New S3 Brake Rust

Trev241

Trev241

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Just posted pic in Gallery section by mistake but don't seem to be able to upload said pic to new threads.
Will try again but in the meantime could new S3 owners view and let me know if they have the same problem as it seems to be fairly widespread.
 
Just looked. My A3 gets this too. It's very unsightly but does come off.
 
I gather Audi are getting quite a few complaints over this issue lets be clear it's really a cosmetic problem, but one you would expect to see on cars a few years old and not three weeks old.
Earlier Audis had a deep alloy wheel centre boss and thin brake disc hub to obtain the "offset" this has now been reversed and as we all know the complete disc is cast and will therefore rust.
I would have thought they could easily come up with some sort of surface treatment for the hub section at very little cost, after all what's the point in having nice open spoke alloys and black enamelled calipers sporting the S3 logo with all that rust in between.
:confused:
 
Yep i changed wheels today, and the back discs outer surface is totally rusted..
 
My neighbour has a new model TT and his hubs have not rusted although he has run it throughout the winter.
If they can sort it for the TT they should be able to sort it for the S3.
I am not looking forward to this "feature" arriving on my new S3.

prt
 
Still to receive my S3 (very very soon....) I hope this "feature" is not standard on mine...

Pedro
 
:confused:
am I missing something here? I thought all brake discs rusted? Driving the car should get the rust off
 
Could someone take a picture?

I haven't noticed this at all.

Could it have anything to do with the salt they put on the roads in the UK?
 
I think there are versions of this thread on every VAG forum going. It seems to effect all the MKV based motors. Poor attention to detail by VAG, penny pinching I reckon. It is only on the surface and is easily removed but it shouldn't happen in the first place.
 
Silver75

Its the hubs we are on about not the discs.

Mine are not as bad as Didges yet, just patchy.
 
silver75 said:
:confused:
am I missing something here? I thought all brake discs rusted? Driving the car should get the rust off
Click to expand...
Its the disc hub and not the braking surface.
 
Guys I have to say I've had two MKV GTIs and neither them or my S3 has that rust.

I bet it's whatever they use on the roads for ice over your way??
 
I complained about this, about a week after getting it and was told it is to protect the car whilst standing and not when in use and so will come off. It looks ****, so I hammerited mine and now they are fine. A kids Gti at work also had the same problem.

I can have a pointless plastic sun flap that sits above the rear view mirror, I can have a useless sun blind for the parcel shelf, but we will let the wheel hubs rust because we can't be ***** to spray'em with owt decent...
 
d3fy said:
I can have a pointless plastic sun flap that sits above the rear view mirror, I can have a useless sun blind for the parcel shelf, but we will let the wheel hubs rust because we can't be ***** to spray'em with owt decent...
Click to expand...

I hate to put a downer on things but this more or less sums up my thoughts about Audi full stop.
 
Checked my discs yesterday when cleaning the car and No rust. Maybe it is just the luck of the draw, my car has been on wet salty roads like everybody else.
I do keep it in the garage though, maybe that helps.???

Mark
 
Also checked my car today, no rust what so ever and I live in a country where they spread a lot of salt on the road in the winter. Maybe they forgot/missed to treat your alloys with anti rust something at the factory...
 
FreddieS3 said:
Also checked my car today, no rust what so ever and I live in a country where they spread a lot of salt on the road in the winter. Maybe they forgot/missed to treat your alloys with anti rust something at the factory...
Click to expand...
Just cannot believe you have no rust on brake hubs, I think they use a different treatment for the uk but when asked they say not.
 
Every car I've ever owned does this, just paint them! Use some Phos.acid based wheel cleaner on the area first to convert the rust then apply some hammershite - job done!
 
No car I have owned (Lexus, BMW) has done this except the Audi. Mine is parked in a garage all night and at weekends and in the day its parked in a Multi story, so I don't think that had anything to do with it.

I think what has got something to do with it is that they don't want to pay the cost to spray them with something that will stay on.
 
JamS3 said:
Silver75

Its the hubs we are on about not the discs.
Click to expand...

The part you are on about is actually called the disc bell, not the hub, the hub is the part the disc bolts onto, you can't see the hub without removing the disc.

ALL discs rust, its due to the rapid heating and cooling of the metal, and its exposure to the air/road grit/water/salt etc the only way to stop it is to get the bell enamelled or powder coated, paint will eventually come off.

The only bells that wont rust are the aluminium ones you can get but even they will anodise after a while.
 
A4Quattro said:
The part you are on about is actually called the disc bell, not the hub, the hub is the part the disc bolts onto, you can't see the hub without removing the disc.

ALL discs rust, its due to the rapid heating and cooling of the metal, and its exposure to the air/road grit/water/salt etc the only way to stop it is to get the bell enamelled or powder coated, paint will eventually come off.

The only bells that wont rust are the aluminium ones you can get but even they will anodise after a while.
Click to expand...
OK it's called the "Bell" but I think your missing the point made 6 days ago in my earlier post.
 
TrevS3 said:
OK it's called the "Bell" but I think your missing the point made 6 days ago in my earlier post.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I've noticed one or two posts on UKMKIVs and a similar discussion over on Briskoda where a (Skoda employed) 'tech' is just pointing out that stuff rusts basically. That's not the point. I know stuff rusts and I know that in this case it's just on the surface but VAG should have sorted this out. It's highly visible and should not happen.
 
A4Quattro said:
ALL discs rust, its due to the rapid heating and cooling of the metal, and its exposure to the air/road grit/water/salt etc the only way to stop it is to get the bell enamelled or powder coated, paint will eventually come off.
Click to expand...


ok?
 
A4Quattro said:
The part you are on about is actually called the disc bell, not the hub, the hub is the part the disc bolts onto, you can't see the hub without removing the disc.

ALL discs rust, its due to the rapid heating and cooling of the metal, and its exposure to the air/road grit/water/salt etc the only way to stop it is to get the bell enamelled or powder coated, paint will eventually come off.

The only bells that wont rust are the aluminium ones you can get but even they will anodise after a while.
Click to expand...

WOW I could make millions by introducing Mr Audi and the rest of his German friends to a wonderful new invention called Hammerite..... this amazing substance stays on the wheels, or brake calipers, does not flake off when you look at it and last for longer that it takes to get the car out of the showroom.
 
its purely cosmetic and if any car company covered the bell in some sort of covering it would increase the cost substantially and nobody wants to pay more for something that is considered a consumable item and the chances are if they did cover the bell in some "paint" or similar it would come off pretty soon then there would be people complaining about that.

Its a bit of surface rust that all cars suffer from, lighten up!
 
d3fy said:
WOW I could make millions by introducing Mr Audi and the rest of his German friends to a wonderful new invention called Hammerite..... this amazing substance stays on the wheels, or brake calipers, does not flake off when you look at it and last for longer that it takes to get the car out of the showroom.
Click to expand...

It might stay on there for 5 minutes but as soon as you start getting the brakes hot, off it will come, the discs can get to 200+ degrees and no hammerite is going to withstand that, trust me I have tried time and again.

Stove enamelling or powder coating is the only thing that would stay on for any period of time and that's costly.
 
Rubbish! I painted the calipers on the last car and they lasted for two years until sold with no chiping, flaking, waring, falling off'ing at all. I painted the Audi ones at some point last year and bet they last.

To some people, a bit of rust on a brand new car is not acceptable at all. Me being one.
 
A4Quattro said:
It might stay on there for 5 minutes but as soon as you start getting the brakes hot, off it will come, the discs can get to 200+ degrees and no hammerite is going to withstand that, trust me I have tried time and again.

Stove enamelling or powder coating is the only thing that would stay on for any period of time and that's costly.
Click to expand...
:banghead:
 
What on earth has the calliper, a stationary part got to do with a disc that gets about 4x hotter and spins at up to 150 miles per hour?

How would something behind the wheel get chipped or wear out? I didn't say that.
I painted my callipers with brake caliper paint when I bought the car, before any rust had a chance to develop and 2 years later most of it is still there but it has flaked off and now looks a bit unsightly.

The disc is a different matter, next time you pop to tesco or wherever you use your car put your fingers through the wheel and feel the caliper, then feel the disc.
Hammerite will eventually come off, if Audi painted their discs people would moan that the paint had come off when it starts to chip off. simple.
 
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