Tire Dressing Face Off #2 - PERL, Megs Tire Gel, Duragloss 253, Chemical Guys VRP

[DBAILEY]

They all look like they are still there. The 3 solvent based ones looks the best so far.

[FrankS]

They all look like they are still there. The 3 solvent based ones looks the best so far.

The only solvent-based one that I know of is Megs Endurance Gel, the rest are water-based.

[DBAILEY]

Sorry, I always assumed the DG and VRP were solvent based

[Whitewater25]

I always liked the Perl. So easy to apply after a wash. I may give the DG a shot when I use up my PERL as it look good as well. Thanks for doing this!

[VISITOR]

I always liked the Perl. So easy to apply after a wash. I may give the DG a shot when I use up my PERL as it look good as well. Thanks for doing this!

i alternate between both PERL and DG253 and they last long enough to the next wash. as the look fades, the car starts to get dirty anyway. as you mentioned, just re-apply when you re-wash the car. if i want something that will last longer (and more shine), i use GG black shine high gloss tire spray...

[AllenK]

I have used PERL on the Continental tires on my wife's G8 pretty extensively. Due to the difficulty I've experienced keeping dressing on tires,I always used it undiluted. I worried about it being too glossy,but it's not bad at all. My wife agreed with me. Sometimes it washes off on in the rain,and sometimes it doesn't. I've actually gotten it to look pretty decent for a couple of weeks. I will try it 1:1 one of these days. Make no mistake,it's not satin by any means.

DG 253 is really awesome. I used it some on the Falken tires that were on my wife's car before the Contis. Very nice look! It was the only dressing that someone actually asked us about. A coworker of my wife asked what we used on the tires on her car due to it looking "just right" to her. I've used Duragloss Tire Gloss (TG) #261 also,which is a tire foam that leaves an appearance very much like 253.

[FrankS]

***4 Day Update***

The tires were driven in the rain and approximately 100 miles on day 3, so about 150 miles total since the initial application.

Keep in mind that only one coat was used for each tire dressing.

All of the dressings are about spent and there's just a light sheen left on each, a couple have a little more sheen than others. All of the dressings exhibited a little bit of streaking but the Duragloss 253 exhibited the most. You could say these dressings were put to test.

The sky was overcast when these pictures were taken.

Megs Endurance Tire Gel - I thought there would be more shine on this one since it is solvent based.










Carpro PERL










Chemical Guys VRP










Duragloss 253 - This one was almost completely gone and exhibited the most streaking.










Final Thoughts

All of the tire dressings I tested in Face Off 1 & 2 appeared to be good quality dressings. I don't think you can go wrong with any of those dressings. Some lasted a little longer than others and some had a little more shine or sheen than others but not by a whole lot. I think it really comes down to personal preference. Also, you may get different results on different brands or style of tires. Best thing to do with water-based dressings is simply reapply them every time or every other time you wash your car.

A Word About Tire Coatings

If you don't want to deal with dressings your tires often then tire coatings is the way to go. I have noticed that applying a tire coating on a tire with more grooves takes a little more time and effort to make sure the coating is spread out evenly or else you will have some spots shinier than others. Also, if a tire coating is applied incorrectly it will take more effort to remove it completely than a water-based dressing.

Here's a tire coating (McKee's) applied to my trailer tires back in January 2018.



And here's what they look like today (May 26, 2018), about the same as the day it was applied. No dressings have been applied since the initial application. These tires have been driven many miles and some of those miles in the rain.

[C5Longhorn]

So, if the all are pretty close, how do you rank them when cost comes into play? Is that a differentiator between them?

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[RippyD]

If duration is about the same and you like the look of all them I think cost is the key factor. You have to consider how much you use and any dilution. FYI, I get slightly more durability out of PERL than the DG stuff, but it's just a little shinier. I like the matte look of the DG. Both also come back to life if you take a brush to the tires. I don't have to apply either one more than every 2-3 months. They both take surprising little product to get a tire looking good. And I'll occasionally go with 2 coats of DG if they coverage doesn't looks uneven.

[RippyD]

Excellent comparison - thanks for posting this!

I have used both the DG product and PERL quite a bit. Still use both.

FYI, I get slightly more durability out of PERL than the DG stuff, but it's just a little shinier and I prefer the look of the DG. Close enough that it's not a big deal. Both also come back to life if you take a brush to the tires. I don't usually apply either one more than every 2-3 months. And they both take surprisingly little product to get a tire looking good. I apply both with a foam tire applicator. PERL gets wiped with a MF afterward or it's too blotchy and shiney, DG usually doesn't need this. I'll occasionally go with a 2nd coat of DG if they coverage looks uneven. Both work well for me.

So, if the all are pretty close, how do you rank them when cost comes into play? Is that a differentiator between them?

If duration is about the same and you like the look of all them I think cost is the key factor. You have to consider how much you use and any dilution, not just the cost per oz.