Product Detail
Let's see what the manufacturer claimed.
"Fireball's Premium Easy Coat has to be the easiest way to apply a Superhydrophobic coating to ANY surface.
Simply spray unto a wet surface, leave up to 30 seconds (no longer!) and blast off with water - it's that easy.
Premium Easy Coat has been designed to be used whether your car has a pre-existing coating or none at all.
Premium Easy Coat can be used on all surfaces and not just paint, plastic trim and even your home windows
High quality nano technology coating comparable to similar higher priced Gyeon coatings.
Supplied with spray trigger for 500ml."
So, nothing was mentioned about the active ingredients but from the application method it seems to be some kind of SiO2 coating that might be similar to Permanon. I could be wrong.
This so-called coating came in a 500ml bottle with a spray trigger provided separately. This is good packaging method for mail order which I did as there would be less chance of spillage during delivery. It cost me about RM70 including postage.
The content is a yellow liquid that has a pleasant scent. No harsh chemical smell.
One thing I that make me felt uneasy is the lack of security seal. Maybe Fireball could improve on that.
Product in Action
Applying the product is very easy. Wash the car, rinse, and apply on when wet.
Due to the warning of "no longer than 30 seconds", I sprayed the coating section by section and rinsed off from top to bottom.
Once "blasted" off, I could see water "running off" easily from the surface.
Beading looks nice too though not as tight as normal wax or sealant.
Looks good.
Great Laziness Comes at Great Cost!
High Consumption
So, my first attempt in using this Easy Coat costed me 2/3 of a brand new bottle to cover the entire car.
Unlike normal spray wax where 2-3 sprays per panel would suffice as it would be spread by a towel, I had to do multiple sprays per panel to ensure even coverage. And since it was so easy to spray, I might have overdid it. I am not sure if it would work if I use a towel to "spread" it after spraying.
Disco Windscreen Wipers
Avoid spraying this on the front windscreen. This caused my wipers to judder like it is a disco party every time I turn them on. I am using PIAA Aero Vogue silicone wiper. Yup those so called high end ones :-p that should not judder. I had to polish to windscreen to stop the juddering.
The Dark Side
There is another major issue about this product that I could not really confirm it. After a week of washing, I noticed that there are dark stains on the top-facing surfaces and "bleeding marks" on the side surfaces. There is one day of heavy rain during that week and I was caught in it while on the road.
See below for the "bleeding marks". The marks are more obvious through the naked eyes than through the camera.
I tried washing the car with my favorite waterless wash but the stains just would not wash off. I had to use a conventional wash to remove those stains. Luckily no polishing was needed. Phew! I am not sure if this is an isolated case but I do not see this issue when using normal spray wax.
Also, I have seen some discussions about how coated cars tend to get worse watermarks compared to non-coated cars. If you are interested, see this well-written post on Wetshine here. It is a pity the author stopped writing before posting the results but if you scroll through the comments, the author replied that:
"So far the updates for coating test is all still cannot resist the effects of waterspotting".
"Short update. More watermarks on coating than collinite wax. Will most likely conclude that coatings are not suitable for malaysian weather. It is not because they do not last but the fact that it is more prone to waaterspot etchings defeats their selling point of being ‘best paint protection system in the market today’."
Anyhow this is inconclusive. I am not sure if I would be doing any more test on this product but if I do, I will update this post.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- easy to apply
- great water sheeting
Cons:
- not that cost effective
- causes wipers to judder if applied on windscreen
- tends to cause dark stains and "bleeding" marks (inconclusive)
As always, the above is just my opinion based on my personal experience. Results might vary under different weather conditions. There is no absolute right or absolute wrong in car care.
That's it for this post.
Happy detailing.
