Cost: £23
Date of Review: 3rd April 2017 (Hot Sunny Day)
The Sales Pitch from Meguiar’s:
Meguiar’s strong, long-lasting protection to preserve your finish. The proprietary blend of premium carnauba plus protecting polymers delivers amazing results and this unique formula leaves your paint brilliantly reflective. Easily glides on and off, without leaving any dusty residue.
- Exclusive blend of carnauba plus protecting polymers.
- Creates a deep dazzling shine.
Source: http://www.meguiars.co.uk/shop/gold-class-carnauba-plus-132
What You Get:
You get 311 Grams of the product in a sturdy tin with a fancy cardboard information wrapper. Inside the lid there is an orange Meguiar’s application sponge held in by a plastic inner cap.
Product Description:
This is the slightly cheaper cousin of the Ultimate Wax from the Meguiar’s guys and retails in at few (GBP) pounds cheaper than the Ultimate Wax. This product is however the Carnauba Plus Wax and not a synthetic variation like the Ultimate. I have already reviewed the Ultimate which can be found in the “Car Detailing Reviews” menu above, so I wanted to try the “Natural Wax” look. I have been told that this is a warmer looking finish to the Ultimate. What you get is a very sturdy tin filled with a wonderful smell just like scented candles from an expensive interior design shop again. The lid is fantastic and well thought out. Why? Simply because it only takes a slight twist to put the lid back on securely and you don’t have to align it up in a particular place on the thread to start it off. I mention this because a rival company’s top wax has a plastic pot with a very fine thread, to put the lid on takes about three full twists to secure it and it will only start in one place. This is important to me, because if you have slippery hands from the wax which you will (unless you wear gloves), it can be difficult to close the tin/pot. Not with this lid though, quarter twist and its on tight with the knurled grip. The applicator is a fine Meguiar’s embossed orange applicator sponge held in the lid by a plastic retainer.
Instructions:
Application:
I am going to assume that you have washed, dried and done what ever you need to the paint to make it ready for the wax. I ignored the shade bit although the sun came in and out on a number of occasions so the car was in direct sunlight too. I took a light application and spread sparingly as the directions says. Starting on the roof in half sections I done one side then the other.
The secret is genuinely to apply a small and thin amount to the car. You can just about see the wax starting to haze as it was drying. I also done the hood in two halves so you could see the difference of the past being applied. This wax goes on very easily and you are able to apply it just finger tips on the pad. The instructions advised to keep away from “rubber, vinyl and other non painted surfaces”. While applying the wax to the inside of the door I got some on the rubber door shuts. This dried white on the rubber where as the Ultimate wasn’t as obvious. I do clean the insides of the fenders too and the rain channels at the back of the fire wall.
Removing:
A high quality microfiber cloth is recommended and taken from my ever growing large stock pile. The buffing off was effortless and not what I was expecting at all. I was pleased to say that there was no now powder residue from buffing off the paint. This wax buffed off immediately and left a nice rich deep shine. Make sure to keep turning the cloth over for an uncontaminated part of the cloth left no smear marks or streaks are left behind. Under close scrutiny again similar to the Ultimate there was no streaks left on the paint and buffed away to a deep shine. Little and often is the secret again here. I started to buff off from one corner of the roof below.
The hood I buffed off the left hand side so you can see the differences below.
The wax on the rubber was easily removed with some Gibbs Brand Lubricant and came straight back to black again. But could be a problem if you can’t remove it as it would look unsightly.
Results:
Brilliant. This wax is pretty amazing and gives that wet look to the paint that you could dip your fingers in. The white stones chips in the tarmac can be clearly seen in the reflection. There was no issue with the sun causing problems during application or the removal.
Rating: 10 out 10
Another 10 for Meguiar’s? Yep. Again I couldn’t fault it. It went on easily, it buffed of easily and looks great. Can you compare this to the all singing and all dancing Ultimate? I think you can, Yes. They are both amazing products and both compare to each other. Do you want synthetic or natural at the end of the day? Obviously the synthetic will engineered to last longer, where as the Carnauba is as good as ultimate, but you may need to apply it a little more often!
Ease of use – 10 No problems what so ever with application or removal. Additional Gibbs was required to remove the wax from the rubber.
Finish – 10 Buffing was a dream with one or two wipes to get the shine.
Would I recommend It? Yes.
Would I buy it again? Yes.
Conclusion:
I need to address this it’s a warmer finish and darker finish etc. Now I used to be a printer and colour matching was a speciality of mine. However, I couldn’t see the difference of the warm colour of the paint to be honest. Both the Ultimate and the Gold Class look amazing. The only difference I can possibly tell is that one is synthetic and the other natural Carnauba. The synthetic “Ultimate” is supposed to last longer between applications and offer an amazing finish. But, if you clean your car as much as I do then the wax applied will never be near its limits of protection as I apply more as soon as I can.
So if you have the money to blow on Ultimate then it’s a great product and you won’t regret it. If you want a little cheaper and you will apply a little more often then you will not be disappointed with this wax either.
If they were side by side on a cleaned panel, I doubt if anybody could tell them apart after just being applied.