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  1. #1
    Regular Member crg001's Avatar
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    Small Comparison Test - Meguiar's HCD vs Griot's CSS

    Hey all,
    This last weekend I finally gave my poor neglected car a wash for the first time since September. To reference, it is garaged at night and parked in the sun in a dusty warehouse loading dock area during the day. It's seen light rain maybe once since the last wash. Time between washes ~6 weeks.

    The previous time I washed it, I used a very strong rinseless product (FPR) to deep clean the car that is coated with 1 layer of CQuartz TiO2. The coating is about a year old at this point, showing some wear and starting to lose its hydrophobics. To keep it going until I have the time and energy to recoat the car, I've been using some ceramic detailers to keep it in decent shape. I decided to do a small test of my current favorites.



    Griot's CSS was applied to the entire driver's side of the car, and Meguiar's HCD to the entire passenger side. On the hood and trunk, I covered the middle sections and left them bare as a "control" section.

    To date I've been using Meguiar's Hybrid Ceramic Detailer in place of Ech2O/Elixir, as I feel it is easier to use and more effective as a post-wash cleanup and shine booster. It has excellent dust-rejection properties as well. But recently I picked up Griot's Ceramic Speed Shine and I had to put it to the test.

    On application, the Griot's was easier to spread/wipe, felt slicker in hand, and was not quite as prone to streaking if too much product was used as compared to Meg's HCD. With the Meguiar's, a little goes a long way and it has a bit of a grabby feel, but the gloss and streak-free finish it produces is quite nice. It has always given me very nice hydrophobics as well. If I hadn't tried the Griot's product, Meg's would still be my favorite out of almost anything I've tried (besides an Adam's product that I feel is amazing but absolutely way too expensive). For ease of application however, Griot's wins hands down.

    Anyways, on to this last weekend's wash. I used my pressure washer and foam cannon with Reset and a little rinseless in a wash bucket to clean it up. Before foaming I gave it a pre-rinse and the hydrophobics shown were consistent with their appearance after the washing stage.



    Griot's left, Meguiar's right



    As you can quite clearly see on the trunk, the Griot's is holding up very well for a "detailer" product. Nice beads and still slick. The Meguiar's shows basically no sign of life. You can see that it has the same behavior as the slowish-sheeting control section in the middle. This also shows what's left of the coating aka not so much here. On to the hood.

    Meguiar's left, Griot's right


    Again, you can see the center section of the hood with nothing applied after the last Pure Rinseless wash. However, the Meguiar's on the left side is holding up better here than on the trunk. Still beading and evacuating the water well. The Griot's CSS is on the right side of this picture, and if you look closely you can see just how uniform and "tall" the beads are on this side. It also retained a slick feel compared to the rest of the hood. The beads on this side were shed much more quickly as well.



    This image is after blow-drying with my Milwaukee compact blower. Not the most powerful but gets the job done where I need it to. If you look closely you can see very small droplets of water on the Meg's side that refused to be blown away. On the Griot's side... absolutely completely dry. That was the most impressive difference for me. The evacuation angle of the Griot's was astonishingly good. You could basically blow the beads off with your breath.

    To sum it up, the Griot's CSS feel, performance, water beading and ease of use just blows away the Meguiar's product in this test and in my personal opinion. I will be using this product much more in the future.

    I topped up the GLI with a fresh layer of the CSS and snapped this pic the next morning. Thanks for reading.

    Colin Lang
    @DimensionalShine <- My Detailing IG Page

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  3. #2
    Super Member briarpatch's Avatar
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    Re: Small Comparison Test - Meguiar's HCD vs Griot's CSS

    I tried Griots CSS, and was also very impressed with it. That being said, however, I also gave Sonax Ceramic Ultra Slick Detailer, and actually like it a lot better. I found the surface to be considerably more slick with Sonax vs the Griots. I didn;t really look at them from a longevity perspective, as the truck rarely goes more than three weeks without being washed, and Sonax serves as my topper.

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  5. #3
    Regular Member crg001's Avatar
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    Re: Small Comparison Test - Meguiar's HCD vs Griot's CSS

    Quote Originally Posted by briarpatch View Post
    I tried Griots CSS, and was also very impressed with it. That being said, however, I also gave Sonax Ceramic Ultra Slick Detailer, and actually like it a lot better. I found the surface to be considerably more slick with Sonax vs the Griots. I didn;t really look at them from a longevity perspective, as the truck rarely goes more than three weeks without being washed, and Sonax serves as my topper.
    Ahh man I've been eyeing that product too... glad to know it's even slicker than CSS. Just what I need, more products
    Colin Lang
    @DimensionalShine <- My Detailing IG Page

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  7. #4
    Super Member briarpatch's Avatar
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    Re: Small Comparison Test - Meguiar's HCD vs Griot's CSS

    Quote Originally Posted by crg001 View Post
    Ahh man I've been eyeing that product too... glad to know it's even slicker than CSS. Just what I need, more products
    Biggest key to using the Sonax product....use it sparingly. I apply to the microfiber and buff with separate dry microfiber. Spraying it on a panel leads to streaking and the need to monitor overspray

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  9. #5
    Super Member CleanIT's Avatar
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    Re: Small Comparison Test - Meguiar's HCD vs Griot's CSS

    Thanks for sharing. My experience was the opposite between these two products, although I did not use CSS on its own. The beading was stronger with HCD than 3 in 1 or CSS. I felt both were just as easy to use. Not sure about durability though.

  10. #6
    Super Member Rsurfer's Avatar
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    Re: Small Comparison Test - Meguiar's HCD vs Griot's CSS

    Quote Originally Posted by briarpatch View Post
    I tried Griots CSS, and was also very impressed with it. That being said, however, I also gave Sonax Ceramic Ultra Slick Detailer, and actually like it a lot better. I found the surface to be considerably more slick with Sonax vs the Griots. I didn;t really look at them from a longevity perspective, as the truck rarely goes more than three weeks without being washed, and Sonax serves as my topper.
    Another vote for Sonax Ceramic Ultra Slick Detailer.

  11. #7
    Super Member PaulMys's Avatar
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    Re: Small Comparison Test - Meguiar's HCD vs Griot's CSS

    Quote Originally Posted by crg001 View Post
    Just what I need, more products
    You'll hit the "20 bottles of different detailer sprays" mark in no time.

    I did.........
    It is no coincidence that man's best friend cannot talk.

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