Review: Gtechniq C5 Wheel Armor

[wgilles]

Good morning all,

I recently received my Gtechniq C5 Wheel Armor that I won from the Giveaway here (Thanks Todd) and applied it to my black painted wheels on my 2012 Ford Focus. These wheels are OEM and are a PITA to keep clean, I figured this would be the perfect match. Onto the review!

Gtechniq C5 Wheel Armor claims to form a chemical bond to the wheels that will repel brake dust and dirt for up to ONE YEAR! Application instructs say to apply this out of direct sunlight above 41 degrees F and to a properly cleaned surface (free of contaminants and oils).

I wanted to make sure I applied this correctly as winter will be here before we know it and I wanted my wheels to be up to the challenge (I do not swap out my wheels for winter, the budget does not allow this).

I began by washing the wheels along with the rest of my car. I started by applying Meguiar`s wheel brightener to assist in removing the Collinite 845 that I normally apply to my wheels


I used my wheel brush to help get all the nooks and crannies nice and clean


After I rinsed them off, I sprayed the wheels down with Iron X remover to make sure they were SUPER clean


There wasn`t a whole lot of Iron deposits present on my wheels as it barely turned purple (it might be hard to see in this picture because the wheels are black)




After the rest of the car was cleaned, I dried everything off and pulled my car into the garage. I sprayed the wheels down with the air compressor to ensure all the water was gone. I then lightly applied CarPro Easer to act as an IPA


Here is a photo of the product and the applicators that come with it. They look like make up applicators. The instructions say to use proper hand and face protection.


I applied the product as the instructions said to. You use a very small amount of the product on a fresh applicator and gently rub it onto the wheel. It goes on very clear and you can immediately see a fresh gloss on the wheel. As per the instructions, I wiped them off gently (do not buff, just wipe softly) with a MF towel. After it was applied, I put on some Optimum tire gel and rolled my car out into the sun to see how it looked.


They look fantastic, the picture really doesn`t do it any justice. They are glossy and as shiny as the day I got my car. The wheels feel like a properly waxed car, smooth and glass like.




The rest of the car


Fast forward 2 days. The day after I applied this to the wheels it rained on my way to work and I also drove through some dust and dirt on the roads I take to work. The C5 held up surprisingly well with the rain and dirt. They certainly aren`t clean, but they haven`t looked this "good" after rain and dirt.


I washed my car again and I found that the wheels were very easy to clean with the C5 on them. The wash mit I used to wash them glided across the wheels and felt very smooth. The dirt was almost effortless to remove. I would like to point out that the wheels beaded water very well, it pretty much just fell off the wheel. Drying them was extremely easy because of this. Here is how the wheels looked after being washed and dried


Conclusion: This product was very easy to apply and remove any excess. It gave a very nice glossy shine to my wheels and made them look just as good as the Collinite I normally apply to them. My biggest surprise was how good they looked even after rain and dirt was caked on. They only lost a little bit of gloss and just looked a little "unclean." The ease of cleaning them was a big plus for me as my wheels are the most labor intensive part of my car washing experience.

Would I use this product again: Yes and I will probably reapply after or during the winter depending how bad it is this year.

Would I recommend this product to a friend: Yes

Pros:

• Looks great
• Easy to apply
• Claims to be long lasting
• Only need to apply a small amount to each wheel
• Easy to remove

Cons:

• Lots of labor to properly clean wheel, but I may have gone overboard
• Expensive compared to the Collinite I normally use

I am very interested to see how this holds up as winter gets closer and they get caked with salt and snow. I will post an update periodically to show everyone how they are holding up.

Get your C5 here:
Gtechniq C5 Wheel Armor

[wgilles]

Reserved for updates

[mjlinane]

Great review! Interested in the updates.

[Todd@RUPES]

Excellent review. How much would you say you used for all four wheels!?

[barryscott]

Thanks. Will be watching for updates

[Pats300zx]

Great review. Thanks for posting.

[wgilles]

Excellent review. How much would you say you used for all four wheels!?

Not very much at all. It went down about 1cm in the bottle at the most. I would say the 30ml bottle could do around 10 cars if not more.

[wgilles]

Update: After Hurricane Sandy.

My wheels (and my car) got pelted with rain, wind, mud, dirt and leaves. I finally got to wash my car off this Saturday and was amazed to see...the water beaded up and all the crud came right off the wheels. After seeing this, I am a believer in C5! I`m not going to post a picture because they look EXACTLY the same as my original pictures after C5 was applied. Great product!

[Rocket]

You can`t get any better test than that! Thanks for the update

[Wors]

Great review and thanks for the follow up. It sounds like some G5 with some Tuf Shine might just be a great combo.

[BobbyG]

Outstanding review and tutorial!!

GTechniq offers some truly impressive products and their performance is indeed amazing!!

[Todd@RUPES]

Not very much at all. It went down about 1cm in the bottle at the most. I would say the 30ml bottle could do around 10 cars if not more.

Gotcha, thanks.

[Reddwarf]

Great review. Sounds like a really good product!

I just looked up. Stuff is pricy, but if you really get 1 year protection the bottle you last a long time. I spend maybe an hour sometimes cleaning the wheels so this stuff could be a real time saver too.

[MarkD]

Just a quick question folks, as I don`t think I ever read anything pertaining to this.

Can/Should C5 Be used on Chrome Wheels? Thanks, Mark

[Rsurfer]

Just a quick question folks, as I don`t think I ever read anything pertaining to this.

Can/Should C5 Be used on Chrome Wheels? Thanks, Mark

I have it on my chrome wheels for 18 months and soap and water clean up.