Review: RAC System Tire Coating

For those of you who checked out my Gyeon Trim thread, you learned that I hate detailing tires and trim. In fact, I hate detailing tires so much, I either prefer a coating or to spritz on some Hyperdressing every week to keep them looking their finest. I hate the process, but clean and dressed tires do complete the package.

Introduction
TAC System has an entire line of detailing products, and many of those are for tires. They offer Tire Gel, which as the name implies is a gel-based dressing. They also offer Tire Coat, which is a resin based coating for restoring and protecting the look of your tires. When I asked around to see if this was similar to CarPro PERL, I was informed that it was different in many ways but similar in that it was water based. It is not diluted (unlike PERL). Compared to their other dressing, Tire Coat has more of a satin appearance whereas Tire Gel has a somewhat glossy finish.


Manufacturer`s Description

Quote:

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Tire Coat is a revolutionary water repellency coating explicitly designed for tyres. Tire Coat restores old looking used tyres to brand new fresh looking without an oily look.

Tire Coat has a polymer complexing resin added, which allows the applied surface forms an excellent water-repellent coating to prolong the durability of the tyres.

Once applied, the surface is capable of repelling water and contaminants from further polluting of the tyre surface.
There will not too much oily shine and will have beautiful and deep burnish in the surface.

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Price
This appears to be available to the US in a 500 mL bottle for $24.99


Product Description
Tire Coat comes in an unremarkable 500 mL spray bottle with locking spray trigger that doesn`t leak when the bottle is inverted. Tire Coat is a watery white liquid (which is interesting since it is a polymer of resin) that has a distinct fruity smell to it. When I held it up to my daughter`s nose for her to interpret, she took a few sniffs, smiled and in a quite satisfied voice said, "Jolly Rancher! Cherry and Grape Jolly Ranchers."

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When utilized with the sprayer, the product sprays evenly and consistently on a tire applicator without appearing to concentrate into one particular area and was uniformly absorbed by this generic microfiber applicator pad.



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Subject
This is my wife`s 2015 Toyota Highlander. The tires are routinely cleaned once every other wash with Blackfire AIO Tire and Trim. However, while I think this is great for a week or so, I don`t think it really lasts that long -- at least not on my wife`s tires. Here is the appearance of the tires after the vehicle was cleaned.


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The tire was then cleaned with Tuf-Shine tire cleaner and then a repeat cleaning was performed with TW Tire cleaner (the one stocked with Endura Shine). A Tuf-Shine tire brush was used to scrub the tires. I made 4 passes of scrubbing before the foam on the tires was white without any brown staining. Here`s how dirty the tires were.


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Once cleaned, the wheel was tired looking , and the natural appearance of the tire was restored. It looks pale without any signs of vibrancy or life.


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TAC System Tire Coat was applied. I placed two coats. Each pass was done with the applicator and excess on the tire is seen here in this picture.

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The product was worked into the grooves and any excess (less than what is shown in the picture) was left to evaporate as I`ve been instructed. Once dry, a second application was performed.

The final appearance before my wife drove the kids to the pool. I was concerned that leaving some excess would give the appearance of spottiness or "drip stains," but I saw no indication of this.


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Summary
There`s quite the speculation that TAC System may be part of the same genealogy as are CarPro and Gyeon, but Tire Coat seems to be somewhat of a different product. I can`t help but wonder how similar it is to PERL, but Tire Coat is a polymer of resin and there is no instructions to cut/dilute the product and no indication that it should. It smells great and is easy to apply. If excess tends to be your problem after applying a tire dressing, excess does not seem to be an issue here. The tire looked great after application and had the appearance somewhere between a satin look and a glossy look, just shy of what I like (hey, I like glossy tires...but not greasy tires). This product was easy to apply, so if this tire coating lasts 4 weeks, I`ll be thrilled since application was straightforward and looked fantastic.

Looks similar to Tough Shine coating I`ve used on our SUV. It fades quickly for looks, but I can say if you use a RW on the tires, they will come clean without scrubbing :)

Yet another good review on a interesting product. Thanks.



https://youtu.be/5x5VFLF-BY4

Nicely done, Kevin

Thanks for the review. I`ve used it and I agree that it needs a little more shine. It will last a few weeks, but I went back to my TW tire dressing (discontinued). I dont want real shiny tires, but I like some sheen. I may try more coats next time I use it.

Thanks for the video link, PA Detailer.

rlmccarty2000 - I agree that I wish it had some more shine. I did only one tire and did two coats. I am going to experiment with the number of coats and the timing with the other three wheels and see what level of shine I get. A few weeks is decent. I agree with you re: TW Endura. I found two packages on ebay some time ago and have yet to get through the first one. I`m hoarding this!