Tarnishing, rusting brake discs/rotors.

[Nick Moorhouse]

So I've noticed on all the A3's I've looked at that they all suffer from the tarnished brake discs....Nice shiny calipers but rusty discs around the hub. Seems a shame that such quality cars suffer from something like this.

I've been perusing the world wine web and found some EBC discs/rotors that are direct replacements for the OEM versions and are Zinc coated so shouldn't tarnish. I refuse to spend the best part of £300-£400 on new discs from Audi that will just tarnish over time.

Anyone else replaced the discs for aftermarket versions? Or are any of you considering it?

 

[AllanG]

Unfortunately, this is a problem with a lot of Audi discs, however, a lot of owners have just cleaned the rust off and painted the hub with Hammerite, or similar, which is a LOT cheaper than replacing the discs.

 

[Nick Moorhouse]

Unfortunately, this is a problem with a lot of Audi discs, however, a lot of owners have just cleaned the rust off and painted the hub with Hammerite, or similar, which is a LOT cheaper than replacing the discs.

That's a good point. However they'll need replacing anyway before the next MOT due to excess wear.

 

[Retroman]

If the discs are otherwise in good condition I would just paint the hubs as stated above. Two coats of Hammerite will last for ages. The coatings (Geomet) put on most discs will wear off eventually - particularly with certain brake dust cleaning solutions. I fitted a set of Pagid discs to my car and they started to rust slightly after two years.

http://www.nofmetalcoatings.com/corporate/en/home.xhtm

 

[AllanG]

Aah, if the discs will require renewing before your next MOT, then it makes sense to change them for better quality ones.

 

[Retroman]

The coating on Brembo disc hubs seems tough and long lasting but it is a dark gun metal grey and not silver

 

[Nick Moorhouse]

The coating on Brembo disc hubs seems tough and long lasting but it is a dark gun metal grey and not silver

The coating on Brembo disc hubs seems tough and long lasting but it is a dark gun metal grey and not silver

It is Daytona Grey with the 19" gunmetal & polished alloys so they would look fine I think!?

 

[Ron240]

And its not only Audi that suffers from this rusting hubs issue.....the current Civic Type R does exactly the same thing.
Manufacturers should do more to stop this happening, especially on £30k+ cars!
Excellent tutorial thread on painting the hubs here....
https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threa...-hub-fix-and-gtechniq-c5.387632/#post-3423836

 

[AlS3BE]

No coating is gonna last on brake discs. It’s a bare steel disc that’s heated hundreds of degrees and cooled with potential water and salt hitting it.
I find the Audi factory discs lasts about a year and look rusty. The rears are normally worse than the fronts. Maybe front gets hotter. Mine is 9 months or so old and the rear hubs look like crap.
In the past I’ve used trw discs and the coating on the hub seems to last years. Quality is good and they are cheap. Used with their cotec pads there’s very little visible brake dust on the wheels.

 

[Ron240]

My hubs were starting to show signs of rust the day I picked my car up! It was just registered that morning but had been in stock for almost 3 months.
Exactly 1 year later all 4 of my hubs are very rusty and unsightly now.

 

[AlS3BE]

My hubs were starting to show signs of rust the day I picked my car up! It was just registered that morning but had been in stock for almost 3 months.
Exactly 1 year later all 4 of my hubs are very rusty and unsightly now.

I would have told them to change the discs on day 1. But I like a good moan