Results of our Ceramic Coating Testing - 10 months later

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OakesDetail

New member
We performed a full paint correction and ceramic coating application on this Evo X over TEN months ago! (original writeup here:http://www.autopia.org/forum/pro-de...10-evox-octane-blue-new-car-prep-cquartz.html) We have since used it as our test car to see the durability and how worthwhile ceramic coating truly is. Long story short, it's a no brainer.



This process is very tedious and involves a lot of experience both in paint correction and ceramic application. There are few paint correction specialists that are fully familiar with the ceramic coating processes to offer it as a service. The down time can take up to a full business week, but to protect soft paint for years it's worthwhile.



Over the course of the past 10 months the car has seen 4,000 more miles, and countless washes - some intentional improper washes to see how well the coating holds up. As you all know, Mitsubishi paint in general is far too soft and extremely subject to marring and swirling. This is a solution to your worries and keeping your paint perfect for years.



To keep the testing fair, we applied no more protectants to the vehicle since the coating was applied, and we mixed up the washes with proper and improper techniques to see how much resistance the ceramic coating offers. The pictures below are the results after the aforementioned testing - I will let them do the talking!



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The gloss is still just as deep and vibrant as it was 9 months ago



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The pros and cons of this treatment are as follows:



Pros:

* Clear bra like protection without the appearance and lines of a clear bra

* Armor like protection against all elements including light rock damage

* Sheeting/beading water protection no matter how many washes

* Practically worry free paint maintenance for years



Cons:

* Cost the same as most full front end clear bra applications

* Fewer specialists with experience using Ceramic coating technology

* Down time of 3-5 days for the process



Any and all feedback welcome! Feel free to ask questions!



-Nick Oakes​
 
OakesDetail said:
Pros:

* Clear bra like protection without the appearance and lines of a clear bra

* Armor like protection against all elements including light rock damage
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Nick, that's very cool. Protection against "light rock damage", if valid, would sell me.



Are you at a point where you can quote a price on a small car like this? I'm curious to have a ball park idea.



Thanks.
 
OakesDetail said:


* Clear bra like protection without the appearance and lines of a clear bra

* Armor like protection against all elements including light rock damage​
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Wow! These are very powerful benefits. Only other thing I can think of is if it has the same kind of look as a rich 'nuba, sounds like the ultimate LSP and an Autopian's dream come true!
 
We are working out a ballpark range at the moment yes, we didnt want to get in over our heads before we were happy or not with the testing. We have 3 test cars, the first 2 have done perfect. The 3rd suffered a rather noticeable rock chip however from a half dollar sized stone so its tough to rule it out completely as it's a bit abnormal.



Its certainly the best available lsp short of clear wrapping an entire car at the moment
 
Isn't Klasse brand LSP's a ceramic type of sealant? I may be wrong, but I've heard they're supposed to be scratch resistant as well (I am always hesitant to see the scratch resistance protection of any LSP). However I am a huge fan of the way that EVO turned out, I like the carnauba look with the long-lasting protection you're claiming. If so, $1000 would be a good ball park for that sort of treatment.
 
Thanks for posting this up, Nick. Truly exciting stuff.



Why do you say 3-5 days downtime? Does it need to cure that long?

Assuming minor correction was required (single step light polishing), couldn't that be done in a day?



Have you compared this against other products out there? i.e. OptiCoat/Guard, Aquartz (any others?)



I've seen others talk about $300-600 for an OC upsell so I'm curious what makes CQuartz a different, more expensive animal. Thanks!



I need to figure out which one of these I'm putting on my own car before the end of the summer :)
 
I have not worked with the Optimum opti Coat personally, we wanted to stick towards the hand application products because for some old school reason I never fully trust the sprays. Also because we were putting so much research and trial into this one after preliminary research on the others CQuartz seemed to be the better of the bunch.



So far proving so!



The 3-5 day downtime is all dependent on condition and because we perform two coatings of the CQuartz. If we're putting this much work and investment into the job, I'm not going to exactly chance it on one coating - again bringing back to my personal but not proven doubts on the spray applications.



Also for this kind of treatment, I personally require full correction. Dont want any imperfections lying under the ceramic.
 
OakesDetail said:
I have not worked with the Optimum opti Coat personally, we wanted to stick towards the hand application products because for some old school reason I never fully trust the sprays. Also because we were putting so much research and trial into this one after preliminary research on the others CQuartz seemed to be the better of the bunch.
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Is the Aquartz a spray application? I know OC isn't.





OakesDetail said:
The 3-5 day downtime is all dependent on condition and because we perform two coatings of the CQuartz. If we're putting this much work and investment into the job, I'm not going to exactly chance it on one coating - again bringing back to my personal but not proven doubts on the spray applications.



Also for this kind of treatment, I personally require full correction. Dont want any imperfections lying under the ceramic.
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Definitely hear you on the correction. That makes sense. I just didn't know that CQuartz (or any of these products) could be layered. Or are you just going over the car twice in quick succession to make sure you get every square millimeter?





Thanks for answering all these questions.
 
CQuartz is a nice product but I don't buy the rock chip resistance bit...even PPF pits like crazy from regular road sand blasting.
 
Rasky I would have to agree although I have never cquartz one thing for sure is preventing against rock chips is a pretty bold statement. If you look at this video made by cquartz there talk about scratch resistence. To me there isn't a major difference between the coated and uncoated side? if it scratches this easily " versus there description of it being scracth resistent" how's it gonna be a sacrificial barrier between paint and a rock flying up? Nick whats your input on this since you have experimented with the product and tested it out? on a side note it looks like it fills nicely! :rockon1:



 
Like I stated, "light rock" protection. One of the test cars suffered a noticeable chip after recovering the half dollar sized rock that hit it. The other two are highway and city driven cars and we have discovered no new damage or pitting on their front ends after 4000 and 7500 miles between the two.



I as well dont believe it will be any form or permanent protection against such and for your best protection a clear bra is still the arguably better way to go. However, I have even seen them sustain damage from similar sized rocks like the one that hit one of our test cars.



No peppering or noticeable chips have occurred on the other two vehicles in this rather harsh and construction ridden southeastern PA and New Jersey. So I'd have to say over the course of 10 months it definitely holds some value to it. Especially with paint as soft as Mitsubishi and Subaru, I imagine this will fair a lot better on a ceramic clear car.
 
OakesDetail said:
No peppering or noticeable chips have occurred on the other two vehicles in this rather harsh and construction ridden southeastern PA and New Jersey.
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With the Jersey area being your proving grounds, I'd have to say, that's quite good performance from this product. :bigups
 
I agree ^



However, I also agree that it's a bold statement still. Hence why we've already done such long and more rigid testing on the product. It made a lot of claims since this technology became apparent to me and far too many were questionable at best. I have to say though, at this point it's proving very well. Doesnt mean its an end all be all product by any means but certainly in my opinion the best way to protect our cars at this point in time.
 
OakesDetail said:
Like I stated, "light rock" protection. One of the test cars suffered a noticeable chip after recovering the half dollar sized rock that hit it. The other two are highway and city driven cars and we have discovered no new damage or pitting on their front ends after 4000 and 7500 miles between the two.



I as well dont believe it will be any form or permanent protection against such and for your best protection a clear bra is still the arguably better way to go. However, I have even seen them sustain damage from similar sized rocks like the one that hit one of our test cars.



No peppering or noticeable chips have occurred on the other two vehicles in this rather harsh and construction ridden southeastern PA and New Jersey. So I'd have to say over the course of 10 months it definitely holds some value to it. Especially with paint as soft as Mitsubishi and Subaru, I imagine this will fair a lot better on a ceramic clear car.
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Hello, I'm not trying to pick a fight with you here, as I don't know you and you don't know me, but the coatings offer no chip damage protection in my experience. What is my experience you ask? Good question. I started playing with the original AQuartz last summer before it became CQ. I have also been testing Opti Coat since that time as well. I had applied both OC and CQ to my 2004 FX35 to compare them. I had CQ on the hood of my FX. I got a stone chip in it that went right through the paint and required touching up and re-sealing.

In addition, I sold my FX and bought a brand new Lincoln to which I appliced the CQ in December. It, too, received a stone chip that was a bad one. The impact in fact caused a dent in the metal and removed the paint.

So, in my experience of playing with these coatings for over a year as well as having them on my own personal vehicles, I can say that chip resistance should not be sold as a benefit for it. Not in this litigious society anyway. Yes, there are many other benefits to the coatings, but chip resistance is not one of them.
 
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