The Chemical Guys Concentrated Suspension Rim and Wheel Cleaner Diablo Gel is a premium pH neutral wheel cleaner that is very strong and highly effective. It is truly a product you can spray on and rinse off, that’s it! This wheel gel is the first product from Chemical Guys using the Concentrated Suspension Cleaning Technology. It gently breaks down road grime and brake dust on wheels like no other product previously made by Chemical Guys. It then lifts the contaminants up and away from the surface, encapsulating the particles so they can be rinsed away safely. Just looking at the close up picture of the bottle you can see the oxygen pockets suspended within the bottle that help force contaminants away from the wheel. The formula is very rich and consistent so the gel can easily cling to the wheels, even when diluted. This helps the formula quickly break down build ups in every nook and cranny of the wheel. It can be used on virtually any OEM or after market wheel no matter what finish you have. The Diablo Gel is the only Chemical Guys pH neutral product that is totally safe on virtually every wheel surface ever made, including the normal wheel surfaces like aluminum, chrome, anodized, clear coat but it’s also safe on carbon fiber, decal wrapped, powder coated, painted, etc. Just spray it on, let it sit and rinse it off and you are done. Literally no scrubbing is needed even when it’s diluted up to 6:1 (water:cleaner). At 6:1 you will still be impressed with cleaning power of this formula. Don’t worry it’s 100% safe to use at full strength too, but diluting it down will maximize your value and make over 100 ounces of cleaning solution. If you still want a very thick gel based formula try a 3:1 ratio (water:cleaner). So not only does it work great but it’s a tremendous value for anyone who wants to take great care of their wheels! The formula is environmentally friendly and completely bio-degradable, so no harsh chemicals were used. Since there were no harsh chemicals used it was easy to make the formula smell great. Stop compromising and get everything you need from a wheel cleaner in the Chemical Guys Concentrated Suspension Rim and Wheel Cleaner Diablo Gel!
I came across Chemical Guys Diablo Gel Rim and Wheel Cleaner in my search to find an alternative to P21S Gel Wheel Cleaner, which I reviewed recently (Product Review: P21S Gel Wheel Cleaner). Why did I want to find an alternative to my favorite wheel cleaner? One of the main reasons was that I felt like I was going through it very quickly, even when diluting 1:1 or 2:1, and the other reason is a silly one… I was annoyed (still am) by the horribly designed 5L container of P21S Gel Wheel Cleaner. Not only is the neck of it large, making it hard to pour, but the seal is extremely hard to puncture and when you do it’s either a pain to fully remove or you just leave the hole you punched through. In any case, not fun, so onto Diablo …
Similarly to my P21S review, I wanted to see how Diablo worked at breaking down buildup on the wheels. Even more similarly, I tested them both on the same car, so the comparison would be perfect for my mission. Just as I did with P21S, I sprayed Diablo onto the wheel covering it completely …
I noticed Diablo acted similar to P21S in that it foamed up, but it was a bit different and had a little less foam than P21S. Regardless, after letting it sit for a couple of minutes, the cleaner did it’s job in breaking down a lot of the buildup on this wheel…
Rinse off …
And the results were basically identical to that of P21S. It removed a lot of the grime on the wheel, but would surely require brushing or wiping down of the wheel with a microfiber towel in order to remove everything.
This was easily accomplished by spraying a light mist onto the wheel brush and going over the wheel quickly. After the brushing, rinse and you get a perfectly clean wheel …
Overall, I was very happy with the Diablo Wheel Cleaner. The main reason I tried Diablo is because it’s safe for all wheel finishes, which is the most important thing to me in a wheel cleaner. It’s also very effective. In the case above, I decided to dilute it 2:1 so as to equally compare it with P21S, but it also worked well at the recommended 3:1 ratio. Another great thing about it is the smell, which is so good and sweet that you can easily mistake it for a tropical drink or bubble gum :). Makes cleaning wheels a bit easier as I at least don’t have to smell anything bad.
Comparing it to P21S, I would say they’re very very similar. I can see myself keeping Diablo around and will do so in order to give it a much longer test, but I will use it interchangeably with P21S Gel Wheel Cleaner as well as Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus. While I haven’t really found some replacement that blows my preferred wheel cleaners out of the water, I am very happy to have a safe and effective alternative.