# Xtravue - Windshield/screen treatment with nanotechnology



## Ste T

*The Product*: Xtravue - Windshield/screen treatment with nanotechnology. http://www.aquaglasscoat.com/xtravue.html

*Price Point*: Unreleased to Date..

*Tested on*: Subaru Impreza 2005 / Renault Clio 2001

*Manufacturers 'Blurb'*:

XtraVue increases driver vision by 34% on a rainy night. A 34% increase adds about 1 second to a driver;s response time. At 60 mph, that's an extra 88 feet of pavement to brake, to turn - to be safe.

XtraVue repels rain to improve visibility. Makes snow and ice easier to remove. Water beads up and rolls off, reducing glare and obscured vision. An easy-clean barrier to bugs, bird droppings and tree sap.

XtraVue brings high-tech nanotechnology to automotive protection. XtraVue chemically bonds to glass at the molecular level, forming a high-performance, long-lasting barrier less than 1/1000th the thickness of a human hair.

Long-lasting! XtraVue lasts up to one full year.
Other "Permanent" coatings last only 6 months. Temporary wipe-on coatings disappear after 1 month

Easy to apply. Takes less than 15 minutes. No special equipment, and the long-handled, ergonomic applicator makes it easy to coat all surfaces. When finished, just toss the applicator in the trash.

Twice the coverage, half the price. Each XtraVue applicator holds 20ml, enough for a whole vehicle. Others hold only 8ml

*Instructions*: Very clear + available online
http://www.aquaglasscoat.com/images/stories/xtravue-appli_resize.jpg
DW thread opened, http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=142954

*Packaging*: long-handled, light weight, ergonomic applicator makes it easy to coat all surfaces with a 3" by 2" triangle foam head, 20ml full size product









































































*Product & Fragrance*: None

Cleaning Power: a Smear free window repels rain and causes it to bead and run off

Ease of use: Takes less than 15 minutes. No special equipment, and the long-handled, ergonomic applicator makes it easy to coat all surfaces. When finished, just dispose of the applicator in the bin.

MY routine for the preparation,

Rinsed with Water
Cleaned all Windows with DODO supernatural Shampoo
Rinsed
Dried
Cleaned With 3D Glass cleaner
Dried
Applied Xtra-Vue
Buffed off…

Dirty 2weeks without a wash









Rinsed









Untreated









Shampoo, Dried, 3D window cleaner









Xtra-Vue applied and then buffered off as per instruction


















Left 1hour, and Water tested, 0mph with very little wind

















































































































































*After the Subaru 2x coats the pad was still moist and seemed to have a lot more to offer, so I decided to see how far it would go, and I was able to coat the Windshield and side windows of the Clio. I also left longer than the recommended 1 minute drying time to see how hard it was to buff off when dried to the window, i waited about 8-10 minutes for it to dry and after 30 seconds of using a micofiber cloth and some elbow grease, it came off nice and easy, no residue marks left behind..

Cleaned same way as the Impreza,

1 week, no screen cleaning + this screen was fitted 14/11/2009 as last screen damaged. So brand new.




























Cleaned









Water test

















































































*Disposal*.



















*Finish*: Clearer vision by preventing rain, sleet, snow, mud, bugs and grit from sticking to the exterior of the glass

*Durability*: Long-lasting! XtraVue lasts up to one full year.

*Value*: With the 20ml Product I did 2 full cars, all the of glass of the impreza.+ extra,

*I give the User review of, 100% **

(* Please note this is a preliminary score based on initial impressions. As it's a long term treatment, this review will be regularly updated according to how the product is fairing over time).
























If you are interested in purchasing XtraVue, then you can do so at: www.elitecarcare.co.uk


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## VIPER

*Tested on:* Renault Clio

*Packaging:* The XtraVue comes as 30cm long plastic tube (containing a capsule with the 20ml of solution). It has a 5x8cm triangular application 'head'. The item itself feels sturdy and is well made despite it being of a 'use and throwaway' type product.










*Product @ Fragrance:* 20ml of clear liquid with no real discernable smell. Was easily enough to do the test car here, plus on of my own (not pictured for this test). There appeared to be still some left in, but as I'm going to be testing another glass product soon, there was little point in applying this to the side glass as well, but I suspect it would have done all the glass on the test car, should I have wanted.

*Cleaning Power:* Not really applicable as this isn't a glass cleaner - it's a glass treatment, and as the intructions say to prepare the glass with a suitable glass cleaner prior to use, it doesn't need to have any cleaning properties of it's own.

*Ease of use:* Initially you are meant to thoroughly clean the glass with a glass cleaner, but as the glass on this car (my Aunt & Uncle's that I'm looking after whilst they're on holiday and that I regularly detail) has regular coats of Finish Kare #425 on all the glass, I went over with some prepsol to strip all that off, before then also cleaning it with a regular household glass cleaner that has no properties of it's own, other than to clean.

Removing all old product:









Then cleaning with glass cleaner:









Then you need to apply pressure with some pliers to the point marked 'X' on the tube. Doing this cracks the capsule inside and lets out the solution.










I held the XtraVue upside down and it took a minute or so for the pad to begin to show the product being absorbed.










I then proceeded to apply to the windscreen in overlapping patterns trying to achieve as uniform coverage as I could. I did half the screen at a time due to having to take the pics, but had I not been doing this, I dare say I could have applied to both sides.










As per the instructions I waited one minute (during which any excess product begins to bead on the surface as seen in the pic). I then dried off the surface with one MF and buffed with a second.



















Whilst most of the product did come off relatively easily, Some areas were hard work and required quite a bit more hard buffing to remove some cloudy areas and the odd area where those 'beads' I mentioned had left circular marks on the glass. They did come off eventually but it was fairly tough going. Now this issue occured mostly on the first half of the test car's screen - the other side (not photographed), and all of the screen on my car didn't really suffer the same problem. Now this led me to think that there was a bit too much product being applied for the initial section, but as you've no control over this due to the 'stick' itself regulating how saturated the pad gets from the breaking of the inner capsule, I'm not really sure how this can be avoided. As said, after this initial section, the pad seemed to be allowing less product out and so it was easier to keep the amount you're applying to a minimum.

*Finish:* Once thoroughly buffed off, the glass looked perfectly clean and had no smearing that I could see, so good in this respect.

*Durability:* To be confirmed with time. I will add to this review each fortnight, or everytime I detail the car to see how it's progressing and get feedback from those driving it as to how it fairs in wet weather on the road.

*Value:* As this will treat the screens of several cars, or the whole glass area of at least one car, maybe two - IF it lasts for the duration of the manufacturer's claims, then it represents extremely good value.

*Conclusions:* I can only score this on the product itself and how it was to use at this point. I can't make a judgement on durabilty yet so I won't take that into consideration in the overall score.

It is however, a very interesting and original take on glass treatments; having everything contained in one disposable item (despite the issue I explained that was a result of this 'system' in my opinion), and hence why I've also awarded it the DW 'Novel' badge.

____________________________________________________________

UPDATE: Still beading nicely several days after the application and no problems to report with wiper function or visibility.

On Clio test car:-










And on my Puma:-










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*USER OVERALL RATING: 80%*

















If you are interested in purchasing XtraVue, then you can do so at: www.elitecarcare.co.uk


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## Brazo

*XtraVue Review (Second Opinion)*

The test cars were an Audi A3 Sportback and enough liquid was left over for the windscreen of a Volkswagen Passat.

Before hand the glass was thoroughly cleaned with Meguirs pro glass cleaner and then IPA to ensure it was squeaky clean. The instructions on the xtravue were simple enough to follow and the tube broke easily with some pressure by using a pair of pliers.

The sponge head took a minute or so for the liquid to start flowing to it and then a further short while until it became fully saturated so that the pad could slide smoothly over the glass.

Application was reasonable simple although the product did not go on as a thin layer more as large droplets of the product. This may have been due to the cold weather. The instructions do contain a warning about cold weather use. To ensure a thin and even layer of the product on the lass it was 'wiped over with an m/f cloth which smeared the product nicely.

The instructions said to wipe off in 1 minute, although 5 minutes plus was needed in the cold weather. Given we have a lot of cold weather in the UK this could perhaps be reflected on the packaging.

Once cured, the sealant wiped off reasonably easy, not as easy as a soft wax but then the promise of 12 months of protection is worth some additional buffing.

So it's a hard one to review as you are not applying it for looks, more so protection which will pan out now over the coming months. I can however report that it does sheet very well in the rain.

*Anyway heres some pictures!*


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## VIPER

A month on from the application on the Clio (as shown in my post earlier ^^), I got to have a look and a test of how it's fairing at the weekend (sorry no pics as it was sleeting ), and the beading / sheeting qualities are exactly the same as they were immediately after applying - no signs of any drop off in performance whatseover, so that's good :thumb: I'm told that only clean water has been required to clean the screen (but obviously screen wash has been used quite a lot considering the road conditions at the moment; not sure on the brand, but it'll be just something generic).

The only other minor point to report, and I'm hesistant to even mention it at all as it might be nothing to do with the product - the driver says the wipers are 'squeaking' a bit (or to be more exact; emitting a little 'chirp' at the end of their arc before going back the other way). Now this might be down to the wipers of course, so don't read anything into that until I've had a chance to look further into it. I just thought I'd mention it in case any of the other reviewers had noticed anything similar?

So overall, one month on, and in much worse weather than normal, holding up extremely well.

How is everyone else's fairing?


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## PJS

*Xtravue Review*

The sun's out, the sky's clear, so there's no sign of it raining today….."_Excellent, I'll finally be able to get this Xtravue on the glass!_", I thought to myself.
Of course, it's near 3:30 pm, and that means limited available natural light to get it done, but no matter, let's get it on (no pun intended, but it's rather apt nonetheless).
So, with that, and armed with a green Spontex dishwashing pad (other dishwashing pads are also available...  ), some neat Daisy washing up liquid (other dishwa....ah sod this PC malarky! :lol: ), and the hosepipe connected to the hot tap (well, when I say the hot tap, it's more a mixer head with just the hot tap turned on), I ventured outside.

"_Christ it's bloody nippy!_" I said, whilst looking down at the protruding nipples making a break for it, through my polo shirt. But time was awasting and I couldn't be bothered to go back in for something warmer.
Without further ado, the pad was rubbed over the lightly dirty, wetted windscreen, then rinsed off thoroughly, and so on round the rest of the glasswork.

I should point out at this juncture, I'd set out to put the Xtravue on all the glass prior to Christmas, but after cleaning with a strong soap solution, then claying them, before finally giving them a good going over with Autobrite's Crystal Clear glass cleaner, there was no real light left, and I hadn't much time until I had to leave to pick the missus up. As a result, the glass wasn't that dirty, but nevertheless, a good scrubbing is what it got.

Now, the glass treatment's container/applicator proved a bit problematic at first - whilst I have pliers, they are not wide enough to go round it - therefore it needed a bit of an alternative approach to get the vial contained therein broken, so that I could use the product!
A few bashes with the pliers to "flatten" the pinch point, was all it took, and a couple of squeezes had the vial well and truly smashed to smithereens.
Immediately, I could see the liquid starting to darken the foam triangular applicator, and set to work on the windscreen. I must've spent a good few minutes covering the glass (probably with more product than is absolutely necessary), before moving on to the driver's side window and door mirror glass.
Then it was on to the sunroof, after the rear window had been treated, followed by the rear passenger's windows.
By this time, it was becoming evident the liquid was almost gone, and it took a bit of pressure to push out that which remained in the foam applicator.
As they were the two rear passenger windows, I'm not overly concerned about them.

Of course, by the time all this had been done, and with the engine running the whole time for the heating to dry out some interior condensation (driver side footwells having water ingression from somewhere!) and to put a bit of heat on the outer surface of the glass, the Xtravue chemicals had well and truly set up - that was fun!

Well, it wasn't too bad, but there were enough areas where the beads had formed what can only be described as like water spots, but a wee touch more elbow grease applied there, got them shifted, to leave a nice streak-free, clear glass.
Off with the engine, and turning my attention to the rest of the glass - not forgetting the sunroof - the excess residue that the microfiber had absorbed, seemed to help a bit on the other windows, but not the door mirrors, oddly.
No amount of turning/folding the cloth could get them entirely smearless, not helped probably with the temperature lowering (the sun was all but gone at this point), and my exhalation of warm CO2, wasn't a favourable combination.
The vapour eventually dissipated on its own, but I'll give them both a bit of a going over later or tomorrow.

It's just after 5:00 pm now (the hose and whatnot, don't put themselves away - much as I wish they could've), and I'm relieved that it's all over and done with. Next comes the easy part - the monitoring process.

Finally, it's now time to put some scores on the doors, as Larry Grayson would say.

*Instructions:* Comprehensive, and laid out in easy to understand steps with graphics rather than just text - _9/10_

*Packaging:* Initially I thought from the images (prior to receiving it), it looked very neat, but in practice, it's not that ergonomic, as I ended up with a bit of hand cramp (couldn't really find an optimum grip), and on an environmental aspect, it's not the most harmonious - _6/10_

*Product & Fragrance:* Clear liquid suspended in plastic vial, attached to plastic wand with triangular foam tip, and with no real discernible fragrance - _9/10_

*Ease of use:* As per comment in Packaging, not the most ergonomic, so switching position around in hand is less than desirable. Triangular applicator is very good for getting into corners. Residue can be a bit tricky to remove without a fair degree of rubbing, but eventually it will. No real hazing to notify the user of when it's time to remove from the surface, which coupled with a recommendation¹ to not apply below 55ºF (13ºC) means it's hard to gauge how much longer it should be left to set up - _7/10_

*Finish:* Clear, streak-free glass remains once removed - _10/10_

*Durability:* TBC (to be confirmed) as part of the monitoring process, but on proposed timescale alone - _10/10_

*Value:* As value is/should be linked to durability, then the mark awarded is not set in stone until such time as durability is taken into account, but based on proposed durability, a solid _8/10_ seems appropriate.

*Overall DW Rating:* Taking all the above into account, and assuming Value and Durability marks remain as is, then _8/10_ is a fair reflection on the product.










Many thanks to Avi for providing the review sample (sorry it took as long to be eventually able to use it), I'm looking forward to seeing how it performs over the medium and long term.

¹ - the temperature at which I applied the product was closer to 4-5ºC, hence the heater being on full tilt, so I've no idea how this may have affected the bonding of it.


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## VIPER

Another month on and the Xtravue is still going strong - in fact it's no different now than it was the day after application. The 'chirping' wiper issue that I mentioned last month has been cured with new wipers, so all in all, Xtravue still performing admirably :thumb:


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## PJS

So, one month (and a bit) in, and the product is working very well, but.....it's different to the other products that have been on the windscreen before it.
Compared to Aquapel, Xtravue (and BH's one in development) shed water at a lower speed - circa 32-33 mph (I'll leave someone else to work out the kph figures for our Continental European members), but unlike the other two, Xtravue seems to be more clingy for grime.
You see, whilst I used more of BH's than was intended, it had the effect of working at quite low speeds, and in a similar vein, I probably overdid the amount intended with the Xtravue too - as outlined in my initial review.
The difference here though, is that Xrtavue tends to lose its performance quicker than BH's and Aquapel's, which were tested in weather that's been worse than what Xtravue has been subjected to, thus far.

I'm also finding the use of W5 and Astonish windscreen cleaners to be marginal - yes they clean the screen, but the behaviour of the water repellency doesn't return until it's been given a proper clean.
Now, the Astonish is a very recent variable compared to W5, which was in use with the other two, but even so, it's no worse or better than W5's results, so I'm not convinced it's muddying the waters in that respect.

So, when the Xtravue works, it works as well as the BH formulations have, but as its performance drops off sooner, then it concerns me that there may be a compromise needed if opting for this product.

As with all glass treatments I've subjected the windscreen to, light drizzle is still a pain to deal with, without employing the wipers - in fact, it's too much of a risk not to, and when the glass is not pristine clean, then even when you get an open stretch of road, it can be 12-20 mph higher, before the water starts to shift.
In heavier rain (yet to experience it with the Xtravue in situ) then the droplets tend to be bigger, and therefore roll up/across the screen easier and at a reduced speed, but still not as well as when the glass is at its cleanest.

Further evaluation will ensue, and in due course the marks given above will be amended (where appropriate) to reflect the long term opinion of this reviewer.


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