Wolfgang Black Diamond Tire Gel - Review and How-to

[Mike Phillips]

Wolfgang Black Diamond Tire Gel - Review and How-to






Most people fall into one of three camps when it comes to their car's tires,

• High Gloss
• Semi-Gloss
• Matte

Wolfgang Black Diamond Tire Gel falls into the semi-gloss category which looks great on most tires. It creates a deep, dark black satin finish with just enough shine or gloss to make them stand out from a matte finish but not so shiny to look like wet black paint which is how most high gloss tire dressings make tires look.


The semi-gloss flattens out after a wash or two or with time so it's still a good choice for those are in the Matte Camp too.

Wolfgang Black Diamond Tire Gel has a thin consistency somewhat like a quality maple syrup which makes it spread out smoothly and evenly when using a Cobra Flex Foam Tire Swipe like you see in the pictures.

The end-results of any tire dressing depends upon starting with a clean surface to start with, in this case we cleaned both the tires and the wheels using Wolfgang Tire and Wheel Cleaner.

This left the rubber sidewall clean but also dull and lifeless but at the same time, perfectly prepared for application of a tire dressing. Like a lot of tire designs today, these tires have serrated lines across the sidewall and this makes applying a tire dressing a challenge because you need to get enough of the dressing into each of the lines or grooves evenly for an even appearance and protection, yet you need to remove any excess so that it doesn't sling out as you drive the car.

The thin consistency of Wolfgang Wolfgang Black Diamond Tire Gel lends itself well into getting into places like this and other irregular surfaces common to tire sidewalls. Getting the tire dressing onto the tire is usually the easy part, insuring you don't leave excess tire dressing on the tires is usually the tricky part and that's where the open cell foam design of the Cobra Flex Foam Tire Swipe draws most of any excess tire dressing back into itself to help prevent sling.


Here's our test tire, both the wheel and tire have been thoroughly washed using Wolfgang Tire and Wheel Cleaner and then dried to prevent water spotting on the wheel.




Here's a close up of the tire and you can see it has a dull, lifeless appearance. You can also see the serrated lines or grooves in the sidewall that make applying and removing most tire dressing difficult.



To see the difference the Wolfgang Black Diamond Tire Gel will make I've taped the tire off in half and will treat just one half of the tire and then take pictures of the results.







Here's a close-up of the dark, black semi-gloss appearance the treated side has after one application of Wolfgang Black Diamond Tire Gel.



I've removed the tape and taken a far shot to show the contrast.



Here's some close-ups of the before and after side.







Here's some close-ups after treating the before side to match the after side.






The rubber now has a rich, dark appearance that makes the tire look brand new, even better than new.




And the final results...






Here's a sequence of close-up shots showing before, half & half and end results...











How-to
To dress your tires using Wolfgang Black Diamond Tire Gel use a Cobra Flex Foam Tire Swipe like you see in the pictures


Simply pour some Wolfgang Black Diamond Tire Gel onto the face of the foam applicator pad...







And then apply and work into the tire sidewall.





To get the sidewall surrounding the outer lip of the rim, simply apply some tire gel to the edge of one side of the tire swipe like this,







And then run the edge of the tire swipe around the tire hugging the edge of the rim.



Be careful not to overuse any tire dressing and if you get too much then gently pat off any excess using a terry cloth towel or a microfiber towel and this will prevent any product sling from getting onto your the lower panels of your car.





And the end results are a deep, dark semi-gloss satin black finish.



Products Used
Wolfgang Black Diamond Tire Gel
Cobra Flex Foam Tire Dressing Applicators 3 Pack

[Finemess]

Looks good, I see the applicator that came in my Diamondlite kit is gonna find new life as a tire pad.

[cnfowler]

Wow, Mike, unbelievable results. I love the semi-gloss and matte look to a tire because it is much more natural looking. The after shots you posted are remarkable. The tire doesn't even look like it has a dressing on it. It is so uniform in color and very natural looking. I'm going to have to add this to my next order.

Colin

[Laura]

I use the Wolfgang products, but even with good weather, after about three days my tires are dingy again. I'm beginning to think brake dust sticks to the tire gel because they lose their shine about the same time my wheels show signs of dust. Besides keeping the car in the garage, is there a secret to keeping the tires looking this good?

[Matt]

Wow, very nice final result.
I take it that basically, you buffed the tire dressing because I use the Pinnacle Black Onyx Tire Gel and, while I absolutely love it, to get a look like the final finish in that picture I have to do a final wipe down.

[cnfowler]

Wow, very nice final result.
I take it that basically, you buffed the tire dressing because I use the Pinnacle Black Onyx Tire Gel and, while I absolutely love it, to get a look like the final finish in that picture I have to do a final wipe down.

Matt, the second picture from the end shows Mike wiping the tire down with a terry cloth towel. After reading the review, I thought the tire looked like it had been wiped down after applying the dressing. I missed it, too, and had to look again.

Sometimes I think we are so excited to post our response to amazing pictures that we forget what we saw in the first place. Maybe that's just me.

Colin

[wytstang]

Thats why WG tire dressing is my preferred dressing. I love the way it looks and it can hold up to a storm.

[Matt]

Matt, the second picture from the end shows Mike wiping the tire down with a terry cloth towel. After reading the review, I thought the tire looked like it had been wiped down after applying the dressing. I missed it, too, and had to look again.

Sometimes I think we are so excited to post our response to amazing pictures that we forget what we saw in the first place. Maybe that's just me.

Colin

Yea, I noticed that, but it says that he "patted" the tire down rather than rubbed it. I'm not sure if it has the same effect on controlling gloss, but I guess it does.

[Mike Phillips]

Yea, I noticed that, but it says that he "patted" the tire down rather than rubbed it. I'm not sure if it has the same effect on controlling gloss, but I guess it does.

I'm never sure how D.O. people want to get but here's the deal,

Patting Technique
Patting draws off any excess residues left on the surface without smearing it over the tire, it leaves a very uniform, matte finish.

Wiping Technique
Wiping will remove any excess residue off the surface but it tends to streak it over the surface and then you have to wipe off the streaks.

Both ways work but patting any excess residue off the surface just seems to work better for me. This brings up the topic of wiping cloths.



The 4 minimum categories of wiping cloths

Wiping cloths
Just as important as any product or tool in your detailing arsenal are your wiping cloths. You can use the best compound, the best polish, the best LSP and of course the best buffing pads and top of the line polishers but if you're using any type of wiping cloth that is in some way, shape or form contaminated then you risk putting swirls and scratches into your car's finish. For this reason it's important to separate your wiping cloths into dedicated categories and have some type of labeling system so that you or others know what a collection of wiping cloths can be used on safely.

The ultimate goal is to have confidence that when you go to remove your LSP of a finish you've toiled over all day long, that the end results will giddy with glee, not because the paint looks fabulous, not loathsome and infuriated because you just instilled scratches back into the paint you've worked on so hard.

More than that, you want friends, family and even employees to be enabled to choose the right cloth in case they're are to perform any kind of detailing task with or without your supervision. For example, you're gone, a bird leaves a bird dropping on the hood of your girlfriend or wife's car and in their attempt to remove the bird dropping you don't want them grabbing the wrong microfiber polishing cloth and remove the bird dropping but create a new Saturday Detailing Project for you in the process.


4 Categories Minimum
Everyone should have at least 4 types of wiping cloths, some of you may have more categories like a dedicated collection of glass wiping cloths, or wiping cloths dedicated towards leather and vinyl dressings. These are the minimum, feel free to separate your wiping cloths as much as you like and places like Target offer plastic roll-around bins with drawers that you can label and store your different groups of wiping cloths. It's important to separate any cloth deemed worthing of wiping a high gloss finish from all the rest.


Good Microfiber Polishing Cloths
You can 'touch' paint with microfiber polishing cloths from this collection. These are the microfiber polishing cloths in your collection that are new or you have washed and dried and you trust them to be safe on a high gloss, polished finish.


Tatty Microfiber Polishing Cloths
These are washed, dried and clean, but their quality has fallen to a level that you have deemed them not worthing of touching a high gloss, polished finish. You don't throw them away because they still have value for wiping spray detailers or cleaner/waxes out places like door jambs, chrome wheels or bumpers, a roll bar, the paint on a boat trailer, or some components in the engine compartment. You might even keep them around for checking the oil or wiping grease off your hands after changing the oil. The point is they are still great at removing residue, just not off a swirl-free, scratch-free, high gloss surface.

Good Cotton Towels
While microfiber is superior at removing polishes, waxes and paint sealants off paint, and especially trace residues off smooth, high gloss finishes, there's still a place for good quality cotton towels. For example, cleaning you pad on the fly. Cotton towels with a large nap work better than microfiber towels. Some people prefer a cotton towel with a large nap to remove compounds because they offer a more aggressive bit but then switch over to microfiber for removing polishes and LSP's. Your good cotton towels should be clean and soft and worthing of working on paint in good condition or better.

Tatty Cotton Towels
Tatty Cotton Towels are cotton towels that are washed and dried but for whatever the reason, their quality is fallen off to far from what's acceptable to touch paint in good condition or better. They still have value however for mundane tasks like wiping excess tired dressing off the face of a tire, applying or wiping cleaners and dressings in the fenderwell area, applying or removing cleaners, dressings or cleaner/waxes in the trunk area or door jambs and engine compartments. The have value because they are absorbent, clean and ready to use and paid for. After some projects you might be better of discarding them versus trying to clean them well enough that they can be used again.


For patting down the tires in this review, I used a clean, dry towel from my Tatty Cotton Towel collection. I also used a good quality microfiber polishing cloth but there are no pictures from when I used it.

[bmw5541]

Great review Mike.

Thanks!!!!