The Gtechniq EXO v4 has been one of our favorite coatings for years now. It is extremely hydrophobic and easy to apply, making it great as a coating topper for that extra gloss, water beading, and protection we all strive for. It has however been years since this version was released and we knew it was only a matter of time before Gtechniq stepped up the formula yet again. Introducing EXO v5!
Gtechniq has been hard at work on this new formula and it took 54 different iterations before they settled on one for release. You heard that correctly, fifty four different formulas! This version, v5, offers a denser final surface that is less porous, decreasing coating clogging and increasing overall hydrophobics. Toss in the single layer application and a 9% increase to the gloss meter from v4 and EXO v5 is one every detailer needs to try out.
Check out the v5 specifications, application instructions, and application video below!
EXO v5 Specifications:
- Single layer application
- Can be applied over a ceramic coating or as a stand alone layer
- 18-24 months of durability
- Less porous coating which makes it more resistant to clogging
- Increased hydrophobic performance and dirt repellency
- Increased water contact angle of 115%, improved water draining angle of 13 degrees
Application Instructions:
- To apply EXOv5, your vehicle must be indoors, and remain indoors, for at least 12 hours after application.
- If required, polish your paintwork to remove any imperfections.
- Use Gtechniq Panel Wipe and an microfiber towel to remove all polish residues.
- Prime the applicator evenly with a good amount of product so that the pad is damp.
- Apply with overlapping strokes to a small panel or half a large panel.
- Wait for one to two minutes and buff with a microfiber towel, followed by a second microfiber towel to remove any excess.
Source: YouTube
EXO v5 In-Depth Breakdown:
This video has some in-depth information on the new EXO v5 with Gtechniq Managing Director, Rob Earle, and Senior Formulation Chemist, Lee Kennedy.
Source: YouTube
Transcript
Rob Earle (00:07):
So EXO is our ultra durable hydrophobic coating and it’s designed to go either on bare paint or go over any one of our base coatings of Crystal Serum Light, Crystal Serum Ultra, or C1. The more we go on, the harder it gets to improve on products. And this has been very much so with EXO v5 where it’s taken us about two years to get it to the point where it is now. Previous generations of EXO always been a twin layer coating and it was something that we really wanted to achieve was to make it a single layer because, you know, we understand time is money, we’re getting better performance, much better performance from a single layer of EXO v5 than we were with two layers of EXO v4. We’ve had it out with lots of field testers and the feedback we’re getting off it is phenomenal.
Rob Earle (00:53):
We also sent probably about a hundred different samples to customers in North America, in Middle East and Australia. They’ve had the test products on for at least six months, um, and we’ve got really, really good insight from them. The resounding feedback we’ve had from them is just, it’s a really nice product to apply, very easy to work with. We’ve employed an independent third party tester to build a test protocol so that we can match real world performance in the lab and we are getting very, very good correlation on that.
Lee Kennedy (01:26):
With EXO v5, we’ve really pushed the boundaries on how we’ve tested things here. Working with a lot of academic institutions that have the sort of test equipment that we don’t have the resource here at Gtechniq, so we’re talking about things like scanning electro microscopes to very high end analytical equipment that can analyze the surface after the coat has been applied so we can really see at a molecular level what is going on there. It just gives us that opportunity to really understand at a deeper level how the product performs and why it is so good. This is a scanning electro microscope image of a cross section of EXO v4. The dark sections of the coating are actually pores and holes within the structure, which will reduce the efficacy of the coating. This is now an image of EXO v5, which forms a much denser layer. As you can see, there are far fewer holes and pores within the structure, and this reduces the physical capability for contamination to build up within the coating.
Rob Earle (02:24):
I guess what people are always looking for is the hydrophobic function. The hydrophobic properties are significantly better and critical, I think to any of the coatings is retaining that hydrophobic function. When the car gets really filthy. When you wash it, the hydrophobic function comes back and that’s been like a cornerstone of, the product, and performance-wise, it is exceptional. The chemistry is designed to achieve that. It’s about the density of the surface and I think you’ll see how much denser the surface of EXO v5 it is to v4 and that is kind of critical to making it easier to maintain, making that surface much easier to clean and you get that lovely kind of hydrophobic finish. It’s a massive step forward on from EXO v4 and we’ve had that kind of feedback from all the customers that have been testing it.