Which Ceramic Coating Brand Wins?
A head-to-head test of 8 ceramic coating options with the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video.
Hybrid Solutions
Price shown in test: $15
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Initial Slickness | Ease Of Application | Hydrophobic Fresh | Strip Wash Resistance | Iron Remover Resistance | Bug Tar Remover Resistance | Wheel Tire Cleaner Resistance | Degreaser Resistance | Headlight Dishwasher Test | Final Slickness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Gtechniq$80 | 1.4 lb force (2nd place) | 1.5 (applicator required, tied with 20H) | best yet at time tested, clearly beat Meguiar's | still looking as good as new | as good as new, top tier | as good as new, tied for rating 1 with Adam's | held up best, ahead of Adam's | won outright, rating 1.5 (best possible remaining) | rating 1.5 (2nd, behind Adam's) | 2.8 lb force (best overall, described as a big lead) |
| 2Adam's$150 | 1.6 lb force | 2 (worst/most effort of all 8) | as good as Griot's and Gtechniq, clearly beat 20H | rating tier 1 alongside Gtechniq (see videoNotes on a repeated caption artifact around this rating line) | as good as new, top tier with Gtechniq | shrugged off, as good as new, tied rating 1 with Gtechniq | close second to Gtechniq | close second, rating 2 | rating 1, best of all 8 brands in this specific test, by far the best water beading | 3.9 lb force (tied tier with Meguiar's and Griot's, see note on Griot's figure) |
| 3Hybrid Solutions$15 | 1.1 lb force (best of all 8, came out on top) | 1 (spray-on, easiest tier) | very slick, strong hydrophobic performance early | completely unfazed, still beading nicely | experienced an impact but still performing very well | continued to perform well for a budget coating but took quite a bit of damage | pretty much destroyed, eliminated at this stage | not tested | not tested | 3.8 lb force (2nd best overall, still outperforming the 4 lb baseline) |
| 4Griot's$22 | 1.5 lb force (tied 3rd with Meguiar's) | 1 (spray-on, easiest tier) | very slick, produced tighter water beads than CeraKote in a direct side by side | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | 3.9 lb force (derived, see note) |
| 5Meguiar's$23 | 1.5 lb force (tied 3rd with Griot's) | 1 (spray-on, easiest tier) | good, about the same as Hybrid Solutions and Griot's | took a real toll, water beginning to form a sheet | quite a bit of damage but water still mostly beading | completely wiped out, eliminated at this stage | not tested | not tested | rating 2 (3rd place), performing very well | 3.9 lb force (tied tier with Adam's and Griot's-inferred) |
| 6CERAKOTE$20 | 1.8 lb force | 1 (spray-on, easiest tier) | good, clearly beat Shine Armor, slightly behind Griot's | still looking pretty good, not as tight beading as Hybrid Solutions | impacted but water still mostly beading | a lot of damage but still providing some protection | completely used up, eliminated at this stage | not tested | not tested | 4.7 lb force (worst overall, 0.9 lb more than Hybrid Solutions) |
| 720H$90 | 2.4 lb force (worst of the group tested to that point, about a pound more than Gtechniq) | 1.5 (applicator required, tied with Gtechniq) | struggled, water forming a sheet in some areas, second worst after Shine Armor | took a toll, mostly forming a sheet | not going well, mostly forming a sheet | really struggling compared to Gtechniq | used up, eliminated at this stage | not tested | not tested | 4.1 lb force (1.3 lb behind Gtechniq's 2.8 lb) |
| 8Shine Armor Fortify Quick Coat$20 | 2.3 lb force (worst of the spray-on group) | 1 (spray-on, easiest tier) | not very slick, water not forming tight beads, worst of the group tested to that point | disarmed, water forming a sheet across the whole test area | not tested | completely cooked, eliminated at this stage | not tested | not tested | not tested | 4.4 lb force (worse than the untreated 4 lb baseline) |
How it was tested
- push-pull force meter slickness test on car paint before coating (baseline)
- push-pull force meter slickness test on car paint after coating
- push-pull force meter slickness test on headlight polycarbonate panel (baseline)
- subjective ease-of-application rating (1 to 2 scale)
- hydrophobic water-beading side by side comparison on fresh coating
- hydrophobic resistance after strip wash exposure
- hydrophobic resistance after iron remover exposure (3 minutes)
- hydrophobic resistance after bug and tar remover exposure (5 minutes)
- hydrophobic resistance after wheel and tire cleaner exposure (1 minute)
- hydrophobic resistance after degreaser exposure
- final push-pull force meter slickness test after full chemical gauntlet
- polycarbonate headlight panel dishwasher soak (2x3 hour warm water cycles, 6 hours total)
Data notes and caveats
This is a per-use-case split verdict, not a single winner: the narrator's closing recommendation names Hybrid Solutions for buyers wanting an easy-to-apply, very affordable coating, and separately names Gtechniq for buyers willing to spend more money and more application effort for maximum durability (comparing it against the other two applicator-based products, 20H and Adam's). Both picks are supported by clear verdict language but for different use cases, so winner is left null per the per-use-case convention. Separately, the strip wash, iron remover, wheel and tire cleaner, and degreaser rating-summary sentences each contain a repeated caption artifact naming a phantom 'third place Gtechniq' (e.g. 'the Gtechniq and Adam's ... Gtechniq is in third') immediately after Gtechniq was already named the top performer in the same sentence, at stages where the narrative text shows only Gtechniq and Adam's still had any coating left (all others explicitly called 'used up' or 'destroyed' by that point). Treated as a caption duplication error; no invented third-place brand was recorded for these stages. Description lists Adam's twice and misspells Griot's as 'Groit's'.