I’m not an obsessive car guy. I don’t stress about every single detail when it comes to the way my car looks, but I do like to keep it as clean and neat as humanly possible. Our cars are our pride and joy, and I think many people feel the way I do. The truth of the matter is that sometimes you just don’t have enough time or resources to make your car as clean and shiny as you ideally want to.
In a perfect world we’d all be driving around in cars which are absolutely spotless, but is such a world even remotely possible? Well, if you ask the guys from Simoniz that very same question, they’d argue that it is.
Simoniz Test
Not only is their full car cleaning product lineup extremely effective, but it’s affordable too. They want to prove that top-of-the-line car cleaning kits don’t have to cost a small fortune to be effective. Since they gave us five products to test and take full advantage of, I thought what better way to put them through their paces than on a Mk6 Golf GTI.
The GTI is, it’s not ridiculously fast nor is it ludicrously expensive, but it’s not an ordinary car either. It’s a car you buy if you truly enjoy driving and you cherish your time behind the wheel. It’s a car you buy when you want to go fast but don’t’ want to spend most of your monthly salary on petrol and maintenance. It’s the ideal car to test these products out on since it’s what most of you guys will probably end up using them for anyway. With that let’s get right into it and how I got along with each product.
Simoniz Shampoo & Carnauba Wax
I began by giving the car a good wash, as everyone should before doing anything else. I used the Simoniz Shampoo and I have to say I was really impressed with the way it performed.
It got most of the gunk and debris from the paint straight away, leaving no streaks or visible wash pattern afterwards. I don’t know what they use to make it smell as good as it does, but I don’t think I’ve used any other car shampoo which is as addictive-smelling as this one is.
Simoniz Quickshine Detailer
Once the car was bone-dry I moved on to the Simoniz Quickshine Detailer. This product was the most impressive to me.
Simply spraying the car panel by panel and wiping the car down with a microfibre cloth completely changed how the car looked. The paintwork looked like it had a full polish and wax, it had a nice gloss effect and really make the red colour pop. It only took around 10 minutes to do the entire car.
It honestly looked like a completely new car. It looked, for lack of a better word, brand-new. Now of course, you can’t polish and wax your car every single week. But you could use the Quickshine details on a regular basis and it will keep the car looking great.
Simoniz Ultracare Alloy Cleaner
Since wheels are usually the dirtiest part of the entire car, they require special attention when it come to cleaning. To take care of that issue we have the Simoniz Ultracare Alloy Cleaner.
Scrubbing brake-pad material and metal shavings is quite challenging even for the high-end products, but the Simoniz solution handled it like a champ. Apply the product, leave it on for 2-3 minutes, and wash the wheel afterwards. It worked like a treat.
The spray has two nozzle settings, one will come out like a mist and the other more like a straight squirt. Giving you some options depending on what you are looking to do.
Simoniz Back to Black Tyre Shine
To finish off the exterior I applied the Simoniz Back to Black Tyre Shine. Simoniz does exactly what it advertises on the box. It really does make your actual tyres look brand-new.
If you’re getting ready for a car show or want to keep your car spotless at all times, I can hand-on-heart say it worked brilliantly.
Simoniz Gloss Dash Shine
I then moved onto the interior, which meant I had to grab our fifth and final product, the Simoniz Gloss Dash Shine. I love the Mk6 GTI, I really do, but the interior is somewhat mundane and boring. Any GTI owner will reluctantly tell you this. The cabin isn’t all that different to a normal Golf, which means average black plastics and not much else. It doesn’t feel particularly luxurious or upmarket in any way, so I was genuinely excited to see whether the dash shine would have any effect on my perception of the cabin.
Applying the solution is relatively easy, but looking at the results you wonder why people don’t use a gloss dash shine more often. It transforms the way the interior looks. It won’t make it look more expensive or luxurious than it already is, but it restores the plastic to its former glory and it gives the dash a nice sparkle. I know it doesn’t sound like anything special, and you probably can’t even see it all that well in pictures, but in real life I guarantee you that it makes one hell of a difference.
Simoniz Verdict
I thoroughly enjoyed using all of the Simoniz products as they were easy to get on with and they had a profound effect on the way the car ended up looking. Well done Simoniz, I’ll be sure to use your products when washing my own car from now on.
It’s wise to start with the wheels and tires first. Many people wash the wheels and tires at the end after they have washed the body. However, it often leads to splashing the water over the car body.