# Big Wax Test - Looks Results - Full Review



## Dave KG

*Disclaimer: the results in the thread represent the opinions and thoughts of those attending this wax test. They are not designed to be hard fact, but rather opinions shared by like minded enthusiasts based on the preparation and the thoughts of folks on the day. Please take these results with the fun that they are intended, and remember they represent opinion and not hard fact *

Seven black sapphire three door Vauxhall Corsas were prepared identically - washed with Shampoo Plus, clayed with Bilt Hamber Soft Clay, compounded with 3M Fast Cut and finished to near perfection with Menzerna PO85RD Final Finish... Each car was then wiped down with IPA to ensure a blank canvas and then each car received three layers of an LSP (different on on each car), wiped down the following morning with purified water and rolled out into the sunlight for assessment on the day of the test.

For full details of the preparation, see the following threads:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4

Now the results.

For the first part of this thread, the cars were rolled out into the sun, wiped down and then photographed - apollogies for the slightly changing light in these shots, cannot be helped for outdoors as the sun was in and out - but a general idea can be gained here - spot a difference other than slightly changing lighting?!!

The cars:

*Zaino Z2*


















































































*Swissvax Best of Show*


















































































*Collinite 915*



























































































****** Royale*









































































*Autoglym HD Wax*
































































*Raceglaze 55*


















































































And now, shiny bonnets test in more controlled lighting:

*Zaino Z2*




























****** Royale*




























*Swissvax Best of Show*




























*Autoglym HD Wax*




























*Raceglaze 55*




























*Collinite 915*




























And now just for fun, some random shots of the cars parked up - spotting a difference in pictures is nigh on impossible, in the flesh it was still practically impossible!...























































Now, to the numbers... everyone attending was asked to rank the cars in order of preference, from 1 - 6 (7th, car with no LSP ignored)... this then gave the cars a points tally as follows:

1st = 7pts, 2nd = 6pts, 3rd = 5pts, 4th = 4pts, 5th = 3pts, 6th = 2pts

Here's how the cars scored - not everyone attending fully filled in a form, owing to not being able to see any difference at all... but these are the results we have:
*
Zaino Z2: 3rd, 2nd, 6th, 1st, 4th, 5th, 3rd, 5th, 4th, 5th, 4th = 46pts

***** Royale: 5th, 3rd, 1st, 6th, 5th, 1st, 3rd, 2nd, 6th, 3rd, 5th = 48pts

Swissvax Best of Show: 2nd, 5th, 2nd, 5th, 3rd, 4th, 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 1st = 61pts

Autoglym HD Wax: 4th, 4th, 5th, 4th, 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 6th, 3rd, 1st, 3rd = 47pts

Raceglaze 55: 6th, 6th, 4th, 2nd, 6th, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 4th, 6th = 42pts

Collinite 915: 1st, 1st, 3rd, 3rd, 1st, 6th, 3rd, 4th, 2nd, 6th, 2nd = 56pts*

These are the accurate scores:

*1st: Swissvax Best of Show = 61pts
2nd: Collinite 915 = 56pts
3rd: ***** Royale = 48pts
4th: Autoglym HD Wax = 47pts
5th: Zaino Z2 = 46pts
6th: Raceglaze 55 = 42pts*

What I will say is this though - every wax recieved a whole variety of placings which leads me to believe personally that its all in the eye of the beholder and the above results while they show a little consistency for the top two, for the last four there's nothing but random variation. As one would expect.

Again, I stress these results and this test are purely for fun and no serious conclusions should be drawn.

Guys - its all in the prep!! :thumb:


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## thehogester

Looked like a great day! Looks like everyone will be saving up for some BoS


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## crazycallum

yup, where can i get some best of show?


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## Robbieben

Dave KG said:


> Guys - its all in the prep!! :thumb:


I think we have said this before Dave

Great work by you all, sorry I missed it


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## A21GAV

All look the same to me, lol
I just hope you get the reg plates back to the correct car, haha


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## PJS

Is it me, or are there only 11 scores?
Thought there were 20 people in attendance?
Surely there weren't 9 involved in the waxing on Saturday?


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## Dave KG

PJS said:


> Is it me, or are there only 11 scores?
> Thought there were 20 people in attendance?
> Surely there weren't 9 involved in the waxing on Saturday?


9 people could not spot enough of a difference to fill in the form.


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## The Autowerks

Dave KG said:


> 9 people could not spot enough of a difference to fill in the form.


myself and my other half being two of the above. couldn't see a difference in the flesh, and still can't see a difference in the pics.

they all looked good to me.


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## isherdholi

I was also one of the 9 who couldn't see a difference.

I thought Royale came 6th though? Or was that on the overall total, as opposed to just on looks?


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## _daveR

isherdholi said:


> I was also one of the 9 who couldn't see a difference.
> 
> I thought Royale came 6th though? Or was that on the overall total, as opposed to just on looks?


Dave can't add up 

Good to meet you yesterday too mate


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## Porta

It would have been very interesting to use a glossmeter and see wich wax who gave the best gloss.

But guys, you did a superb job with this test! :thumb:


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## John-R-

> 1st: Swissvax Best of Show = 61pts
> 2nd: Collinite 915 = 56pts
> 3rd: ***** Royale = 48pts
> 4th: Autoglym HD Wax = 47pts
> 5th: Zaino Z2 = 46pts
> 6th: Raceglaze 55 = 42pts


Without having read the results thats kinda like my scoring, only I had the Zaino above the HD Wax.
How come no DoDo  One of the most popular waxes on the go the now 

Two of the biggest surprises for me is the 55 at the bottom and the 915 at the top :thumb:

John


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## isherdholi

_daveR said:


> Dave can't add up
> 
> Good to meet you yesterday too mate


It was good to meet you too mate - I'm liking your motor even more after seeing it in the flesh. :thumb:


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## R31Heaven

OK So if its all in the Prep which a lot of people say and I believe also, what are the best produucts for Prep :buffer: Next test please:lol:


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## Dave KG

R31Heaven said:


> OK So if its all in the Prep which a lot of people say and I believe also, what are the best produucts for Prep :buffer: Next test please:lol:


Technique


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## Benji_406coupe

top thread!!

interesting results...and suprised to see how well the AG HD did! :doublesho

...maybe my new budget wax to 'slap on the mothers 4x4' lol.

cant beat the BOS. top top wax and so 'easy-off' too. :thumb:

nice one boys!


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## Neil_S

I can't see a difference in the pics and would have expected either not to tell a difference in the flesh or notice a small difference.

What I take from this is that most LSPs look great on a well prepped surface and the importance of the other facets an LSP offers on top of looks. Ease of maintenance/washing, how good the LSP looks as the car gets more dirty, if the LSP can resist dirt etc.


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## roscopervis

Benji_406coupe said:


> top thread!!
> 
> interesting results...and suprised to see how well the AG HD did! :doublesho
> 
> ...maybe my new budget wax to 'slap on the mothers 4x4' lol.
> 
> cant beat the BOS. top top wax and so 'easy-off' too. :thumb:
> 
> nice one boys!


915 is cheaper than HD Wax so by that logic, maybe you should invest in some of that instead?

Seriously, as mentioned, I think this test shows that it is all about the eye of the beholder.


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## Shug

So if yo take it then that there is no real world difference in appearance between them all, then the next consideration is durability.
Collinite is regarded as being in the top end in durability stakes, and is one of the cheaper wax's out there, why buy anything else?
(conveniently ignoring sealants for now. Thats dave kgs next assignment :lol: )


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## SpiderSC

...incidently, 3 of us including Dave studied the cars at about 4:30pm when they had stood in the sun for a few hours and perhaps the waxes had cured a little and we all agreed it was impossible to separate the Collinite 915 car from the BOS car when they were parked next to each other..

So my conclusion is that going forward i will buy Collinite 915 instead of BOS and save £100 - the look of the 2 products were honestly identical! :thumb:

So although BOS came top, surely *Collinite 915* is the '*BEST*' wax tested here if price is taken into account, which for most is a big factor... especially considering that most of the guys yesterday who are much more informed than the average man on the street couldnt really tell a difference!


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## Jaygo

Visually how did the untreated car compare with the others.


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## ayrshireteggy

You (and your elves) have done a great job Dave - well done!! :thumb:

The scoring is interesting. I think that you need to include the responses of those that couldn't see any difference between the waxes. Their views are as important, statistically, as the others.

For instance, we have 9 people who rated the waxes equally. Therefore, since 7 points went to first place and 2 points went to last place, these people were effectively awarding 4 points (the mid-value) to each wax. This would mean that there are 9 x 4 = 36 additional points to be added to the overall scores. The table would then look like this:

1st: Swissvax Best of Show = 97 pts
2nd: Collinite 915 = 92 pts
3rd: ***** Royale = 84 pts
4th: Autoglym HD Wax = 83 pts
5th: Zaino Z2 = 82 pts
6th: Raceglaze 55 = 78 pts

Originally, BoS got 61 points compared to 42 for Raceglaze ie BoS scored 45% higher than Raceglaze. 

The reality, though - because 9 people rated BoS and Raceglaze EQUALLY - is that BoS got 97 points and Raceglaze got 78 ie BoS scored 24% higher than Raceglaze - a much narrower difference between top and bottom waxes.

In summary, (man, am I a boring fart?), if you include everyone's opinions - including those that couldn't see a difference - then you get a more accurate representation of the results.


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## PJS

ayrshireteggy said:


> (man, am I a boring fart?)














ayrshireteggy said:


> Other thought provoking stuff


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## Sandro

i knew after dave posted the photos of the cars after they were finished machining that there would be almost no way to spot any difference. it still looks that way!


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## Bigpikle

I was one of those who struggled to see much difference except for 1 really good one (BoS) that really stood out of the crowd for me, and one that was duller and flatter looking (AG HD) with the rest all being the same in the mega bright sunshine we were blessed with. Differences became a tad more obvious when the sun went later, but big surprise for me was the fact the 1 really stood out at all - and it looked GOOD IMHO


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## MidlandsCarCare

so... Which one is the easiest to apply and remove? Along with durability, this must be the deciding factor. 

Also, let's not forget z2p costs £15


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## Hair Bear

Would liked to have seen SRP and/or EGP in there..........


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## Dave KG

Chaps we could have trialled literally hundreds of LSPs... but we had 7 cars, and four people, and three days so I'm afraid we couldn't do them all.


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## Dean_82

Thanks to all of those involved for this!:thumb:


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## Brazo

I think the important thing is that some struggled to tell any difference at all and those who 'could' well the results were so close as to be irrelevant. 

A few people have said differences were more discernible later in the day which I am willing to go with but that in itself imo only adds ludicrosy to the difference in a wax if it can only be seen at a certain time!

What this test has told us is that ***** royale is no better in looks than a £12 pot of collinite or a £120 pot of BOS. What this test tells us is that wax adds nothing or next to nothing in looks. What this test tells us is that its all down to the machine polishing.

Hate to say 'I told you so' but I along with others have been saying this for years but then I/we knew the results of this test long before the day


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## Dave KG

Brazo said:


> I think the important thing is that some struggled to tell any difference at all and those who 'could' well the results were so close as to be irrelevant.
> 
> A few people have said differences were more discernible later in the day which I am willing to go with but that in itself imo only adds ludicrosy to the difference in a wax if it can only be seen at a certain time!
> 
> What this test has told us is that ***** royale is no better in looks than a £12 pot of collinite or a £120 pot of BOS. What this test tells us is that wax adds nothing or next to nothing in looks. What this test tells us is that its all down to the machine polishing.
> 
> Hate to say 'I told you so' but I along with others have been saying this for years but then I/we knew the results of this test long before the day


Amen! :thumb:


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## Mr Singh

Hats off to you guys. Perfectly executed test. 

Would have been nice to see some water sheeting and beading etc, showing the levels of protection. Although thats a whole different test I guess, to be able to monitor the degredation of the LSP over several months. 

Still very valuable test for all.

Brilliant!


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## Dave KG

Mr Singh said:


> Hats off to you guys. Perfectly executed test.
> 
> Would have been nice to see some water sheeting and beading etc, showing the levels of protection. Although thats a whole different test I guess, to be able to monitor the degredation of the LSP over several months.
> 
> Still very valuable test for all.
> 
> Brilliant!


The videos are being uploaded  :thumb:


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## Hair Bear

Dave KG said:


> Chaps we could have trialled literally hundreds of LSPs... but we had 7 cars, and four people, and three days so I'm afraid we couldn't do them all.


Apologies Dave, it's not a whinge as such, but apart from the AG HD which is pretty new, it would have been good to see a few more established 'high street' products tested :thumb:


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## Neil_S

Dave KG said:


> Chaps we could have trialled literally hundreds of LSPs... but we had 7 cars, and four people, and three days so I'm afraid we couldn't do them all.


You did fine Dave, great test and it speaks volumes :thumb:


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## PWOOD

Great test. Kinda knew the results would be so subtle as to be difficult to tell between the waxes. I think the best feature an LSP can have is durability. The fact you guys got 7 identical cars and did all that work for us all to read and view is appreciated. Thanks to all:thumb:

Perhaps Dave could have got out his trusty wire wool and swirled a few bonnets to test the filling abilities of pure waxes:lol:


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## steeleez

Fantatic test guys, I am in the market for a new wax as my current wax is running out, so a 915 kit has been ordered from elite car care.

Thanks


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## SpiderSC

Brazo said:


> I think the important thing is that some struggled to tell any difference at all and those who 'could' well the results were so close as to be irrelevant.
> 
> A few people have said differences were more discernible later in the day which I am willing to go with but that in itself imo only adds ludicrosy to the difference in a wax if it can only be seen at a certain time!
> 
> What this test has told us is that ***** royale is no better in looks than a £12 pot of collinite or a £120 pot of BOS. What this test tells us is that wax adds nothing or next to nothing in looks. What this test tells us is that its all down to the machine polishing.
> 
> Hate to say 'I told you so' but I along with others have been saying this for years but then I/we knew the results of this test long before the day


..have to say the above quote sums up this Wax Test for me. Prior to Sunday i was a little wet behind the ears, but having been there Sunday and witnessed the 6 cars and various tests, the above really does sum it up. I will in future buy Collinite 915 and save my money by not buying the more expensive waxes that quite clearly do not add anything over and above their cheaper competitors! its a fact! well IMHO!


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## Shug

I think collinite will be sending dave kg a big thank you present. Hopefully he'll enjoy it before the zymöl hitman gets to him :lol:


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## Andyuk911

Can I ask a basic question, which was the easiest to apply and remove?

Thanks


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## Brazo

Andyuk911 said:


> Can I ask a basic question, which was the easiest to apply and remove?
> 
> Thanks


Interesting point and one that wasn't included (rightly so imo as it was about looks) in the test

Another factor also is how fussy (wax holograms) second, third fourth wipedown some of these waxes need!


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## blr123

Andyuk911 said:


> Can I ask a basic question, which was the easiest to apply and remove?
> 
> Thanks


Hi Andy long time eh :thumb:

To answer the qustion.....for me it was BOS and 915 not much between them and both were VERY easy to apply but particularly to remove :thumb:

Bryan


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## Andyuk911

Hi Bryan,

:wave:

I have been about ..... I do more reading these days ...

Great test ! :buffer:


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## Neil_S

Brazo said:


> Interesting point and one that wasn't included (rightly so imo as it was about looks) in the test
> 
> Another factor also is how fussy (wax holograms) second, third fourth wipedown some of these waxes need!


Or fifth and sixth, mind you I should never have put that BOS on in direct sunlight, absolute nightmare that still keeps me from using it!


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## Dave KG

Neil_S said:


> Or fifth and sixth, mind you I should never have put that BOS on in direct sunlight, absolute nightmare that still keeps me from using it!


Interestingly, on the test it was the easiest to remove and for us, one of the least fussy for hologramming.


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## JDawes

Just bought some 915 thanks guys great test


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## Exotica

Blast from the past!


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## rsblue

only A 5 year old thread this one!! LOL


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## millns84




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## V3nom

haha this is the first time I've seen this thread! Great test! 915 on order lol


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## louisk

Who were the people judging the look of the waxes, random people or experienced detailers?


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## alan hanson

louisk said:


> Who were the people judging the look of the waxes, random people or experienced detailers?


they have probably passed away given the ressurection of this thread


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## AGRE

alan hanson said:


> they have probably passed away given the ressurection of this thread


:lol:


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## taz007

great thread - did you guys ever find out which one held up the longest?


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