Chemical Guys Incite Foaming Color Changing Wheel Cleaner Review
One of the biggest battles in keeping vehicles clean has to do with their wheels.
Wheels are dirt magnets that spin through the messy elements, getting coated in road debris and brake dust. Many companies have created specialized products designed to clean wheels with varying degrees of success. One of the latest on the market is Chemical Guys Incite Foaming Color Changing Wheel Cleaner.
A spray on cleaner, the company claims it’s designed to make cleaning your wheels faster, easier, and more effective. What separates this cleaner from other such products is the face it changes color as it cleans. Well, it doesn’t exactly change color as it cleans, but rather changes color the longer it is left on the wheel.
It’s a dense foam designed to cling to the wheel surface for a prolonged period of time. Many wheel cleaners, foam or otherwise, start to drip and/or slide off after a few seconds. Chemical Guys claims this cleaner will stick to the wheel for the entire cleaning period.
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Try It Ourselves
To put it to the test, AutoGuide received a can of Incite Foaming Color Changing Wheel Cleaner directly from Chemical Guys. We read the directions and they appear to be simple enough:
“Always ensure wheel and brakes are cool. Rinse wheel. Shake well and spray Incite Foaming Color Changing Wheel Cleaner onto wheel. Let sit for 10-15 seconds, or longer for dirtier wheels. For maintenance cleaning/lightly dirty wheels, rinse with a sharp stream of water. For dirtier wheels, agitate with a soft bristled wheel brush, then rinse with clean water, then dry with a premium microfiber towel. Always test in a small, inconspicuous area before first use.”
For our test purposes, we are using a 2023 Subaru Crosstrek that has months’ worth of grim, brake dust and water stains.
The Test
We followed the directions and sprayed down the wheels with water in advance. We then sprayed on the wheel cleaner, and it came out a light blue color. One claim we can confirm right away is the foam cleaner’s ability to stick to the wheel. For the entire 15 second cleaning period, little foam dripped off the tire. It did start to disperse a bit during this time, but the wheel remained mostly covered.
By the end of the 15 seconds, the foam had changed to a dark purple color. We used a soft bristle brush at this time and gave the wheels a good scrubbing. We then rinsed the wheels off with water and the Incite Foaming Color Changing Wheel Cleaner washed away easily.
Our Verdict
The result of our test was a clean wheel that looked quite close to how it did when it rolled off the showroom floor. The foam cleaner is easy to use, does what it’s claimed to do, and has the cool party trick of changing color. It also has a pleasant smell which is a bonus.
We will add the caveat that a brush is needed to get all the dirt off a wheel while cleaning it, but this is true of virtually every spray on wheel cleaner.
We recommend this product and will continue to use it in the future.
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A 20+ year industry veteran, Mike rejoins the AutoGuide team as the Managing Editor. He started his career at a young age working at dealerships, car rentals, and used car advertisers. He then found his true passion, automotive writing. After contributing to multiple websites for several years, he spent the next six years working at the head office of an automotive OEM, before returning back to the field he loves. He is a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC), and Midwest Automotive Media Association (MAMA). He's the recipient of a feature writing of the year award and multiple video of the year awards.
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