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When you pull up in a white car, you always look different from the others. No doubt, white cars are clean, appealing, and classical. They are the best-selling car color worldwide. Virtually all car manufacturers worldwide have a white color variant for all their vehicle models.
But then, there are many variants of white color used by car manufacturers, with the most popular ones being iridescent pear tricoat and summit white. So today, we’d be comparing iridescent pearl tricoat vs summit white; these two white color variants are used mainly by General Motors (GM) and Ford.
On a quick note, summit white shines much whiter than iridescent pearl tricoat; the latter somehow have yellowish tints when under certain lighting conditions.
What Color is Iridescent Pearl Tricoat?
Iridescent pearl tricoat is a seemingly new white color variant that looks so much like light gray or metallic white – especially when you’re viewing it from a distance. It further gives the feeling of starring at a “Pearl” or “Seashell.”
The iridescent pearl tricoat is really a captivating color that makes your white car stand out – even in the midst of white cars. When placed under certain lighting conditions (and when the car is in motion), this color seems to have light pinkish, yellowish, or bluish tints – you’d love to see the magnificence!
The color code for iridescent pearl tricoat is GP5 and WA-485B (G1W/WA140X) for the touch-up paint. Iridescent pearl tricoat and summit white are available as color options in most Chevy, GM, and Ford motors.
What Color is Summit White?

Summit white is a hue that looks much better than the normal white color everyone knows. It is represented with #F3F8EF hex code and has a very light shade of green. Decoding the hexadecimal code in RGB, summit white comprises 95.29% Red, 97.25% Green, and 93.73% Blue.
The summit white hue is practically the most common “white” color used by many automobile manufacturers. In the HSL color space, summit white has a 93-degree hue, 39% saturation, and 95% lightness. It is the easiest to maintain and most affordable white hue – having a single base coat.
But then, summit white isn’t the “cutest” white color to have on your car. A lot of people find summit white to be a “dull” color, and basically, it is not as shiny as other hues like white frost or iridescent pear tricoat.
Iridescent Pearl Tricoat Vs Summit White
Comparison | Iridescent Pear Tricoat | Summit White |
Durability | Lasts Longer | Lasts Long |
Luminance | Brighter | A little bit dull |
Maintenance | Easy to maintain | Easy to maintain |
Cost Efficiency | Expensive | Cheaper |
1. Durability and Maintenance
These two factors go together; you can’t talk about durability and not reference maintenance. Apparently, every car paint (regardless of the color) would fade away some time, but how you keep up with the maintenance is what determines the duration it’d take for the paint to start fading.
Iridescent pear tricoat and summit white last quite a long time, but due to the seeming dullness of the summit white, you’d think it’s fading away after a long time. Hence, it’s generally perceived that the iridescent pear tricoat lasts longer than summit white.
Notwithstanding, the secret to making your car paint last longer is frequently washing and waxing the car. Waxing adds a layer of protection to keep the paint from fading easily or getting affected by natural elements.
2. Luminance (Brightness)
Whether you’re looking from afar or closer, the iridescent pear tricoat hue shines much brighter than summit white.
If you want a shiny white car, you should definitely go with the iridescent pear tricoat color option. More so, due to the high luminance, dirt screams louder on the iridescent pear tricoat than summit white.
3. Repair Cost
If you have a deep scratch to fix, it costs more to get a paint job done on an iridescent pear tri-coat paint than summit white.
Yes, summit white is much easier to repair than iridescent pear tricoat, so it costs less. Also, iridescent pear tricoat is a rare paint, contributing to its high cost when doing a paint job.
What More?
This iridescent pearl tricoat vs summit white comparison aims to highlight the major differences between these two “white” hues available as color options in certain GM and Ford vehicle models.
Choosing between iridescent pear tricoat and summit white is a personal decision to make – after considering the factors explained above.
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