. I`ve noticed over the years different brands/models of tires often respond to different tire shine products differently. For example, IME Continentals seem to respond quite well to gel products while only so-so with water based ones.

Does Z16 still looks the same after washing them with soap?

[Kean]

Thanks for taking the time to post this review. I can`t say I like the finish though (still too shiny/"gloppy" looking for me even after one coat). ....but that`s what is so great about sharing info like this.