What is the hardest ceramic coating?
We honestly couldn't tell you. We haven't tried all the ceramic coatings, and even if we had, we don't test them for hardness.
While this is a valid question, it is really too narrow in focus to provide much meaning. The ceramic coating its self is strong rather than hard. When applied to your paintwork, it makes the paint harder, and this is tested using the Wolff-Wilborn Test, colloquially called the Pencil Test. Any ceramic coated paint tested on the Wolff-Wilborn scale is H9, which is as high as the scale goes.
So, rated on hardness, they are all pretty much the same which is to be expected which you consider that they are all a coating of silica dioxide. It is also the case that ceramic coatings are no longer a new technology, and there is unlikely to be any significant technological developments which will leapfrog one ceramic coating ahead of all the others in this respect.
However, they aren't all the same. Most of the differences are in things like ease of application which don't impact the end result (although they may impact the price).
We are now seeing diamond coatings, graphene coatings and other new products, which might not be any harder, in fact they may be softer, but might be more flexible and resistant to scratches via elasticity.
It is probably fair to say that the future will be in softer products, not harder ones.
Written by Danny Argent. Last updated 05/07/2022 16:42