Tire Dressing Review: SVRT vs PERL vs NERO

I'll be up front with it, I'm a bit addicted to trying new products, but I figure I might as well share my findings for the rest of you that don't go out and buy everything just to see how it works. For this review I'm posing initial impressions, I'll update in a week or so with durability.

I decided to do a side by side test of 3 tire dessings.

Products Used:

Adam's APC and Uber Fender Brush to clean and prep tires
Adam's SVRT
Car Pro PERL
Prima Nero
Adam's foam applicators for all products




Tire cleaned and ready for testing



Taped off for side by side


Dressing applied and left for 15mins, from L-R SVRT, PERL, Nero


My observations (in order of use)

Adam's SVRT:
Value: $25 for 16oz - quite expensive

Review: Very thick product, I always feel like I'm wasting a bit of it as it tends to soak into my applicators and doesn't really want to come out. It does give a nice dark matte finish and dries quickly, this has been my go to product to date so I knew what to expect. I still like it, but after trying Prima Nero it just doesn't seem like good value. A great product, but just not my top choice anymore.


Car Pro PERL
Value: $17 for 16.9oz - pricey but a deal compared to Adam's

Review: There's been lots of buzz about this so I thought I'd give it a go. It's a fairly thin, think heavy cream as far as consistency goes. Applies even and smooth, was pretty impressed in that regard. For me though it was a bit too glossy, that's more a personal taste thing than anything else, it's far less shiny that lots of other dressings but I really don't like a lot of shine. I tried diluting it 1:1, the instructions so to use straight or at 1:1, it still had a tad more shine than I'd like but for many this might be perfect.I did find some other uses for this prod though, read on at the bottom for me

Prima NERO

Value: $12.95 fo 16oz the bargain of the group

Review: This ended up being my favorite product of the day, the application is very similar to PERL but left with a more matte finish, it's slightly more glossy than the Adam's but the ease of application sold me. Because it's a fairly thin product it wiped on very easy, a little seemed to go a long way and I s or runs. I applied using a sponge like I did the other two prods, but when i used it on a full time I used a swisswax pneu brush which I'd recommend if you try this, didn't make application better per se, but it was faster.

Car Pro PERL part 2

After all that I decided to tackle some other plastic bits, sorry don't have side by sides here, but I did find that PERL was great at getting rid of wax marks and just sprucing up generally dull plastic. Per instructions I diluted PERL 1:3

Wiper Before


Wiper After


License Plate Before


After

 

thanks for the review! i was trying to figure out what adam's svrt and nero would like in a comparison before i ordered everything. perfect timing lol. can you update for durability please?

 

Yes, I was just about to make an edit. I applied each product fully to the remaining 3 tires so will update in a week or so with durability.

 

did you dilute the PERL?

 

The directions said to use straight or at 1:1 in that pic I used it straight, I did try later at 1:1 but the look was very similar. I think PERL is a great prod, and for many people I can see this being a new fav.

 

Damn looks like I'll have to pick up some PERL. Thanks for sharing.

 

Glad it was helpful, a lot of things with detailing are personal preference so I tried to give an honest impression of all the prods

 

Look forward to the updates

 

Thanks for the review. I must say that the lighting is off. Not a real comparison based on the picture. But, thanks for trying.

 

Nero is pretty durable.... Ive had it go through two or so washes. very good value considering. Nice review

 

Not sure what you mean by this, I parked the car so the sun was directly facing the tire I was testing on. In fact in pic with the tape you can see the sun reflected at the 12 o'clock spot of the fender. Can you elaborate?

 

did you happen to use any of the nero on the exterior plastics? im very curious to how it would look!

 

Good test, thank you for your time to share this with guys here,
1 thing though i would like to highlight, you mentions the prices per each item, which is good, but i think you need to compare it as diluted vs neat to use,
we say to use neat or 1:1 depends on customer favor, more dilution will make it less durable and less shine
if you have diluted it for tire coat 1:1 means its already 50% cheaper than others... thats what im trying to say...
the idea about PERL is to play with it as much as you want..
also, please check hydrophobic effect between all dressings.
thank you.

 

Thanks for sharing as the Adam's SVRT and the Nero have been my go to mostly . I also like Z16 as well. But the Perl has my attention as it is supposed to have better durability than the others mentioned. I will keep my eye on this as well.

 

Not yet, my car barely has any exterior plastic, so not much to test on

 

Good point on the price, because I used it straight on the tires I didn't do that breakdown but you're right. It's supposed to rain here today which will be a good test as well

 

On the first picture with the tire taped but no gel...You have the highlight of the sun on the fender. On the following picture with the gel applied, you have the highlight from the sun on the tire itself. RIght where the gel is applied. I am saying it is hard to tell which gel looks the best because of the highlight.

 

The highlight is the same in each picture it's just that the tire w/o any product didn't reflect any light. I'm zoomed in for the after pic but the camera was in the same spot and the sun itself was still against the fender not the tire.

To some extent I get what you're saying that inderect light might have made the differences less extreme, but I found those results to be fairly representative of what it looked like on a full tire.

 

Those are pretty pricey products for tire dressing, I think I usually spend 12-13 dollars a gallon for the stuff I get at Majestic, and they all fade away after a few washes.

 

I like how PERL can help rejuvenate the wiper arm like that!:thumb: