Review: Synergy and Surface Cleansing Polish

[Swanicyouth]

I was lucky enough to be one of the winners of a jar of Pinnacle Synergy during a promotion AGO was having several moths ago. Part of the promotion was an agreement to post a review of the product. So, due to a few different circumstances, this review was delayed. Instead of just throwing something together, I wanted to wait until I had the time to prep the vehicle correctly so I could test this exiting new wax.

For those of you who don`t know, Synergy is either the first, or one of the first, hybrid waxes to to come in a tub with some coating based ingredients ("nano-glass ceramic particles") and carnauba wax for the USA market. Let me start by saying, I don`t understand how this is possible. While I believe it`s possible to blend it - I can`t seem to grasp how these nano-glass ceramic particles can bond to clean paint when they are blended in a wax with oils. I`m not trying to relay any sarcasm here or say I don`t believe it`s possible - I`m just saying I don`t understand it.

However, I`m sure the chemist(s) at Pinnacle/AG have figured some way to gain some of the longevity benefits of a coating - with these ease of application and the "glow" of a carnauba wax. Since I`ve had pretty good experiences with AG`s house brands and AG`s integrity in general - I`m going to say somehow it is possible.

When this wax hit the shelf, there was some forum backlash regarding the price of this product. If the technology works - I feel the price is reasonable. That`s only if it works. So far, the reviews have been quite positive on this wax. Sure, there are many waxes that look great and bead water perfectly. Many of these waxes can be had for a fraction of the price of a Synergy. But, if Synergy lasts twice as long as these traditional waxes I think it`s a home run.

While there have been a lot of reviews of Synergy, there haven`t been a lot of follow ups on it`s durability. A lot of people say it looks great....But I can get that from a $30 tin of Collinite... My question is this: does it look great and last LONGER than a "regular"/traditional carnauba wax (+/- hybrid)? That, besides all the normal "wax review stuff", is what I plan to find out and share with you.

The Synergy line contains a special traditional soap, a QD, and a coating "booster" spray. These products seem to be designed to work with the Pinnacle coatings - but also can be used to maintain Synergy. For this review - I`m not using any of them.

There really are 2 reasons. First, the stuff is quite expensive and I already have shelves full of these types of products. Secondly, I want to see how this wax holds up compared to traditional waxes using regular soaps and waterless/rinseless washes (products I would use with a traditional wax). If the Synergy/PBL maintenance products contain *something* that "boosts" or rejuvenates Synergy - how am I supposed to evaluate the wax itself?...And, whose to say these maintenance products wouldn`t boost any traditional wax? It would be hard to tell the performance of the wax from the performance of the booster product.

So, for that reason, I plan to maintain Synergy with my regular rotation of soaps, waterless/rinseless washes, and QDs(not spray waxes). I feel I have enough experience with enough waxes to make a judgement if this stuff offers increased longevity. It should be apparent pretty quick. As, when it rains I have to drive through a river of forrest runoff sludge to get to work. This pretty much kills any traditional wax/sealant on my lower door panels within a few months. Nothing seems to hold up much longer there.

So, after I found I was one of the contest winners, Synergy arrived quickly in a few days to my door. To my surprise, a bottle of Pinnacle Black Label`s Surface Cleansing Polish (SCP) was included. The retail price of the wax is $195 (5oz) and the SCP is $29.99 (8oz). So, AG basically sent me $225 + shipping worth of "stuff" for free to test. I thank them for that and think that is quite generous. Nobody else is so generous with their promotions as AG. That is why I held off doing the review until I had the time to do it correctly - instead of just posting up "something" so I didn`t look like a total scab. That being said, this review will be my 100% subjective opinions on these products (Synergy and SCP). So, if I love it - I`ll shout it from the roof tops...and if I think it sucks, well...

Anyway, this is what the stuff looks like:



As you can see, Synergy comes in what appears to be a tin or aluminum type tub. I`m not crazy about the tub. It`s sufficient mind you, but I would have preferred a thick plastic tub like Füzion comes in - which has an O-ring type seal. The tub just feels thin to me and sort of low rent. But, let me state this is just a subjective opinion - there is no objective "issue", quality or otherwise, with the tub. I`m guessing AG went with his metal tub because the plastic tub wasn`t available in this size or the wax is preserved better in this type of metal for some reason. Possibly, they just may have went with it because someone thinks it looks cool.

You also get a standard UFO type yellow applicator with the wax. This applicator is OK - but not as thick, as soft, or as nice as the black foam applicator that ships with Black Ice and also now being sold separately under the BlackFire name. These black applicators BlackFire is shipping are probably my favorite foam disc type applicators, as they are pretty soft and a lot thicker than the standard yellow old school style applicators. Being that the stuff is called "Black Label" - I really wish AG was shipping these with the black foam applicators for their costliest wax.

Here is a comparison of the two applicators:





As you can see, the BF applicator has more meat to grab. It also doesn`t have that "mystery ridge" going around the perimeter that I just do not like. Yes...this is nit picking...but isn`t that what a good review of a costly product should do?

On to the wax. When I opened up the tub, I was a bit disappointed. I was expecting to sense something that gave some indication this was a flag ship type product. I`m not quite sure what I expected, maybe the sun tan oil smell of Souverän or the bright red color of Füzion... Instead, when you crack the lid, you get something that reminds you of the color of baby poo:



Maybe that`s the natural color of the formulation and colorants can`t be added - I`m not sure. Even a rich dark brown would have been better than the sickly looking tan of Synergy. But, let`s not make too big of a deal about these things. The wax is clear when in it`s on your car, so it`s not a big deal. But, I`m just bringing it to your attention. Some may say - who cares? But, as Mike says: "perception is reality"... So IMHO, if something is expensive - it should look and feel expensive. But again, all these are minor details.

When I smelled Synergy, I immediately knew I had smelled this scent before. Some have described it as butterscotch. But, I didn`t get that scent. To me it smells more like chocolate covered blueberries. I kept thinking about it, and finally I realized where I recognized the scent from - Dodo Juice`s Blue Velvet Pro. So I pulled out my tub of BVP and compared. It doesn`t smell EXACTLY like BVP...But, it must use either a similar or the same ingredients for scent. Synergy does a solvent smell mixed in with the scent - that seems to be the main difference between the smell of the two to me.

Also included is a blue satin baggy for the wax tub to reside in and a Gold Plush Jr towel. The blue baggy is a nice touch, as I`ve never seen a wax come in one that color. The towel is surprisingly pretty soft and has MF edges - that I like. However, the towel does state it is Made in China - which is no big deal for me. I`ve used many "Made in China" towels that work fine - this one is no exception.

The SCP comes in an 8oz bottle with a lotion type pump dispenser. At first, I unbound the dispenser and it didn`t work. I kept pumping and pumping - priming and priming...all I got it to do was to eject a few spits of polish on my shirt. However, once I got the pump dispenser primed it worked flawlessly and was a lot easier than flipping a top constantly to dispense a product. This dispenser is a good idea that works. I like it.

One thing I`m not crazy about is the bottle shape of the SCP. As you can see, it`s sort of a thin ellipse type shape. The reason why I do not like this shape is the bottle wants to topple over when sat down on anything but a completely FLAT surface. While moving around in a tight garage polishing a car, I`m guessing I tipped over this bottle at least 50 times. I`d much prefer a short round bottle over this one. SRP smells awesome though. I has a vanilla-cinnamon type smell that makes the whole garage smell good while you are polishing with it. That I loved.

So, my daily driver Pathfinder just recently spent about a month at a body shop. After I got it back, I washed it and the paint felt rough - especially on the roof. I knew part of prepping of this vehicle for Synergy would be a good iron decontamination followed by a good claying. What I found was the roof of my vehicle had visible metal embedded all over it. This was not there prior to it going to the body shop. In fact, I have iron decontaminated this vehicle a few times before and never got any real purple "bleeding" from the car`s panels. This time was different. I`m guessing all the metal in the paint was from the vehicle being in the shop and welding and panel cutting being done to it and in proximity to it.

Anyway, my weapon of choice to remove iron is Auto Finesse`s Iron Out. It`s a little bit cheaper than Iron X and seems to just work well and cling well for me. Here is a picture of the contamination from a month at a body shop:



I used maybe half of the 500 ml of Iron Out to decon the truck. I was applying it pretty liberally - especially in areas where I saw purple. Amazingly, the Iron Out removed all the visible rust blooms from the paint in a single application (visible stuff was mostly on the roof). There has been some "hints" out there that some of these iron decon products maybe somewhat "watered down". Well, I can tell you that Iron Out isn`t one of them. The stuff always has worked very well for me.

After Iron Out, I clayed the vehicle using the Chemical Guy`s Clay Block. I started using ONR 1:16 as a lube, but decided to experiment with Pinnacle Waterless Wash. The PWW just was slicker and seemed to work better as a clay lube than ONR. Also, I believe Optimum recommends an even lower dilution than 1:16 for clay lube. My uses for ONR are dwindling...

After that, I put the car in the garage to bed and decided to tackle the rest of the job the next day.

First thing is first...Got to stock up on some stuff to keep me from melting:



I was doing this work in an open garage and the temperature was about 90° F. If I don`t start out with drinks close by, I`ll just keep working until I`m dehydrated and half dead. So, always having something to drink near by when your working in the heat is my moto.

I did some paint correcting on the hood and pillars on this vehicle. It had some marring that was ever so light in these areas that it could only be seen at night under gas station lights. For the hood I used the Rupes 15 with their yellow pad and it`s corresponding yellow topped Rupes Keramik Gloss Fine Gel polish. For the pillars I used the Griots Garage 6" with a 2 & 7/8" Lake Country BP with Optimum Polish II and a 3" LC Hydrotech tangerine pad. Both corrected & finish out flawlessly with little dust.



As you can see above, a quick tip when your working on pillars like this is to prop the door open with a rolled up towel. That way, if the pad is a bit bigger than the pillar, you can hang the pad off a bit instead polishing on top of tape, which is always best avoided.

This is what I mean about rolling up a towel and sticking it in the door so it stays propped open:



After the decon and polishing was done - it was time to get started with the Synergy system.

I`m not sure why, but I just assumed the SCP just wouldn`t work well via machine. Most paint cleaner type products have short work times - possibly due to the glazes/fillers in them that SCP doesn`t have. Anyway, I decided to give the hood a go with the SCP by hand using a Polishing Pal with a 3.5" LC white beveled polishing pad:





You can see how much of the SCP is required. The pad was not primed with polish. As, my gut told me too much of this stuff would make a dust mess and be hard to wipe off. However, I did prime the pad with a spritz of DI water. Keep in mind when you are using a product like this designed to strip the surface of *everything* - you don`t want to spray ONR, QDs, or pad prep products in your pad...As, you are likely adding some type of polymers or resins that you are trying to remove with the polish. Since this is a water based polish, priming the pad with water worked flawlessly.

I soon discovered the amount I was using was about the correct amount of the polish. Wipe off was pretty easy - not as easy as a sealant, but as easy as any regular polish. The stuff spread fine and worked pretty flawlessly. Another reason why I choose a white polishing pad is I wanted to see if I was pulling any embedded dirt or gunk off the paint by checking for discoloration on the pad. If the pad and polish is white, and the paint is clean - the pad should pretty much stay white. Since I took my time and did a thorough job with the decon - the pad remained white.

I was aware the directions tell you to use SCP by hand with a MF applicator. However, since I polished the hood - I was just removing whatever the Rupes polish left behind, not an LSP. So, I figured a foam polishing pad would be more than sufficient. Next, I decided to try the MF hand applicator (as directed) on the pillars and mirrors:



One thing that I can share, is if your wondering if your car is single stage paint or not - here is any easy way to tell. I already knew the mirrors on this car are plastic, and all the painted plastic pieces (only) on this car are single stage paint. All the panels are BC/CC. So, when I went to polish the mirrors by hand with the MF applicator, I could see the blue paint transfer to the pad (showing single stage paint):



Using the same type of pad on the pillars showed no paint transfer (clear coat). So, this is a quick test to tell you if you have single stage or clear coated paint. This test is best done with a light colored/white MF applicator/towel and some type of white polish (like SCP).

This worked fine as well. Again polish was easy to use and surface felt clean. Wipe off was done with a 530gsm Cobra towel. By the time I was done using the SCP on the pillars and hood - I realized polishing by hand still sucks. So, against my better judgement I decided to try the SCP via machine.

I made my choices carefully. Since I wasn`t going for correction (what needed correcting was already done), I decided to skip the Rupes and go with the GG6. Basically, I wanted something that would spin a pad without bogging down on any body creases like these:



I knew the Griots would just muscle through so the SCP could remove all the LSP in these areas. I also choose a thick LC polishing pad (white) to conform well and get in all the recessed areas in the largest DA size - 6.5".





I primed the machine pad with DI water as well. You can see how much polish was required (above) per section pass. This turned out to be the optimum amount of polish. This stuff performed quite flawlessly on a DA. Little dust, smooth buffing, and good work time. Basically it works just like any quality finishing polish. My fears were to no avail. So far I was loving the SCP. It was actually reminding me a lot of PoorBoy`s Pro Polish. The scent of SCP is like a cinnamon-vanilla and it does fill the garage out nicely with that smell.

So, I`d have to give the SCP an A+. Basically it just works well with little dust. The one caveat is it`s quite costly. I`m not sure what in this stuff (or not in it) that makes it cost $30 for 8oz, but for a polish that is quite expensive. If you compare it once per ounce to most any other polish - it`s almost the most expensive polish out there. I probably used about 3oz to machine polish out the whole vehicle - a little more than expected. So, only expect to be able to complete a few cars from an 8oz bottle. But I do have to say - it does work well and the pump is a nice touch.

Finally it was time to apply Synergy.

I opened the tub and made a few swipes with the supplied yellow applicator. The wax is on the harder side, but it spreads quite far. Not super easy like an oily wax, more like a hard wax. A little more downward pressure is required. This was how much I used to do about 1/4 the hood:



I can definitely see getting at least 25 applications out of this tub on this big SUV. But, not too many more. That`s coming in at 5 applications per ounce. I can get 7+ out of a Dodo Juice Pro 1oz panel pot. But, that wax is a bit more oily and spreads a bit farther. But, not much. Synergy seems to go pretty far. I`m not sure if it`s the baby poo color or what, but one thing I noticed with Synergy is it`s pretty easy to tell where you applied it. You are able to see the wax haze - even when applying it quite thin.

Here is the wax hazing on the hood:



Wipe off was fairly easy...not as easy as Souverän or similar, more like what a durable hard carnauba wax removal is like. The surface felt silky smooth after the wax was removed - not so much slick, but smooth. The towel I used for removal was the supplied Cobra Gold Plush Jr which worked well. The towel didn`t lint. The wax didn`t streak, ghost, or haze. Once it was buffed off - it was buffed off. I ended up applying two coats of Synergy (as directed) to the vehicle.

Another tip I`d like to share is, I think it`s a good idea to clean your wax applicator off with a pad brush after every panel or so after you go along:



This helps keep the applicator clean, and also helps re-distribute any caked up wax that many be on the applicator. As, it`s important to make sure your applicator remains clean throughout the application process.

After the second coat, this is how much Synergy was left:



It`s hard to tell from a picture - but there is a small divot in the center of the can. After it was all is said and done I went out to take some pictures. None of the photos were edited, but the sun was starting to set on one side of the vehicle - making the blue look quite different shades depending on which side/angle you looked at it from. This vehicle is a non-garaged 14 year old daily driver with 125k on the odometer...























So, overall I`m really happy with Synergy and the SCP. It looks quite good in my opinion and is pretty easy to work with. It`s a nice wax for sure. However, this is kind of is expected for a wax in this price range. The real test is coming up....How does it bead and how will it hold up? Does this new hybrid technology offer any real world durability benefit? Is it hype? Is it worth the extra dollars to get a wax that lasts almost like a coating? For that you will have to stay tuned. I will update this thread when I get more data.

[Ronkh]

Great write up

Very worth while test. Thank you

[Paul Mitchell]

A very thorough and excellent review. I`m looking forward to the longevity results.

[The Guz]

Nice job. Looks great.

[RaysWay]

I really enjoyed reading your thorough review while eating some lunch. Your 14 year old daily driver is in amazing shape too.

[Angus]

Now that`s a review! Thanks for taking the time to post this. I look forward to the longevity updates.

[JHL88]

Thanks for the Great Review.

[jtford95]

Yep. Thanks for the review. I too was gifted the big khanua kit. I have two cars to put the wax on. both need correction & was told to use the Synergy. Can`t wait to get them done. The truck looks awesome btw.

[silverfox]

If the durability can`t match a $20 can of collinite or FK1000, its just another high priced marketing effort targeted to the waxaholic crowd, who classically can`t turn down anything that has wax in the title.

[Swanicyouth]

If the durability can`t match a $20 can of collinite or FK1000, its just another high priced marketing effort targeted to the waxaholic crowd, who classically can`t turn down anything that has wax in the title.

That`s a bit harsh IMHO, but that`s what I`m trying to figure out. The technology is new - so we will see. The good thing is it won`t take too long for me to figure out. LSPs rarely last more than 2 months on my lower panels because of when it rains I have to drive through a lot of mud & sludge due to runoff from the woods on the road.


Thanks for comments all.

[Swanicyouth]

Had a chance to do my first update today. Car wasn`t really too dirty, so the plan was to pressure wash it then do a waterless wash. The beading of Synergy was excellent. The stuff really seems to hate water. I also noticed the towels stayed pretty clean - which means to me the dirt was coming off via pressure washing with water prior.

I made a sloppy video showing how this stuff reacts to water... The video starts out terrible, and then improves to just pretty bad...But you can see the beading is impressive:

http://youtu.be/almz4I1UAM0

Onto some beading pics:










While I was waterless washing it, I did notice the surfaces did seem to have a coating like feeling. What I mean by that was, the waterless wash was just running off the surfaces and once you wiped them via a single first pass with a towel to wash the surface with the Pinnacle Waterless Wash - they were pretty close to 100% dry. Very little drying was needed. This is not something I have noticed before with "wax".

Another amateur video where I tried to capture this phenomena:

http://youtu.be/uXimOfdkSs4

After the wash, I took a few pics. Synergy looks quite good in person. So far I`m giving it an A grade or a 9 out of 10. The only thing I really didn`t like too much was the tub and the color, which really have nothing to do with performance. If it lasts, it will be a 10.

Regarding the cost issue, it`s a little early to speculate, but if this stuff offers a significant durability advantage over the likes of durable waxes like Collinite - I think it`s worth it. As I like to wax when I want to wax - not when I have to. Time will tell... My A grade could also go to a C+ and my 9 could also go to a 5. We will see.

After wash:

[AutopiaTech]

Excellent review Swanic!

If the durability can`t match a $20 can of collinite or FK1000, its just another high priced marketing effort targeted to the waxaholic crowd, who classically can`t turn down anything that has wax in the title.

It`s not difficult to make a wax that lasts a long time. That`s easy.

What`s difficult is creating a wax that lasts a long time while offering a unique look that is second to none. That`s what Synergy offers.

Synergy isn`t for everyone. If you want maximum durability at the lowest cost, then stick with FK1000 or Collinite 915. There`s a lot more to a wax than how long it lasts, just like there`s a lot more to a super car than just how fast it goes in a straight line.

Some day, when you try Synergy, you`ll understand.

[Zelfiris]

Thanks the review! I`m very interested in the durability test

[jtford95]

http://www.autopiaforums.com/forums/...1&d=1406162864
After I polish this truck out. I am going to try the Synergy on this. I want to see how long it last.

[4u2nvinmtl]

Any updates on durability?

Great review, BTW