Real World Conditions with a World Class Product
Something I am often asked is "how do we know what the products we fit on customers cars will perform like in the real world?"
Apart from the usual manufacturer testing that the raw material suppliers undertake (none of it real world by the way), we do occasionally carry out testing for race teams, for instance Honda and test at locations such as Bonneville, Le Mans etc. The Bonneville Salt Flat Test was particularly brutal given it was a land speed record attempt the car went out accompanied with five spare kits (see the component sheets below) however it returned from the US with the same film on it was shipped out with.
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All of this is fine but its still not representative of the real world.
What we have done quietly for years is running test cars etc.
Occasionally we're also involved with things like the Carrera to China event. Here is a selection of photographs of the test. The car has been through literally EVERY imaginable environment, having run right through Europe in the Winter, through Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and on to the Chinese border.
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As you can see from the pictures it has undergone a true test of durability in some of the most stressful conditions and variable road conditions imaginable. Everything from Blistering hot temperatures to below freezing conditions, dirt and gravel roads you name it.
The clean pictures are when she finally got a washed at various points during the trip. So Far the Car has Broken Twice (see pics of one of the issues) but the film is still fine.
This is what Jan one of the Belgian Crew had to say about the product at the latter stages of the testing -
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Many greetings from Pakistan. I don't know how much you guys have been following our adventures, but we got safe and sound to Pakistan already and after 45 days.
I think the paintshield has had to withstand some serious climates
already. We've had snow and salt in germany and temperatures as low as
-12°C in Turkey. In Iran, we got a load of dust on the car as well, together with some strong sandstorms in the desert, with temps up to
On top of that, we've had to a couple of repairs on the road, and so there's been quite some motor oil and grease on the film. We are having a bit of an oil leak as well, so the rear of the car is always covered in a film of oil, that is baking nicely right above the exhaust. So I don't think you can get any better test for the film .
We washed it for the first time in Quetta, Pakistan (after 40 days), using nothing but a bar of hand soap, water and a lot of elbow grease . (that's all we got there). It looks almost new again, and i bet with a decent auto shampoo or something, it will be even better. |
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Later he sent me this.
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I've chosen the pictures which show the Paintshield ™ in action in all kinds of conditions.
It seems that the Paintshield is salt-proof, oil-proof, neglect-proof, idiot-mechanic-proof, heat-proof, cold-proof, snow-proof, heavy downpour-proof, hale-proof, dust-proof, rock-proof, sandstorm-proof, curiosity-proof, children-proof, bird****-proof, sunshine-proof, high-altitude-proof, mud-proof, desert-proof, camel-proof, bison-proof, buffalo-proof, moose-proof, sunset and sunrise-proof, palm tree-proof, oasis-proof, burka-proof, salt lake-proof, wet hairpin-proof, off-road-proof, urine-proof, hand soap-proof, traffic-jam proof, exhaust gasses-proof, street-vendor-proof, goa-mud-proof, beach-proof, ocean-container-proof, smoke-proof, tire-kicker-proof, motorcycle-gang-proof, cat-proof, dog-proof, jungle-proof, monk-proof, sexy-girl-proof, temple-proof, etc etc...
Our latest additions in extreme conditions are these:
Oh By the way the car is completely covered (every panel) If It can handle these environments then it is a Paintshield ™ product, if it cant it wont be. |
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Why not check out the full adventure on the "Carrera to China" website which can be found on "http://www.carreratochina.com".
