Review: Griot's G9 - 9mm Orbit Stroke Random Orbital Polisher by Mike Phillips

[Mike Phillips]

Excellent review! I am sold on this one.

I'm thinking they may want to put in a fresh order for more units, maybe put on another shift of workers.

Is there going to be a longer power cord available like there was for the previous generation 6 inch Random Orbital Polisher?

RamAirV1

Yes.

At the time I was shown the prototype and then later sent a production unit, the cords were not yet available.

Thanks Mike that answered my questions, yes we all like or truly love power in our tools.

I've never met anyone that wanted a tool with LESS power.

By the way I did ask if their existing 3-in pad kit will work and the answer is a big NO. I guess too much power can be a bad thing on small pad and mostly the air cooling with the 6 or 5 inch backing plates.

Besides that, when you put a small backing plate and pad on a full size tool, when working horizontal panels, the tool becomes,

Tippy


Come to think of it, I have an article on that topic,

Tippy - Using small pads on comparatively large tools

Oh what fun your classes are going to have when you get refreshed tools in 2020!

Kirby

I'll be sending the link to all three of my current write-ups on this new tool to upper management at Griot's. As mentioned in #5 this thread,


Griots Garage




I have many friends at Griot's that are former co-workers from when we all worked at Meguiar's. One of the challenges that I need to accomplish is to get 20 of these tools into our garage. That's a LOT of tools, but my classes average from 15 to 25 people and my classes are on your feed, hands-on car detailing classes, you know, you've been to three of them.

I need 20 of these new polishers so when I teach a class, each student has their own tool so as a class, we can work through the detailing process on the cars we detail in the class. In the past, Griot's has been very good at supplying tools at their cost to Autogeek for our classes because in part, they understand the value in getting their tools, pads and products into the hands of people taking our classes.


My next class is coming up in just a few weeks, I'll see what I can do to get more of these tools here at Autogeek's Show Car Garage for that class, and definitely more for next year's 3-day classes, which are always in January, May and September.

Thank you Mike for a thorough review. Now I am really looking forward to receiving mine.

Be careful on speed 6, she's a monster!

Thanks for the review Mike. This G9 seems so awesome it almost makes me wish I didn’t have a Boss G15.

Yeah, I've been reading lots of comments like this but... you can never have too many tools. If nothing else, get the G9 for correction work and use the 15mm for finishing work.

This is a great tool for the enthusiast that will have a single polisher because he/she doesn’t detail a large amount of cars.

I agree but just after buffing out 2 full size cars, my opinion is this tool will compete head-to-head with any tool on the market in the detailing industry and I would go as far to say the build quality is even better than many tools on the market right now.

Sure makes the future look great for updates they’ll put in place for a refreshed line of Boss polishers.

Yeah.... I can't share what's coming up next but suffice to say, Griot's doesn't have employees that clock in to get a pay check each week, they have staff that are passionate about cars and love their work. Huge difference. And the difference leads to cutting edge tools, products and accessories to make detailing cars both fun and profitable.

Yes, an optional 25ft cord can be purchased.

Hate to say it, but I would love to see all companies copy Griot's in this aspect.

Consider my situation, I have over 200 TOOLS in the garage and whether I'm holding a class at Autogeek in Stuart, Florida or holding a class at an offsite location for our Roadshow classes, I have to deal with a LOT of cords. Being able to remove them would make everything easier and be much better for the cord itself.

I'm not sure who's idea this was at Griot's but it's a homerun in my book. I always say,

The little things are the big things

Ahhh, very interesting.

Great write up Mike.

Is that really the price??? $149.00 Far out, that’s incredible value.

Yeperdoo! I wasn't the only one here at Autogeek that thinks the price is too low. I would say to anyone thinking about getting this tool, I would get it sooner than later as I do think it would be simply a good business practice for Griot's to raise the price. It's worth it. The value is there. (Keep in mind, I don't have a marketing background, so take what I say with a grain of salt)

A shame these won’t come down here . . . Actually, it’s a shame a lot of the Griot’s Garage line doesn’t are it down here to be honest.

I can assure you MANY of upper management at Griot's has already read both my write-ups and as I update them, they will follow the discussion. So your voice is being heard.

And to all my friends at Griot's, I personally vouch for Aryan's professionalism and also that he is a significant Influencer not only in New Zealand but in the Detailing Cyberworld. Even if Griot's never becomes available in New Zealand, if someone at Griot's reading this wants to get some air-time for their products, I can send you Aaryn's shipping address.

I’m digging the cord idea & it really makes sense & a bit odd now that this hasn’t been done before. Interesting that despite recent trends they have gone to a small throw configuration, any reason given for this?

Keen observation Aaryn.

First let me say, I'm NOT a proponent of

Jumping on the bandwagon


By this I mean, just because there's a trend for long stroke orbital polishers doesn't mean that's the right direction to go. In fact, had I been consulted, I would have recommended testing out 7mm and 6mm orbit stroke tools.

Why?

Because when you have a long orbit stroke polisher, the outer edge of a buffing pad has LEVERAGE over the reciprocating components and this leverage causes PAD STALLING. And I'll guess 99.9% of everyone reading this knows what pad stalling is and understands that when the pad is stalling out, in other words NOT rotating, you are simply wasting time because you, or more specifically, your tool/pad/product isn't doing anything.

So in theory, if you reduce orbit stroke length, you reduce the likelihood of pad stalling. If fact, I see this with the Griot's Garage 3" Mini Polisher which has a 5mm orbit stroke length. It's almost like a safe rotary polisher. Imagine a full size tool with a short obit stroke length?


That said, I'm not an engineer and Griot's has probably already tested various options for orbit stroke length and found smaller is not the correct direction to go for other reasons. One thing for sure, as I mentioned at the beginning of this review, this new tool has a TON of POWER and has no problem maintaining pad rotation with a 9mm orbit stroke length.

The tool appears short but that may perhaps be because of the detached cord,

I thought so too when I first used the prototype. I would use the word stalky, or stubby. The compact size keeps the tool in the same basic size category as the current Griot's Garage 6" ROP and the detachable cord will require less space for storing in a detailing bag or case.

any chance of a side by side picture with another tool please? It looks comfy, & I see they have a grip around the head of the tool also.

Pretty cool, I like it.

Aaryn NZ.

Give me a few minutes and I'll take a side-by-side picture of it next to the current GG6 and the BOSS 15 and 21

This new G9 appears to be the new gold standard for an entry level Polisher.

Well said.

As mentioned above, I would discount this tool as limited to hobbyist. The build quality and power will enable it to compete head-to-head with your pick of any other free spinning, random orbital polisher.

Not that it's recommended by Griots, but since the G-9 does possess the same spindle size as other common D/A's, it "might" work OK with maybe a very small size reduction in backing plate to 3-7/8", thus using 4" Pads without harm being done?

Hope I haven't committed some sin by mentioning this? LOL

I'd imagine there will be some who might try this for the heck of it.

Some reading this don't know how long I've been teaching classes, as I type this would 32 years, my first class was 1987. Some reading this might also not know how long I've been posting how-to articles to the Internet, 1994 that I can legitimately document, as I type this in 2019, that's 25 years. Maybe not as long as some people, but probably longer than most people and here's what I know.

The people in the car detailing world tend to be an ornery group of people that simply won't follow recommendations. Not going to happen. So "yes" I do see people going against the recommendation of NOT using the Griot's 3" HD backing plate on this tool and then recommending it to the rest of the world. Lots of experts in the online detailing world, just visit Facebook. Be careful who's advice you follow and if you go outside the manufacturers recommendations, it's all on you and the guru you follow.



Besides the above, there's the old saying,

Use the right tool for the job

This machine isn't like the Rupes, where some people then felt a need to do the washer mod for additional backing plate clearance.

Correct. The shroud does not make contact with the backing plate. This speedster can run full out without any hindrance.


Nice comments and questions everyone, stay tuned....

[Mike Phillips]

any chance of a side by side picture with another tool please?

Ask and you shall receive....


Size comparison shot




The above are all the current electric tools Griot's offers. The new G9 is the 4th tool over from the left.

[JustJesus]

Yeah, I've been reading lots of comments like this but... you can never have too many tools. If nothing else, get the G9 for correction work and use the 15mm for finishing work.

Absolutely agree!! Love having tool options

Excellent write-up, Mike. This looks to be a wonderful tool.

Thanks for that pic of the machines next to each other. Helps give us a visual of how they 'size' up with each other.

[rangerbay]

Ask and you shall receive....


Size comparison shot




The above are all the current electric tools Griot's offers. The new G9 is the 4th tool over from the left.

I thought it was the third tool from the right!

[MarkD51]

I thought it was the third tool from the right!

Yes, you are correct. I think Mike P said the 4th from the left, same thing.

[MarkD51]

I think I'll wait just a little bit, but knowing me, I'm just goofy enough to go ahead and also buy the G9! Maybe a nice Christmas Present to myself, or maybe a sweet offer will emerge from now till then?.

Then the icing on the cake would be the nice Griots Metal Wall Rack to store them all on.

[Donnym]

For an enthusiast with a PC 7424XP and a G15, would there be any real advantage to adding the G9 to the tool box?

[Rsurfer]

For an enthusiast with a PC 7424XP and a G15, would there be any real advantage to adding the G9 to the tool box?

Not unless you can't control yourself.

[Donnym]

Not unless you can't control yourself.

Hey Hey now, let's not bring my weaknesses into it.

[charliehaley]

Mike,

In your opinion is this a large upgrade over the original PC? I am starting to get back into the detailing hobby and broke out my old trusty PC. It got the job done but I did have issues with pad stalling at certain angles. Will the G9 greatly reduce this?