See all Motoring NewsWhen it comes to washing cars, you're either in one of two camps. The first is made up of the detailers, obsessive people who love to spend hours with clay bars, polishing machines and carnauba waxes poring over every nook and cranny of their motor to try and make it look like a showroom example once more. Fine, if you've got seventeen hours spare every Sunday...
The second camp - and one we happily admit we fall into - is the one that views washing a car as an ineffable chore. The tedium of unreeling the hose, rinsing the car off, the two-bucket method that you have to use so your know-it-all neighbour doesn't scoff at you for scratching the paint, trying to chamois the roof of your colossal SUV before the water dries in weak sunshine... it's not the greatest pleasure in the world, in our eyes. Just show us to the nearest cheap jet wash.
So, if you're like us, you might want to thank Nissan, which is claiming that ii's thinking about marketing a paint technology that repels mud, rain and everyday dirt, meaning you might never again have to whip out that crusty old bottle of Turtle Wax.
The specially engineered coating known as Ultra-Ever Dry, which sounds worryingly like a sanitary towel, is said to be super-hydrophobic and oleophobic, which means it has no time for water and oils. The coating is marketed and sold by UltraTech International Inc, and Nissan is going to test it on its vehicles over the coming months to see if it is viable as an aftermarket option for its range.
For this test, though, it was applied it to half a Nissan Note. It was then driven and splashed about in some typically wet driving conditions for a few hours to see how it got on. And, from the pictures and a short video Nissan has posted, it looks like it has done pretty damn well. So, hopefully, this will allow us to lob that tatty old sponge we have lurking in our garage in the bin at the earliest possible opportunity.
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