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by Mike Phillips
Most people fall into one of three camps when it comes to their car's tires,
- High Gloss
- Semi-Gloss (satin)
- Matte
Wolfgang Black Diamond Tire Gel falls into the semi-gloss category which looks great on most tires. It creates a deep, dark black satin finish with just enough shine or gloss to make them stand out from a matte finish but not so shiny to look like wet black paint, which is how most high gloss tire dressings make tires look.
The semi-gloss flattens out after a wash or two or with time so it's still a good choice for those are in the Matte Camp too.
Wolfgang Black Diamond Tire Gel has a thin consistency somewhat like a quality maple syrup, which makes it spread out smoothly and evenly when using a Cobra Flex Foam Tire Swipe like you see in the pictures.
The end-results of any tire dressing depends upon starting with a clean surface; in this case we cleaned both the tires and the wheels using Wolfgang Tire and Wheel Cleaner.
This left the rubber sidewall clean but also dull and lifeless but at the same time, perfectly prepared for application of a tire dressing. Like a lot of tire designs today, these tires have serrated lines across the sidewall. This makes applying a tire dressing a challenge because you need to get enough of the dressing into each of the lines or grooves evenly for an even appearance and protection, yet you need to remove any excess so that it doesn't sling out as you drive the car.
The thin consistency of Wolfgang Wolfgang Black Diamond Tire Gel lends itself well into getting into places like this and other irregular surfaces common to tire sidewalls. Getting the tire dressing onto the tire is usually the easy part. Ensuring you don't leave excess tire dressing on the tires is usually the tricky part and that's where the open cell foam design of the Cobra Flex Foam Tire Swipe draws most of any excess tire dressing back into itself to help prevent sling.
Here's our test tire, both the wheel and tire have been thoroughly washed using Wolfgang Tire and Wheel Cleaner and then dried to prevent water spotting on the wheel.
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