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DG AW vs. UQW Showdown (as toppers)
The Acura is now my 2nd car, and this is a good opportunity to do some random testing with it. The car has 2-3 month old PA Cosmic Spritz + PA HG. It was also maintained until mid-July with my Merlin Elixir PA CosmicSpritz/HG mix... that no doubt impacted durability a bit and kept the shine high.
Point of all that info is that the following test will be done on top of the PA spray base. I expect both DG AW and UQW to be fine on top. Any results read here should consider the SiO2 base underneath (this is not a prepped surface test. For anyone who finds this pointless, I’m cool with that. There’s better threads/tests out there. This was just something fun I tried on a whim today.
I applied on 8/21 after a N-914 RW. Although I was spraying soon after rinsing, I pretty much consider this a dry test, as the water drops were drying fast and this wasn’t a normal drying aid application. Either way, the playing field is the same for both contestants.
Passenger side is UQW; driver side is DG AW. Below are some pics right after, not that I expect pictures to show any difference. Key observation, the car is shiny. I tried to do side by sides of each angle.
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I’ll keep this thread updated with beading, possible additional applications (if so, it would be in the near term only to improve coverage) and/or longevity.
Re: DG AW vs. UQW Showdown (as toppers)
Nice! I find all testing interesting LOL. So fun that you share your experience with these products!
The Elixir with EcH2O and PA Cosmic and High Gloss was interesting to hear about. It shows how awesome EcH2O is with beeing a little home chemist LOL. Must start useing the EcH2O I have at home sooner than later as one bottle has gone bad already. I don't know why I keep to not doing a rinseless wash or waterless wash with it. Have not been doing one of those ever exept for a hood and a test spot with a free sample of another product. Did use it to clean up the door jambs with EcH2O in waterless wash dilution and was very satisfied with the results. So maybe it's time to do that again.
Thanks for shareing your experience with the testing you are doing!
/ Tony
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Re: DG AW vs. UQW Showdown (as toppers)
Some morning dew beading pics. Side mirrors are control (still PA combo) and have larger beads. Both the spray sealants have very tiny beads. There are some wipe marks where UQW was applied; none where DG AW was applied. I applied these the same way, same effort, same time of day, separate towel for wipe off.
Post-Application Advantage: DG AW
Side mirror control (PA) beads (easy to make out the actual bead droplets):
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Drivers side DG AW:
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Passenger side UQW (streak marks on trunk):
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Trunk side-by-side (zoom on right side for horizontal streaks):
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Re: DG AW vs. UQW Showdown (as toppers)
Great post. DGAW has been my go-to for a long time.
I will do a side-by-side with it and Bead Maker soon. :)
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DG AW vs. UQW Showdown (as toppers)
Beading shots from this morning. More to come later (lots of rain expected). Note that my car was parked sideways on a hill so the horizontal surfaces are a little screwy (sideways beads) and I didn’t focus on them at this time.
Passenger side UQW:
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Drivers side DGAW:
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Re: DG AW vs. UQW Showdown (as toppers)
When I had a solid black car I always felt that UQW left a slight blueish hue to the car. It was more obvious in certain lighting. I prefer DGAW. I also refer DGAW to Beadmaker. Glad I didn't buy a whole gallon of it during the hype.
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DG AW vs. UQW Showdown (as toppers)
As promised, a few more beading pictures, after last night and early morning rain. The car is not clean, but not filthy either. One drive in the rain and otherwise mostly sitting outside for the last week.
The beads on the drivers side (DGAW) are more uniform and better rounded than the passenger side UQW, IMO, but otherwise both are doing their thing.
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UQW up closer
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DGAW up closer
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Then I took the car for a 10 minute ride near my house on 35 mph roads. Avg speed: 40mph. Top speed: 50mph for 3-5 seconds. Notice the DGAW side shed more water than UQW.
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UQW side hood:
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DGAW side hood:
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DGAW is outperforming UQW. I’m inclined to apply a second coat of each after washing tonight. I’ll likely use D156 from my gallon rather than the bottom of the UQW bottle. I’d like to see if D156 performance more closely matches DGAW, being that the UQW may be old and slightly degraded from sitting a long time with low quantity.
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Re: DG AW vs. UQW Showdown (as toppers)
I washed today with Mckees SiO2 Auto Wash. I consider it a good cleaner, as it’s meant for coatings (removing film, restoring a clean surface). Although it lays down a minuscule amount of SiO2, I’ve never seen it change traits of my LSP (negligible gloss in my opinion which Nick has reiterated).
Prior to washing I rinsed the hood and checked out sheeting on the uncleared paint. The DGAW crushed UQW, with the latter taking about 5x amount of time for water to clear the hood. Here’s a few action shots I attempted (DGAW on the right, UQW on the left):
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Later there was an interesting observation, but didn’t take a picture (because I don’t want to dry my hands over and over during car washes):
after washing and rinsing the hood, the sheeting comparison was much closer. DGAW sheeted faster than previously, but UQW was close behind, within a few seconds of sheeting the same amount. In other words, cleaning the hood made UQW look like an LSP again even if still behind the DGAW.
Does this, along with poor beading earlier, show that UQW just really holds on to dirt more than DGAW? Possibly. I know both LSPs we’re still present because the PA combo underneath would have looked like warp speed sheeting in comparison.
Anyways, I washed all the car except the roof. I let water splatter on the roof during rinsing. The sun was out, this was my water spot test.
Below are some resulting water spots, after letting the droplets sit for about 30 mins.
the DGAW side:
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and the UQW side:
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A swipe of N-914 easily removed water spots for both LSPs.
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I acknowledge there is 3 month old Cosmic Spritz underneath which could have contributed to defense against water spot etching, but I consider the ease of the spots wiping away to be a win for both spray sealants.
Since we all like to use drying aids after each wash, I decided to reapply each LSP in its respective side.
NOTE: I didn’t switch to D156, I’m giving UQW another chance as I don’t want to believe it’s degraded in the bottle.
I applied both pretty heavy to ensure full coverage.
Round 2 tests will resume, but in the meantime, heres a couple beauty shots of each newly applied 2nd coat UQW passenger side, DGAW drivers side:
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Re: DG AW vs. UQW Showdown (as toppers)
Update 9/6/19: Added coat number 3 of each, because I wanted to wash the car and didn’t want to be bored while drying. Will probably add a fourth and final coat of each to finish my UQW bottle. I’ll do this before mid next week when it’s supposed to rain a few days, then will report back with beading, spotting, etc.
Re: DG AW vs. UQW Showdown (as toppers)
I love DGAW. Not the most hydrophobic products but still one of the best in my eyes. If you like AW you can also try DG931 to maintain it. Also a great product.
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