For those who read the prior post here, I was comparing the Griot’s Garage detailing products to Chemical Guys. I have been trying a lot of different products and decided to do a head to head comparison by using Griot’s on the driver’s side, and Chemical Guys on the passenger side.
It’s been 2 weeks since initial application, and here’s what we’ve learned.
Final Results
…drum roll please…a bit of a let-down. There is absolutely no visible difference between the 2 sides of the car after 2 weeks.
This is what the car looks like today. We’ve had a light rain, I’ve just returned home, both sides bead up nicely, but I can’t tell any difference.
And this has been true from day 1. It’s hard to distinguish between the 2.
Analysis
Overall, this is good news. Both products work very well. The past 2 weeks have been rainy. We’ve had snow twice – I know, mid-April, who’d have thought. The car is pretty dirty but the water beads up nicely and seems to shed some of the dirt.
And remember from the original post. Griot’s Garage Best in Show Spray Wax has the highest concentration of carnuba wax and was slightly more difficult to apply. The added wax and the difficulty didn’t seem to pay off in the finish. Maybe it will last longer, but we’re moving on to the next round tomorrow.
I also commented about how the Griot’s product seemed to leave more streaks. These have dissipated over time. And they’re only really noticeable up-close.
Price
We didn’t talk about price in the prior post. My bad. Here’s what I paid:
The price per ounce of the Griot’s product is 77 cents v 93 cents for Chemical Guys. Neither will break the bank, and I’ve found that applying a quick spray after a wash makes a big difference. I do a full wax (with paste wax) less frequently. Usually 2x per year. And I have the new wax shine with minimal time and effort.
Windshield
I made a comment in the original post that I spray everything. I especially make sure I cover the wheels and the windshield. Covering the wheels slows the accumulation of brake dust, and the windshield looks like this.
The water beads up and washes away a good amount of gunk. It also seems to eliminate the wiper blade squeak.
Tires
I don’t think we’ve had a sunny day since the original application so I won’t show you the tires. They’ve picked up sand and salt and brake dust and other gunk, but they still look pretty good. Again, I can see no difference between the Griot’s and the Chemical Guys. Both are effective.
The Chemical Guys product costs $11.97 and Amazon was nice enough to tell us it is 75 cents per ounce.
The Griot’s product is currently unavailable on Amazon.
I paid $19.99 for 16 oz, so about $1.06 per ounce. Per Griot’s website, they seem to have replaced this with a new product.
We’ll have to give that a shot.
Tire Assessment
While both products tested seem to have the same result, the Griot’s product is more liquidy and goes on easier. This is important to me for 2 reasons.
- The Griot’s product got more easily into all the nooks and crannies between the raised lettering on the tire. It looks more uniform with much less work
- The Chemical guys product is thicker and leaves clumps. Not a huge deal, but if the result is the same, why not go clump-less?
Bonus Use
Tire products aren’t just for tires. My wife’s SUV has lots of black plastic trim. It’s along the running boards and the rear of the car. This fades. Especially with salt and road grime. Simply wipe on the tire products and this will be restored to new-looking in seconds.
Wrap-Up
Round 1 is a draw. I can see no discernible difference between the Griot’s side and the Chemical Guys side.
To me, that’s good news. Both are fantastic. The products are easy to apply. This is huge. Other than a handful of car nuts, no one wants to spend the whole day on detailing. We generally want to see an improvement with minimal effort.
Spray waxes deliver on this. Most you can apply to a wet car so you don’t need to dry first. The car looks great and these products do seem to help dirt wash away. One place I notice this is when removing snow from the car – which unfortunately, I had to do yesterday. Using a spray wax regularly causes the snow to slide right off.
Some slight preferences on the ease of application, streaking and coverage, but none of these disqualify the other product. I just have a slight preference. Your results may vary.
We’re not done yet. Next I want to test the spray waxes agains the ceramic sprays. Here’s my favorite. This will go up against a soon to be named spray wax competitor.
