Carpro CQuartz Lite

• Products: CQuartz Lite (150ml kit).
• Manufacturer: CARPRO.
• Packaging: kit (150ml bottle, 2x MF applicators, 1x MF, 1x mask, 2x stickers, instruction manual).
  
  

Description:

A brand new ceramic protection based on SiO2 and TiO2 offered by Korean giant CARPRO: CQuartz Lite.
The manufacturer's aim is to offer a ceramic protection kit that is easier to apply for beginners, while still being a quality product based on the components and expertise of the renowned Cquartz 3.0.

The kit contains everything necessary (or almost) to apply your CQuartz Lite protection.
The kit contents are as follows:
- One 150ml bottle of CQuartz Lite.
- 2 microfibre manual applicators.
- 1 microfibre cloth for wiping off the treatment.
- 1 clear and explicit instruction sheet.
- 2 holographic stickers.

In this article, we will of course review CQuartz Lite but will mainly evaluate whether it is a genuinely simpler alternative to more professional and durable treatments or not. On test!


Applying the treatment:

As with any CARPRO protection and more generally with any synthetic ceramic protection, thorough preparation will be required (decontamination and finishing polish at a minimum).
Then, a complete degreasing with CARPRO Eraser is essential to rid your surfaces of all polish oils.



Use an excellent microfibre of course to avoid micro-scratching your surface finish (the Black Velvet for example is perfect). Keep the orange microfibre supplied in the kit for future wiping of the treatment.




By unscrewing the cap of the CQuartz Lite bottle, you will need to remove the seal in order to then pour a few drops onto the supplied applicators.



A closer look at the supplied microfibre applicators. These prove to be very practical, very ergonomic and radically different from the blocks/suede pads generally encountered. Only the British brand GTechniq, with its Crystal Serum Light and Exo, already uses this accessory, but in a smaller and less manageable size.

Here, we are dealing with a serious, well-built accessory that will facilitate your application without too much risk of losing it, as your fingers are securely held inside. An excellent initiative from CARPRO which I hope will make this accessory available separately very soon!



Then apply approximately ten drops to the end of the applicator glove and treat an area of approximately 60x60cm.





You immediately recognise that this is a CARPRO ceramic protection, with its slightly "tacky" and greasy feel on application. This is only half a surprise in the sense that Lite was developed from the classic Cquartz (3.0) which itself has that same application feel. It should however be noted that CQuartz Lite contains a lower silica content (approximately 45%) than the classic.

Application will be done like any ceramic treatment, namely in a "criss-cross" pattern (left/right then up/down or the reverse depending on the natural direction of water flow). Always start by clearing the edges before "criss-crossing".

No need to wait specifically before wiping, CQuartz Lite can be wiped off almost instantly. As soon as you see a haze appear on your straight-line passes, you can proceed to wiping.



For wiping, first use the orange microfibre supplied in the kit — it is truly perfect, being double-sided (short pile, long pile) and not too thick.



You can immediately notice that wiping CQuartz Lite is reminiscent of wiping CQuartz 3.0. Indeed, it is not as easy as some ceramics from other brands, due to a slightly greasy aspect, but slightly better than the 3.0 nonetheless.
You do therefore gain in wiping ease, although it is not disconcertingly easy either. CARPRO indicated great ease of wiping, but this should be kept in perspective.

The small tip is to invest in a suede wiping microfibre to perfect your wiping. Indeed, the supplied orange microfibre is certainly very good, but will not be sufficient to achieve a truly perfect, precision wipe. Moreover, it risks becoming saturated fairly quickly.



CQuartz Lite can be used on all types of painted surfaces, plastics, wheels, glass (except windscreen), etc., provided you have properly prepared your base with Eraser.





General characteristics:

CARPRO rates the durability of CQuartz at 6 months or more depending on future maintenance conditions and the vehicle's driving conditions.

The advantage of CQuartz Lite is that it can also play the role of a "light" layer on top of a "hard" ceramic coating, regardless of the brand of the treatment applied. For example, Lite can be applied on top of a CQuartz 3.0 or even a Crystal Serum Light for instance. Lite can in some ways be compared to an Exo v4.

You will need to keep your vehicle dry for between 6 and 12 hours following the application of Lite. The treatment will continue to cure afterwards.

Once your vehicle has been treated with CQuartz Lite, the paint will gain enormously in gloss — it is actually quite striking — as well as in smoothness to the touch.

The protection will provide resistance to chemical agents and light solvents (pH between 3 and 12), a huge hydrophobic effect with a "water-angle" (contact angle of the water droplet created) of 110° like CQuartz 3.0, thus greatly facilitating your future washes.

Finally, we can discuss the price. CQuartz Lite is sold at €64.90, which proves to be very attractive — don't forget that the supplied bottle holds 150ml! For direct comparison, a 50ml CQuartz 3.0 kit is sold at €79.95 for 3 times less product...

General conclusion:



CARPRO offers with its 150ml kit a very interesting protection solution for those who want to get started with this type of treatment. The supplied accessories are of excellent quality, very ergonomic, with special mention for the microfibre applicators!

In our opinion, the kit is missing the suede wiping cloth which would have made it a truly complete kit, but at the price it is sold at, you can add it without breaking the bank.

The volume-to-price ratio is also very good value, because if you base it on a consumption of approximately 10–15ml per coat as with the 3.0, you can thus treat between 10 and 15 vehicles!

Regarding application, you do gain in ease of application compared to CQuartz 3.0, but the product remains based on the same chemical composition and this is still noticeable on application. You will need to perform several wiping passes to ensure a perfect, mark-free finish. We are far from the wiping difficulty of a CQuartz Professional for example, but we do not reach the ease of a Finest for example.
In short, a good entry point for beginners who can afford a few mistakes (Lite can easily be removed with a medium polish).

Finally, I will conclude this article by questioning the positioning of such a product ultimately compared to the Gliss from the same brand. The latter being an additional layer to apply on top of an existing Cquartz protection, improving the touch, the hydrophobic effect and the overall gloss. Especially since Gliss can also be applied alone. Ultimately, Lite and Gliss are similar in the benefits they provide. Yes, but Lite should be considered more as a standalone protection, like a "baby Cquartz 3.0", with a complete application kit, which Gliss does not offer as it is more of a "top-up" for a hard ceramic coating.


Advantages

+ Well-designed kit.
+ Very clear and detailed instruction manual.
+ Attractive kit price.
+ Microfibre applicators.
+ Result.

Disadvantages

- Not as easy to wipe off as claimed.
- Missing suede wiping cloth.