Tire Dressing Face Off - Griots Black Satin, McKee's 37 Gloss Tire Gel, 303 Tire Balm

[BryanH]

Another fan of Griots Black Satin Tire Coating here. I find it takes the least amount of time for me to apply, even accounting for wiping any overspray off of wheels. And unlike a lot of the foaming aerosol tire dressings, this can is good to the last drop and remains easy to control. The look is just slightly glossier than I like initially, but soon becomes just right. I want to like things like Opti-Bond and PERL but for me it takes longer than I like to get an even application, whether using a brush applicator, sponge applicator, or MF towel.

[FrankS]

This is what the tires look like the day after the dressings were applied.

We had some rain, sometimes heavy rain, overnight and the car has not been driven since the dressings were applied.

The sky was overcast when these pictures were taken, no sun.

Here's the tire with 303 Tire Balm - the initial sheen is gone and has more of a natural look with a slight sheen.





Here's the tire with McKee's Gloss Tire Gel - looks about the same as the 303 Tire Balm, has more of a natural look with a slight sheen. Normally the gloss last longer than this with the McKee's. Sometimes you get different results with different tires.





Here's the tire with the GG Black Satin - looks about the same as the other tires but this tire has a little more sheen than the other two. I would say that this tire looks the best but only slightly.

[AllenK]

Continental tires are hard to keep dressing on based on my experience,and many others I've read about. Great tires though.

303 Tire Balm is the next product I am going to try. Have 2 bottles of it! Bought one,and then they were practically being given away on Autodesk.

Duragloss makes a great aerosol tire shine. Better than th3 store bought stuff. Would like to try the Griot's spray also though.

[FrankS]

Continental tires are hard to keep dressing on based on my experience...

I think you’re correct!

[Sizzle Chest]

Thanks for taking the time and posting this Frank!

[AllenK]

I think you’re correct!

I forgot to mention that this was a great write-up as well.

I've had better luck with my Conti DWS tires here lately,but when I first got them nothing would stick to them. After many scrubbings and some time for outgassing to take place,they're doing better. Heavier rain will sometimes wash dressings off,but not always. We've had the tires on my wife's car for a year now.

I would say the Griot's is the winner in this comparo. The 303 looks good in the picture from the front in the day after pics,but not so much in the side pic from the same set. The McKees looks almost done to me already. I had better luck than that with the same product,but sometimes it would was off as well. Looked AWESOME when I first applied it though.

[PA DETAILER]

This was a interesting and well thought out test. Thanks again for doing this. Myself, I have just been converted to Duragloss #253. Amazing product.

[Desertnate]

Excellent. Will be watching to see what holds up. I keep going back to Duragloss 253. Cheap and works well. I seem to get ~3 months out of it. Happy to switch is something does better and is economical.

Three months?! Wow. What is your secret? I've been using 253 for years now and like it, but only see 2~3 weeks depending on the weather.

I've also noticed the durability is starting to drop off now that the bottle I own is around 4~5 years old. Not sure if the stuff looses it's potency as it ages or not.

[PA DETAILER]

I do have a question on the Griots. No sling off? Any aerosol product I have used in the past on tires, has ended up on the body panels after driving.

[FrankS]

I do have a question on the Griots. No sling off? Any aerosol product I have used in the past on tires, has ended up on the body panels after driving.

The car was finally driven yesterday in rainy weather, about 4 days after the initial application, and there was no sling-off, but of course the dressing had plenty of time to dry out.

I did wipe the tire with a MF towel after applying the Griots Black Satin just to even out the dressing. I'm sure that helped to dry it out quicker. I would think that as long as you give it some time to dry out, you shouldn't have any problem with sling-off.

This was the first time using this dressing, perhaps someone else will chime in.