Review: Chemical Guys Diablo Wheel Gel Plus Tuf Tire Cleaner

[rjd598]

So I've had diablo gel sitting in my arsenal for quite some time now and decided it was time for it to be put to use. Originally I had bought this product for regular maintenance washes, but later found out that only soap and water is necessary for protected rims. Even if your rims are not protected, based on how much you drive, soap and water might suffice. Diablo gel was originally cut 5:1 the first time I used it for my maintenance wash. I didn't want to strip any of my protection and back then I didn't believe soap and water would be enough. Now I used it at the recommended 3:1 ratio to see how well it could work on some dirty wheels. I recently picked up a new daily and it came with these Hamann rims that were in bad shape. In no way did I expect Diablo Gel to clean up the rims like Sonax is able to or other wheel cleaners of that stature. A little added bonus is my favorite dedicated tire cleaner: Tuf tire cleaner. Enjoy!

Here is the rim before initial hit with Diablo Gel. I did not rinse the wheel down first just sprayed on the wheel cleaner:


Now spray on Diablo and I let it sit for about a minute. Obviously some dirt was pulled away and the puddle of dirt began to form at the bottom of the wheel:


Added bonus is a shot of Tuf working its magic. I'm not exaggerating one bit when I say this is immediately taken after the first spray on the tire. As soon as the tire cleaner was sprayed on, you could the dirt (brown color) being lifted. The tires are somewhat near the end of their life and god knows how much neglect and tire dressing has been put on so that might be why it instantaneously showed the dirt being lifted with just one spray of the tire cleaner:


Now the wheel was washed with various tools like the ez detail brush, wheel face brush, and lug nut brush for all the tiny areas.

Final shot is after the wheel and tire were hit with the pressure washer. Obviously there are areas with caked on brake dust, but like I said I wasn't expecting this product to make this wheel look perfect:


Overall Diablo Gel is a good product, I just have no use for it. If I ever have rims that have caked on brake dust I will just hit it with some sonax and call it a day. Otherwise under regular driving conditions for me, I have no need for a middle product like this wheel cleaner. I say middle because at the bottom is soap and water and at the top is a product like Sonax. Don't be afraid to use Diablo though if you need a wheel cleaner of this sort. It definitely gets the job done

[Z K]

Sonax is better than any off the shelf wheel cleaner but not so great for really baked on stuff that will not come off. That is reserved for Iron X.

If Iron X doesn't work then I have citrus-based wheel acid that will really work... but that requires you to be careful where you apply it and definitely do not apply to anything not clear coated.

But 90% of the time regular car wash will take off the brake dust.

[///M Power-Belgium]

OP.. your stuff works very good,so thanks for sharing and good to know

[rjd598]

Originally Posted by Z K

Sonax is better than any off the shelf wheel cleaner but not so great for really baked on stuff that will not come off. That is reserved for Iron X.

If Iron X doesn't work then I have citrus-based wheel acid that will really work... but that requires you to be careful where you apply it and definitely do not apply to anything not clear coated.

But 90% of the time regular car wash will take off the brake dust.

Meg's wheel brightner I feel like is the final step which is to be used with caution. Sonax, iron x, and a clay bar treatment is the furthest I would go on a rim. Like I said I probably will never and hope not to run into a rim filthier than that type just mentioned

[Z K]

Originally Posted by rjd598

Meg's wheel brightner I feel like is the final step which is to be used with caution. Sonax, iron x, and a clay bar treatment is the furthest I would go on a rim. Like I said I probably will never and hope not to run into a rim filthier than that type just mentioned

Yeah.. the wheel acid I have is similar to Meg's wheel brightener. My car rarely ever needs this but I run into cars I have to use it on when I work on other people's cars. People really neglect their wheels!

I get some CG stuff but skipped the wheel gel, it's really only a small step up from the off the shelf wheel cleaners.

[rjd598]

Originally Posted by Z K

Yeah.. the wheel acid I have is similar to Meg's wheel brightener. My car rarely ever needs this but I run into cars I have to use it on when I work on other people's cars. People really neglect their wheels!

I get some CG stuff but skipped the wheel gel, it's really only a small step up from the off the shelf wheel cleaners.

Yup totally agree that's why I called it a middle wheel cleaner. I haven't tried other wheel cleaners that compete but I'm interested if there will be anything that does better but I doubt it.