Automotive

Griot's Gar Brilliant Car Wash

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In this post, we are taking a look at Griot’s Garage Brilliant Finish Car Wash, a pH-balanced car shampoo that contains a proprietary blend of gloss enhancing additives. Brilliant Finish Car Wash is advertised to be safe on previously applied waxes and is also advertised to be good in both a foam cannon and wash bucket so I’ll be trying both.

First, let’s see how this product foams. The label recommends adding 3 ounces of Brilliant Finish Car Was and filling the water reservoir. This of course doesn’t account for the various sizes of foam cannons. On my channel, I test shampoos by using 3 ounces of product and filling my foam cannon reservoir up to 800ml. Because I use the same mixing ratio for all shampoos, you’ll be more easily able to compare the results of Brilliant Finish Car Wash to previously reviewed shampoos on my channel.

As someone who’s tried many different car shampoos in a foam cannon, I’m surprised to say that Brilliant Finish Car Wash gave me something different that I have not seen before. The foam initially came out very aerated. I wouldn’t say that it’s the traditional shaving cream thick foam, but the foam gives the perception of thickness because it’s so fluffy. The foam is also very dry. It’s didn’t come out thin, wet, and run off the surface right away. Sure, in places where I sprayed a lot of foam, the excess rolled off pretty quick but that’s something that happens with every product. Here, when the excess is gone, what’s left just clings and moves at a snail’s pace. In some flatter areas like the hood and roof, the foam just didn’t go anywhere. I like it when foam clings because I feel that it gives the foam more chance to encapsulate contaminants. Then when the foam is rinsed off, it’ll take more contaminants with it.

Next, we’re going to use Brilliant Finish Car Wash for a two bucket contact wash. The directions recommend mixing one ounce of Brilliant Finish Car Wash per gallon of water so that’s what I did. I’m using the Griot’s Garage Ultimate Car Wash Bucket and that has a built-in measuring cup and fill capacity indicators. So, I mixed four ounces of Brilliant Finish Car Wash with four gallons of water.

We’re going to start with the hand lubricity test where I run my hand through the soap solution and just get an initial impression of its lubricity. At one ounce to one gallon of water, I can definitely tell that there’s some slickness to the water but it’s just right below what I typically like. So, I’m going to add one more ounce to the bucket. Now, at five ounces of Brilliant Finish Car Wash to four gallons of water, I think the solution is good to go and provides adequate lubrication.

As a bucket contact wash shampoo, Brilliant Finish Car Wash gets a pass. It provides good lubrication and cleaned the car with no issues. Five ounces of product to four gallons of water is more than my one ounce to one gallon of water standard but to be fair, five ounces here was pretty slick and I think I could’ve actually used less. So at this point, I can only say that, for me, when using four gallons of water, I would use somewhere between four and five ounces of product.

That’s still a bit more than what I would like but in the grand scheme of things, I would give Griot’s Garage Brilliant Finish Car Wash a recommendation because it performs very well. In a foam cannon, its performance was very memorable in a good way. I actually really like the foam that this shampoo gave me. It can definitely be used as a pre-wash and if you use foam for a bucketless contact wash, this is going to perform really well for that too. As a bucket shampoo, Brilliant Finish Car Wash Cleans as needed and provides excellent lubrication. As for Griot’s claim that this product enhances the gloss of the finish, I can’t really say. I don’t use a gloss meter so just based on eyeballing it, sure the finish is a bit glossier but the car was dirty prior to using this product. Cleaning the surface with just about any shampoo would’ve made the surface glossier. I don’t think the difference is enough to warrant buying this shampoo simply for the gloss enhancers. I would buy it for its versatility in a foam cannon and bucket.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Griot's Garage Brilliant Car Wash https://amzn.to/395kTF3

MJJC Foam Cannon Pro https://amzn.to/32fjyHG

Greenworks GPW1702 Electric Pressure Washer https://amzn.to/2TV1ePx

Griot's Ultimate Car Wash Bucket https://amzn.to/3ncuj6k

All the Auto Detailing Equipment I Use: https://www.amazon.com/ideas/amzn1.account.AF43XRPGVOUH2E5CJXQY4FIOGVAQ/3AI3XVAQEMORX?type=explore&ref=idea_cp_vl_ov_d

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Chemical Guys Maxi Suds II

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In this post, we are taking a look at Chemical Guys Maxi Suds II, specifically in the grape scent. This shampoo is available in a few different scents but from my understanding, they all provide the same performance and the only differences in the various versions are scent and color.

Maxi Suds II is a pH balanced shampoo advertised to be tough on dirt, gentle on paintwork, and safe for all wax, glaze, and sealant coatings. It is also advertised to work well in both a foam cannon and bucket so we’ll be trying both.

First up, the foam cannon. For this, I’ll be adding 3 ounces of Maxi Suds II to my MJJC Foam Cannon Pro and filling the water reservoir up to 800ml. This is my standard for testing all car shampoos in a foam cannon so if you’d like, you can compare the results here to the other car shampoo reviews that I’ve previously made.

From my experience, one thing that Chemical Guy’s car shampoos do really well is providing thick foam in a foam cannon. Here with Maxi Suds II, I would have to say that the tradition continues. The foam is very thick and clings really well to the surface. As the foam clings longer, it has more chance to encapsulate any loose contaminants and take them off the surface as the foam rolls off or is rinsed off. From these results, I would say that Maxi Suds II is completely viable as a foam pre-wash or even as a sprayed-on soap for contact cleaning without a bucket.

Next, we’re moving on to using Maxi Suds II for the two bucket method and contact wash. The directions say to mix one ounce of product to five gallons of water. First up is the hand lubricity test. This is just me getting a feel of the soap solution between the skin of my hand. Upon first impressions, Maxi Suds II failed miserably. This has got to be the most watered-down soap solution that I’ve ever felt and there is little to no lubrication. Because of this, I DO NOT recommend that you mix Maxi Suds II at the manufacturer’s recommended ratio. For my personal testing, I’m going to add another four ounces of shampoo, bringing the total up to five ounces to five gallons of water or one ounce per gallon of water. Doing the hand lubricity test again, my hand feels like an oil slick, and I do not feel my skin rubbing against each other at all. To be honest, five ounces to five gallons of water may be a bit much. If you’re going to try this out for yourself, I would recommend starting at three ounces to five gallons of water and go from there as needed. Once I got the soap solution to a point that I was satisfied with, I would say that there wasn’t anything particular that stands out about this product and that’s a good thing. It was able to clean the car as well as anything else so no complaints there.

Overall, I would say that I’m happy with Chemical Guys Maxi Suds II. It performs really well in a foam cannon and just as good as every other car shampoo that I approve of. The only disappointing thing about this product is the one ounce to five gallons of water mixing ratio that Chemical Guys recommends. I’ve noticed that they recommend this with a few of their car shampoos and the recommendation never lives up based on my personal testing. One ounce of Chemical Guys car shampoo to five gallons of water is always watered down and I always have to add more products to get something satisfactory. It would’ve been great if this advertising were true because the shampoo would’ve been extremely economical but even at one ounce per gallon as shown in this video, the cost per ounce of Maxi Suds II is still pretty low. With all of this in mind, I would have to give this car shampoo a recommendation. If you’re looking for something that can be used as an all-in-one, for both the pre-wash and contact wash, then Chemical Guys Maxi Suds II is worth a try.

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All the Auto Detailing Equipment I Use: https://www.amazon.com/ideas/amzn1.account.AF43XRPGVOUH2E5CJXQY4FIOGVAQ/3AI3XVAQEMORX?type=explore&ref=idea_cp_vl_ov_d

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MJJC Foam Cannon Pro

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I was recently contacted by a representative from the company MJJC and that correspondence resulted in them sending me this, the Foam Cannon Pro.

From the looks of MJJC’s various foam cannon offerings, this seems to be the flagship and has many of the features commonly seen in high-end foam cannons.

Included in the box is everything needed to get started foaming minus a pressure washer, soap, and of course water. We get a sprayer head, 1000 ml wide mouth / wide base water reservoir, suction tube, 1/4” quick connector, some additional filters, and a smaller 1.1mm orifice for use with lower-powered pressure washers to create thicker foam.

To see what this foam cannon can do while connected to my Greenworks GPW1702 1700 PSI electric pressure washer, check out the video above. For this video, I used 3 ounces of Chemical Guys Watermelon Snow Foam and filled the water reservoir to 800ml.

Right off the bat, I have to say that this MJJC Foam Cannon Pro performs very well. It provided me with some crazy shaving cream thick foam even when used with a lower-powered electric pressure washer and the stock larger orifice. Again, I’m very impressed but let’s take a step back and look at some of the features that this foam cannon provides.

Looking at the sprayer head, we have 3 points of adjustments. The knob on top allows for an on the fly change of the mixing ratio. When turned left, more water is used with the soap solution in the reservoir. This decreases the amount of foam. When turned right, less water is used with the soap solution in the reservoir. This increases the amount of foam. An example of this can be seen in the video above.

Next, at the tip of the head, we can turn the black section and adjusts the spray pattern. An example of this can also be seen in the video above.

Finally, we can also turn the red section of the sprayer head and this adjusts the orientation of spray from vertical to horizontal.

As someone coming from a cheap $15 Amazon foam cannon, I have to say that this MJJC Foam Cannon Pro is a big upgrade. It’s really hard to explain and is one of those things that you have to try for yourself to understand the difference but take it from me, from the build quality to the quality of foam, I think the Foam Cannon Pro is a winner and worth a try if you’re in the market for a foam cannon around $59.

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MJJC Foam Cannon Pro https://amzn.to/32fjyHG

Greenworks GPW1702 Electric Pressure Washer https://amzn.to/2TV1ePx

Chemical Guys Watermelon Snow Foam https://amzn.to/2TV1ePx

All the Auto Detailing Equipment I Use: https://www.amazon.com/ideas/amzn1.account.AF43XRPGVOUH2E5CJXQY4FIOGVAQ/3AI3XVAQEMORX?type=explore&ref=idea_cp_vl_ov_d

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Toyota Supra Carbon Fiber Door Handle Covers

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I recently purchased some carbon fiber door handle covers from eBay for my A90 Supra. A few different sellers have these on eBay and I can almost assure that they’re all from the same manufacturer so if you’re interested in this, just pick up the cheapest set that you can find.

Buying eBay parts is always a bit worrisome but these covers don’t look too bad. There are some minor scratches that don’t show up on camera but I really expect this from any aftermarket carbon product so no big deal. We’ll address this problem in a bit.

As far as installation, these covers are intended to be held in place by double-sided tape but I want to note that the covers did not come with any. You will need to provide your own.

Before I install these covers, I’m actually going to prep the surface and ceramic coat it. One complaint that people often make with gloss coated aftermarket carbon is that it yellows. A low-quality clear coat is usually the reason for this. Of course, I have no idea how these covers were made so all I can do is protect them to the best of my ability via a coating, in hopes of minimizing UV damage and any yellowing.

To start, I’m going to decontaminate the surface and for this, I’m using Meguiar’s Mild Professional Detailing Clay with Last Touch Spray Detailer as a lube. Although this is a new part, I would still recommend claying the surface because you just never know what the parts have gone through prior to delivery. For sure, there was something on my covers so claying is a no brainer.

Now that the covers are contaminant-free, I’m going to address the minor scratches mentioned earlier by hand polishing. I’m going to start with Griot’s Correcting Cream and a 3” orange pad. This step eliminates most of the deeper scratches, leaving the surface smoother, clearer, and glossier.

I could’ve stopped right here but I’m actually going to refine the finish with Griot’s Perfecting Cream and a 3” yellow pad. This step further refines and minimizes the scratches, leaving the finish almost flawless. In my opinion, the few minutes spent polishing was completely worth it.

Next, I’m going to hit the surface with Adam’s Surface Prep. This is an isopropyl alcohol solution and is used to strip the surface of any remaining oils and residues.

At this point, the surface is ready for coating. I’m going to be using Adam’s Graphene Ceramic Coating. This coating is pretty easy to apply. Just put a few drops on to an applicator and wipe it on the surface. Once the coating hits the surface, it’ll start to rainbow. Once the rainbow disappears, wipe the coating off and that’s it. Adam’s recommends that the coating not get wet for 24 hours so I’m going to keep the covers inside and install the following day.

Again, these particular covers didn’t come with double-sided tape preinstalled so I went ahead and applied some of my own 3M VHB double-sided tape.

As a last measure before actually installing, I’m going to go ahead and thoroughly clean the door handle’s surface. This involves claying the surface to pick up any contaminants then using the IPA solution to get rid of any remaining oils and residues.

When it comes to actually installing, all we have to do is remove the adhesive backing and throw the covers over the stock door handles. The covers snap into place and there’s only one way to install them so there is really no messing up. Once you get the covers on, apply pressure to the taped sections and we’re done.

I have to say, the covers look really good and pop out on my Absolute Zero Supra. For the price I can’t really complain.

At this point, I should mention that these are actually my second set of eBay carbon fiber door handle covers. The first set arrived damaged and had to be returned but I wanted to mention them because if we take a look at the driver’s side cover, we’ll see that there is a small cutout. This is to accommodate the cover on the driver’s door handle. If you’re unaware, this cover hides the physical keyhole that’s meant to be used if the keyfob were to die and you get locked out of the car. I really like this feature and it was the reason why I bought these covers in the first place. Unfortunately, by the time I got the second set of covers, the version with the cutout stopped being made because it costs more and was more time consuming to manufacture. So, this means that if you were to buy one of these door handle covers that don’t have the cutout, be aware that there’s a chance that you’ll be locked out of the car if the key fob were to die and you don’t have service to unlock the car via the Supra Connect app. Then again you can try to remove the covers in that situation but it’s not going to an easy task.

All in all, I think this is a worth wild mod for the price. At under $100 from eBay, I’d do it again. At $150, $200 or more that some of these other aftermarket manufacturers are trying to charge, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. But do whatever works for you.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Adam's Graphene Ceramic Coating https://amzn.to/32wHzux

Meguiar’s C2000 Mirror Glaze Professional Detailing Clay https://amzn.to/3isPa2p

Meguiar’s Last Touch Spray Detailer https://amzn.to/2E1g7vo

Griot's Orange Pad https://amzn.to/3nXFuAl

Griot's Correcting Cream https://amzn.to/3k43jUE

Griot's Yellow Pad https://amzn.to/3dTASGK

Griot's Perfecting Cream https://amzn.to/3dYVkGq

Adam's Surface Prep https://amzn.to/34oKpCx

Chemical Guys Wipe Out https://amzn.to/3ksyJnL

3M VHB Double-Sided Tape https://amzn.to/34qpq25

All the Auto Detailing Equipment I Use: https://www.amazon.com/ideas/amzn1.account.AF43XRPGVOUH2E5CJXQY4FIOGVAQ/3AI3XVAQEMORX?type=explore&ref=idea_cp_vl_ov_d

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Griot's Car Wash

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Griot’s Car Wash is a pH neutral shampoo that doesn’t contain any gloss enhancers or additional additives to help protect the paint. It is purely meant for cleaning purposes. However, there is one claim to fame for this product and it is that it’s supposed to be super concentrated. Griot’s advertises that only one ounce of product is needed per two gallons of water and a one-gallon jug can make 256 gallons of usable solution. This is what really attracted me to this shampoo. If the claim is true, then Griot’s Car Wash can provide some excellent bang for the buck. So, let’s see how it fairs.

For my first test, I’m used the Griot’s Ultimate Car Wash Bucket which has a built-in measuring cup. When filled to the indication line, two ounces of the product are present. I then filled the bucket up with 4 gallons of water, using the capacity indicators on the inside of the bucket. First up, the land lubricity test. This involves getting a feel of the product between the skin of my hand. At one ounce per two gallons of water, Griot’s Car Wash failed miserably. The soap solution was barely slicker than water. I have to admit, I had my doubts but was really rooting for Griot’s because I wanted the advertising to be true. Unfortunately, I don’t think that is the case. At this point, I measured out another two ounces of Car Wash and added it to my bucket, bringing the total to 4 ounces of Griot’s Car Wash to 4 gallons of water. This of course means that I’m using 1 ounce of product per gallon of water. At this ratio, Griot’s Car Wash is absolutely acceptable and slick enough for use.

In a bucket at one ounce of product per gallon of water, Griot’s Car Wash performs up to my standards. It was able to get all the noticeable contaminants off the surface of my car and that’s all I can ask for. However, I do consider the super-concentrated formula advertising to be false. I just do not recommend using this product at the manufacturer’s recommend 1 ounce of product per 2 gallons of water. Of course, do you own testing and make your own judgment. But for me, 1 ounce per gallon of water is the way to go.

Next, let’s try Griot’s Car Wash in a foam cannon. It should be noted that although Griot’s advertises that this is a high-sudsing shampoo, they do not mention anything about using it in a foam cannon. This would indicate that it’s meant to be used in a bucket as a contact wash, not in a foam cannon as a pre-wash. But, we’re going to test its ability to foam anyway for curiosity's sake. For this test, I filled my foam cannon up with three ounces of Car Wash and water to the third indicator line.

From my testing of various car shampoos, I’ve found that those that are more so intended to be used in a bucket for a contact wash, typically do not foam very well. They typically come out of the foam cannon very watery, with little foam, and do not cling to surfaces very well. This is where Griot’s Car Wash is weird to me. The foam that I got was slightly below average in terms of thickness. There were a lot of small bubbles at first but Car Wash did exhibit the ability to build up and get thicker foam if I really focused on a spot. What was really different was this shampoo’s ability to cling to the surface. I’ve never seen a foam move so slowly off the surface of a car. To me, this is a good thing because as the foam clings to the surface longer, it has more chance to encapsulate contaminants. Then when it naturally rolls off the surface or when we rinse, the contaminants are removed with the foam. Something else to note is that this foam did a really good job of not drying. I had the foam on this car for easily more than 10 minutes and I didn’t see any dried-on soap residue. For me, this is a benefit because I know that I don’t have to rush to rinse the product off. I have more wiggle room on those days where things aren’t going as plan.

And that’s Griot’s Car Wash. Overall, I would have to say that I really like this car shampoo. In a bucket, the advertised mixing ratio may not have worked for me but at 1 ounce per gallon of water, it is economical enough for me and gets a pass. In a foam cannon, Griot’s Car Wash really blew my mind with it’s staying power. This alone makes me think that it’s extremely viable as a prewash or simply as a foam contact wash. I’m actually quite surprised that Griot’s doesn’t advertise about this product’s ability to be used in a foam canon because it actually performs really well.

To me, a plain pH neutral car shampoo without any additional additives is the most versatile car shampoo because it can be used in any scenario. Because of that, I always recommend for people to have some around. Although no product is perfect, I would have to say that Griot’s Car Wash comes pretty close. Its ability to perform well in both a bucket and foam cannon makes it a great multi-step multi-use car wash shampoo at a reasonable price. I can’t recommend it enough.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Griot's Car Wash https://amzn.to/2IKd5gV

Griot's Ultimate Wash Bucket https://amzn.to/3ncuj6k

All the Auto Detailing Equipment I Use: https://www.amazon.com/ideas/amzn1.account.AF43XRPGVOUH2E5CJXQY4FIOGVAQ/3AI3XVAQEMORX?type=explore&ref=idea_cp_vl_ov_d

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