S100 and P21S waxes

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imported_Indy YZF

New member
I love S100. I find its the only paste wax that I can really apply easily by hand to my white M3. Even when I dont feel like doing a whole 2 or 3 step process using the PC, I still find I can lay down a quick layer of S100 by hand with no fuss/no muss in under an hour. Its great for this. Just try that with something like Collinite Marque De Elegance. Thats a real backbreaker do apply and remove by hand. But the S100 just goes on and comes off like butter.



So, each time I use it, I always find myself asking, is this Really the same stuff as P21s? Its almost too good to believe....About 10 bucks or so cheaper for the same product, marketed at bikes rather than cars??



So, can someone confirm that it is really the identical product? How do we know this? I mean, sure, it looks the same, it smells the same, and the container is the same, except for the lettering...



Thanks for setting me straight on this.
 
If you can find this confirmation, you are a better man than I.



I've read hundreds of posts about these two but no one has provided definitive info about their sameness. Yeah, if it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, its a duck. But the only way you know for sure is to kill it and dissect the thing.



I can't recall what a spectrochemical analysis costs but I think its $1000++. How badly do you want to know?
 
Well, why dont we just ask the company. Surely theyd' tell us :) Well, maybe, they might... But then, if that got out, theyd have a pretty hard time justifying the higher price of the same goods wouldnt they... so maybe they wont be so free with the info as I thought. I'll try and contact them.
 
I've held them both in my hands. Other than the label and the price, They are completely similar. I consider myself a fairly sharp individual with keen senses (semi-Spidermanlike). There is no discernible difference.



I'm not a chemist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. :xyxthumbs



paul e, buy a jar of P21S. You will reach the same conclusions as me.
 
I believe the manufacturer has been asked and the answer is that they aren't the same. The only difference I have been able to see in them is that S100 is slightly more yellow than P21S in the jar. Other than that I can't tell the difference. They last just as long, apply the same, buff off the same, and even smell the same. I can't tell the difference once its on the car after any period of time. One could argue that Souveran and P21S don't look to different when they are applied, but give it a day or two to collect dust and see the difference. S100 attracts no more or less dust than P21S, they both rinse away the dust in a rain storm, they both bead the same size beads for the same length of time, etc. I've tested the hell out of them and I can't figure out the difference other than the all mighty ten dollars that it costs to get the P21S. If they are different waxes then its some mystery ingredient that affects something besides durability, application, or shine.
 
Jngrbrdman said:
S100 is slightly more yellow than P21S in the jar. Other than that I can't tell the difference.
Click to expand...



If the reverse were true then I would conclude that the S100 was 'P' less... but since it's more yellow that must not be the answer.



More likely it's all marketing. For the bike industry there are two obvious choices; package it in smaller containers and charge the same or simply change the name which enables them to run on the same line.
 
I think the guys at Waxtest really owe us a favor and need to test them against each other. Why, in all the wax comparos that have been done has there been next to nothing written about this. Hardly a mention goes to the s100 carnauba; its always the P21s. Theyre doing their readership a disservice (whomever 'they' is...guys doing wax comparos whomever they are I guess) by only evaluating the more expensive ones. Or dont they know any better? Shame on them...IF thats the extent of 'their' knowledge, I wont be abiding by many more wax tests, I guess :)
 
I have held them both. One was not more yellow than the other. There was no discernible difference in the jar. I'm not alone in this thinking.



From: http://www.autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21110



"They are identical in feel and look."

"I can't tell the difference at all."

"S100 and P21S are the exact same color and feel. They melt the same in your fingers and they apply the same. You could have shaken out the S100 chunk and put it in the other jar and I doubt we would have known the difference."
 
The only reason that I add the comment that S100 is a little more yellow is because I'm trying to grasp at something to tell the difference between them. It could have been just the particular jar that Steve showed me. Who knows? If nobody else is noticing that they are the same color then it was probably just me imagining things. I'm known to do that from time to time. ;)
 
if you think that P21S is worth $10 more then buy it... otherwise, there isnt enough of a difference between the two.. I use S100 and love it... I have recommended it to others and they love it too..

Dana



thats my story and I am sticking to it... LOL
 
Well, the jars are pretty similar. That doesn't always mean anything though. They may just use the same supplier for the jars. People have commented that Blackfire and Platinum must be made by the same company because the bottles are the same. In reality they just buy their bottles from the same place. I don't think there is any denial that S100 and P21S are made by the same company though. The fact that they use the same jars and same color of printing on them doesn't mean the contents are the same. Here's the only picture I have with the S100 and P21S jar together. I'm sure I can get a better one later.



2020nicecollection-med.jpg






I applied both waxes on my trunk at the end of March and it was just this last Saturday when I polished it off and it was still beading. The car is in a garage at night but it is outside all day uncovered. We had snow in April and 100 degree temperatures in May. I think it has suffered as much as any wax can on a white car. The beads were getting kind of far apart at the end and it was definitely time for another coat, but they both wore off at the same speed. I can't say that one side stopped beading before the other did. I think any wax that can survive the kind of weather we had at the begining of May is pretty great stuff. Both waxes are good 8 week waxes for durability from my testing on my car and my wife's car. Her car is outside 24/7 and P21S lasts 8 weeks on hers as well. PPG on the other hand, begins to pool water after 6 weeks. I just tested it. I polished her car on Saturday and this week I'm putting the Vintage on to see how long that lasts. My estimate from my last test is somewhere around 3 or 4 weeks. Vintage may look good when its on, but its not that great in the durability department. I'm preping my car for a show in July so the Accord is my new test bed this year. :) I just wish I had a black car so I could do a worst case scenario test. I doubt that the surface of the champange Accord gets as hot as a black one. Oh well... we work with what we've got, right?
 
Jngrbrdman,. awsome results. That about answers it for me..Some durability :) I ve always been afraid of, cause it goes on and comes off so easily, it might be a little light on the endurance. But Im happy to see that thats pretty far from the truth. no other paste goes on like that by hand. Even the Blitz which is better to apply than some cant compare to teh s100/p21s. Everything else I appy only with a pc. But the S100 goes on by hand. Great stuff, really. the fact that it lasts as long as the harder to apply stuff makes it very hard for the others to compete, in my book :)
 
Just remember that my results aren't the stipulated longetivity or performance standards of S100. That's just what I experienced based on my car and my climate. Your results may vary. I wouldn't expect by much though. :xyxthumbs
 
just want to add that i bought another jar of s100 this past weekend...there is definitely a color difference...i opened 3 jars before i got a "white" one at the bottem of the stack at HD...the "new" formula is definitely yellow vs. the traditional white...
 
Well, believe it or not, I just received a prompt reply from P21S customer service...Here it is:



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Dear Mr. Elliot,

Current formulations of these two products are somewhat different, but act similar in terms of application, gloss and longevity of shine. Pricing differences have to do with the channels of distribution, competitive offerings, production batch sizes, etc. If you are happy with the S100 (and this is the way it sounds), you can certainly continue using it with confidence.



Kind regards,

P21S Customer Service

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There it is. The way I read it is that they are essentially the same product, with some small differences so that they may label them differently and not seem like totally market driven! The price difference they admit has nothing to do the formulation, but rather is driven by the market in which it is selling (bike vs automotive). Hope this helps clear up some of the questions.
 
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