4th (and final) SiO2 Topper Review

[rlmccarty2000]

This is the last of four SiO2 spray toppers reviews. Our subjects this time around are Kamikaze Overcoat V1 and V2, Polish Angel Cosmic Spritz, and Polish Angel Viking Spritz.

A shout out and big thanks to our resident coating expert Budgetplan1 for providing the Kamikaze Overcoat V1 and V2 for review!

For those of you following my efforts you will remember my last test had some still very live toppers on my test hood. Normally I wash, clay, and rewash my surface. Since the last products were still beading well I didn’t think that clay would remove all of the remaining SIO2 and throw off any results so...

The hood was prepped using Dodo Prime Lime which contains some very fine abrasives.

After wipe off of Prime Lime.

Proof. No beading.

I wiped down the hood and applied, left to right, Overcoat V1, Cosmic Spritz, Viking Spritz. Look at the left side where Overcoat was applied, glasslike.

Beading shot.

Closeup of left mid

Closeup mid/right

Hey Bob, where is the Overcoat V2? Bob screwed up. The plan was to split up the V1 and V2 to try to see any difference but I got carried away and only applied V1 on the hood. But wait! I made up for it by applying 50/50 V1/V2 on the top (washed, clayed and used Prime Lime). Left half is V1 and right half is V2. (For a longer term test of IGL Premier it’s on the far side).

Sorry no beading pics of the Overcoat V1/V2 top.

Thoughts: I was ver surprised at the gloss of the Kamikaze Overcoat V1. Just wow. It even shows up in the pictures. I also want to say that Overcoat was not as slick as either of the Polish Angel offerings. Not IGL Premier rough (I hate to say rough, but I can’t explain it any other way)but not as slick.

All four went on easy and wiped off easy leaving no streaks. I really couldn’t tell any difference between Overcoat V1 and V2. The sprayer on the small bottle of Overcoat V2 was a bear. I couldn’t get much out and I had to squeeze it 30 times to get anything out. At the price they are charging for Overcoat there should be zero problems. If I had bought it I would be contacting Esoteric for a new sprayer (I doubt they would have any problem sending one).

The beads on Overcoat were tighter than either of the Polish Angel products. To my eyes the two Polish Angel products were identical. All three products looked outstanding with the edge going to Overcoat.

I’ll give them a couple of weeks to marinate and get back to y’all.


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[BudgetPlan1]

This is the last of four SiO2 spray toppers reviews. Our subjects this time around are Kamikaze Overcoat V1 and V2, Polish Angel Cosmic Spritz, and Polish Angel Viking Spritz.

A shout out and big thanks to our resident coating expert Budgetplan1 for providing the Kamikaze Overcoat V1 and V2 for review!

For those of you following my efforts you will remember my last test had some still very live toppers on my test hood. Normally I wash, clay, and rewash my surface. Since the last products were still beading well I didn’t think that clay would remove all of the remaining SIO2 and throw off any results so...

The hood was prepped using Dodo Prime Lime which contains some very fine abrasives.

After wipe off of Prime Lime.

Proof. No beading.

I wiped down the hood and applied, left to right, Overcoat V1, Cosmic Spritz, Viking Spritz. Look at the left side where Overcoat was applied, glasslike.

Beading shot.

Closeup of left mid

Closeup mid/right

Hey Bob, where is the Overcoat V2? Bob screwed up. The plan was to split up the V1 and V2 to try to see any difference but I got carried away and only applied V1 on the hood. But wait! I made up for it by applying 50/50 V1/V2 on the top (washed, clayed and used Prime Lime). Left half is V1 and right half is V2. (For a longer term test of IGL Premier it’s on the far side).

Sorry no beading pics of the Overcoat V1/V2 top.

Thoughts: I was ver surprised at the gloss of the Kamikaze Overcoat V1. Just wow. It even shows up in the pictures. I also want to say that Overcoat was not as slick as either of the Polish Angel offerings. Not IGL Premier rough (I hate to say rough, but I can’t explain it any other way)but not as slick.

All four went on easy and wiped off easy leaving no streaks. I really couldn’t tell any difference between Overcoat V1 and V2. The sprayer on the small bottle of Overcoat V2 was a bear. I couldn’t get much out and I had to squeeze it 30 times to get anything out. At the price they are charging for Overcoat there should be zero problems. If I had bought it I would be contacting Esoteric for a new sprayer (I doubt they would have any problem sending one).

The beads on Overcoat were tighter than either of the Polish Angel products. To my eyes the two Polish Angel products were identical. All three products looked outstanding with the edge going to Overcoat.

I’ll give them a couple of weeks to marinate and get back to y’all.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The sprayer on the small bottle of Overcoat V2 was a bear. I couldn’t get much out and I had to squeeze it 30 times to get anything out. At the price they are charging for Overcoat there should be zero problems. If I had bought it I would be contacting Esoteric for a new sprayer (I doubt they would have any problem sending one).

Looking forward to this one.

Kinda forgot about that &^%$# sprayer on the small v2.1 bottle. That`s the one I had sent over from UK before Esoteric stocked the V2. Little sucker started to go wobbly about 1/2 thru bottle.

Will be interesting to see if Overcoat (and Cosmic) appear different to you after 24hrs.

 

[rlmccarty2000]

Looking forward to this one.

Kinda forgot about that &^%$# sprayer on the small v2.1 bottle. That`s the one I had sent over from UK before Esoteric stocked the V2. Little sucker started to go wobbly about 1/2 thru bottle.

Will be interesting to see if Overcoat (and Cosmic) appear different to you after 24hrs.

My apologies to Esoteric for using their name in vain. I will try to remember to check in 24 hours to see if the gloss is better. I’m not sure if Overcoat can get any better, it was awesome.

 

[acuRAS82]

Thanks for the continued testing!

 

[RaydiantDetail]

I`ll continue to use cosmic spritz because I just bought a 200ml bottle of it but I`m interested to see this comparison none the less!

Thanks for doing this test.

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[SWETM]

Very intresting test rlmccarty!

Don`t think it`s so much difference between Cosmic Spritz and Viking Spritz. What I know of is that Cosmic has something in it that will cut the cure time from 24h to 12h if topped on Cosmic v2 coating. Think also that there is the same total amount of Sio2 and Tio2 in them. But the ratio is slightly higher Tio2 in the Cosmic Spritz and Viking Spritz has the higher ratio of Sio2. And seems like the Tio2 takes about a day to get it to pop looks wise.

Remind me of what Kamikaze Overcoat is based on please.

And budgetplan do you think it`s still worth getting the Overcoat v1 for full price? Or should I wait out till they gets the Overcoat v2?

Have anyone tried to apply Overcoat with a DA? The benefit of this claims to be if you have fine swirls. They gets filled better with the heat generated from the polishing action.

Will be interesting to hear your thoughts about your testing.

/Tony

 

[BudgetPlan1]

Very intresting test rlmccarty!

Don`t think it`s so much difference between Cosmic Spritz and Viking Spritz. What I know of is that Cosmic has something in it that will cut the cure time from 24h to 12h if topped on Cosmic v2 coating. Think also that there is the same total amount of Sio2 and Tio2 in them. But the ratio is slightly higher Tio2 in the Cosmic Spritz and Viking Spritz has the higher ratio of Sio2. And seems like the Tio2 takes about a day to get it to pop looks wise.

Remind me of what Kamikaze Overcoat is based on please.

And budgetplan do you think it`s still worth getting the Overcoat v1 for full price? Or should I wait out till they gets the Overcoat v2?

Have anyone tried to apply Overcoat with a DA? The benefit of this claims to be if you have fine swirls. They gets filled better with the heat generated from the polishing action.

Will be interesting to hear your thoughts about your testing.

/Tony

As for what is in Overcoat, all I can offer is from product description:
"The water based formula is non-solvent, VOC free, non-wax, non-PTFE, and non-polymer. A truly unique product indeed.
The special formulation of hard resin and Siloxane can also perform light filling and cover small swirls or haze in the paint for those who haven’t had their paint perfectly polished."

I did try applying with DA once, didn`t really notice any filling. May be more durable but never left well enough alone long enough to find out.

I *think* V2 is easier to apply dry and seems a bit more reflective on black paint but ya know how that goes...all a matter of opinion, real or only perceived.

 

[rlmccarty2000]

I found both versions of Overcoat very easy to apply and on silver identical. I would be very happy with V1. I wish I knew what improvements were made to V1 to create V2. Of course many people loved the original version of Reload and curse the new version. I did look at the car today and while the gloss was still outstanding it looks like the PA products somehow caught up to Overcoat in terms of gloss. Looking at the hood now you can’t tell where one product starts and one ends. I took pictures that I may post.

 

[Chopper280]

I have Overcoat but haven’t tried it yet.
I have noticed most PA sprays look much better on the second day. It’s always a nice surprise.

 

[rlmccarty2000]

The two week update is due, but first here is a picture I took after 24 hours: The three toppers now all look the same.

The two week hood after washing with McKees N-914. Looks very good.

Beading is still evident, but starting to decline

Conclusions/observations: All three products were still viable after two tough weeks. The car was driven over 300 miles and was subjected to at least 7 days of rain. I can see these products giving at least two more weeks of protection for a total of 4 weeks before replacement would be necessary. The products are costly but provide good, long lasting protection compared to less costly SiO2 toppers.

This ends my testing of SiO2 toppers. I hope it has been informative and educational. I plan on starting a new thread with all of the products I tested in one place in order to make it easier for people looking to purchase SiO2 products to compare.

All thoughts and questions welcomed!




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[SWETM]

Don`t remember if you washed with N-914 on the other tests. But RippyD has some sealant testing in a thread on AGO forum. He switched to wash with Carpro Reset instead. And dries the paint after the wash before doing a water sheeting test. This has as I understand it made for a better water sheeting behavior in his testing. Don`t know if N-914 has something that leaves something behind. And it could be a surfactant or the chemicals that makes it to not need to be rinsed off. Cause it don`t leaves any protection or glossenhancers behind it can be leaving something else that interfear with the water behavior. So it can be worth to check if after a wash with N-914 to do a water behavior test. And follow up with a wash with carpro reset or a car soap like that and dry the car and test the water behavior again if there is a difference between them. Would be on the protection you have and is started decrease in water behavior. He have had some very low longevity from some products. That I think is very strange. Even if it has been in the summer months he switched to the Reset washes. The longevity has been more normal outcome IMO. So even when not doing testing you could be clogging the water behavior with N-914. Or if it don`t have enough cleaning ability from it. But something is very strange.

Thanks for shareing your testing with Sio2 toppers. It have been interesting to follow your results here. And if you are up to it a thread that you share all the tests in would be informative to read and look at in one place.

/Tony

 

[rlmccarty2000]

Tony, thanks for the comments. All four tests were done the same way. I don’t believe McKees N-914 left anything significant behind. I felt the surface after washing and all I felt was slickness. I started checking for slickness after I found IGL Ecocoat Premier to be “rough” to the touch. The more expensive SiO2 toppers did not show much deterioration after two weeks, where the inexpensive SiO2 toppers died off after two weeks. Other testers have found similar results from Reload, which were about two weeks.

I’m trying to put all my results and prices together into one thread to make it easier to read and compare, hopefully this week.