[SomeGuy]

Anywhere that the rotor is touched by the brake pad will surface rust and self clean. Otherwise you can use high temp paint on the hub surfaces but more often than not it ends up flaking off and looking worse after a year or so.

 

[TAPnFLA]

Agree with SOMEGUY...>

You're referring to the hub, your best bet is to take them off and paint the hub. Anytime you wash the car and simply park in your garage or other, the rotors themselves will show surface rust. As soon as you drive a few miles, they will clean up and you will find it on your rims (LOL).

Good luck

 

[fooit]

Someone I know who owns a Q5 already has rust built up on the front rotor.

Do you know if the rotors are OEM or aftermarket?
Usually OEM rotors are of good quality and coated - they don't rust easily.
Aftermarket rotors are of all kinds, cheaper ones are not coated and rust very fast, but that's just visual, you can drive them as long as more expensive coated rotors.
I've used all kinds of rotors on my cars and if I can I'll pick coated rotors to avoid seeing rust.

 

[iconoclast]

Move to a dry climate?

 

[Masscan]

All four hubs on my 2018 Macan GTS were rusted...my vehicle is not even a year old yet, has less than 5,000 miles on it, and it's kept outside. I noticed the rusted hubs when I changed over to my satin black Spyders. I removed one wheel at a time, then wired brushed the rust off best I could, painted the inside of the hub with high-temp paint (using a small modeling brush to get all the nooks & crannies), then used high-temp anti-seize on the outside rim of the hub where it makes contact with the wheel.

Before...

After...

 

[Jshore]

Not looking forward to what my '15 S hubs look like once I replace the oem Michelins soon.

 

[Big Smoke]

Masscan - that is what I do too, on all my winter driven cars.
There is also the added dissimilar metal issue as well.
Steel, aluminum, water, salt, electricity/static. All aid in causing rust and electrolysis.
Even though I wire wheel and anti seize, I still had a tough time getting my X5 wheels of the rusty hub, and corroded wheel center.

 

[Masscan]

Even though I wire wheel and anti seize, I still had a tough time getting my X5 wheels of the rusty hub, and corroded wheel center.

I had a harder time getting the front wheels off compared to the rears, and once I got the wheels off, I was able to remove most of the rust stains/corrosion from inside the wheel centers using a 3M Scotch Brite pad when I washed them. I used a wire brush to get most of the rust off the hubs before I painted those.

I'll see how the high-temp anti-seize worked when I take the black Spyders off sometime in October, and install my machined faced Spyders for the Winter.

 

[SomeGuy]

LoL high temp anti-seize? The cheap aluminum/silver anti-seize is usually rated to around 1600°F...if your wheel hubs are getting that hot, you have bigger problems. Heck, even rotor surface temps on a track day you'd be hard pressed to get over 1000°F.

 

[Big Smoke]

My X5 winter wheels are well used. There is even corrosion inside the wheel hub.
I should wire wheel the wheel hub. That clear coating is well gone, leaving bare aluminum.
Steel, bare aluminum, salt and water.
I think I will add a layer of anti seize to the inside of the wheel hub, to my OCD list. Clearly, winter salty water is getting in there, behind the center cap and percolating.

 

[Masscan]

LoL high temp anti-seize? The cheap aluminum/silver anti-seize is usually rated to around 1600°F...if your wheel hubs are getting that hot, you have bigger problems. Heck, even rotor surface temps on a track day you'd be hard pressed to get over 1000°F.

Copper high-temp anti-seize is all I have on hand, and I'm certainly wasn't about to purchase the special Porsche Optimoly Paste they recommend for this application that costs $40 at the dealership.

 

[Big Smoke]

LoL high temp anti-seize? The cheap aluminum/silver anti-seize is usually rated to around 1600°F...if your wheel hubs are getting that hot, you have bigger problems. Heck, even rotor surface temps on a track day you'd be hard pressed to get over 1000°F.

Melting point of aluminum is 1220°F. So 380°F room ... before the paste melts. But wheels are gone, a good sign that things are heating up.

 

[SomeGuy]

Copper high-temp anti-seize is all I have on hand, and I'm certainly wasn't about to purchase the special Porsche Optimoly Paste they recommend for this application that costs $40 at the dealership.

Copper buys you another couple hundred degrees (1800f)...Nickel is the high temp stuff, I usually use it on exhaust components only, it's good for roughly 2400f.

Also be mindful of the type of anti-seize and the materials you're using it with. Both the regular silver stuff and obviously copper, contain copper and shouldn't be used in some applications like stainless steel (perfectly fine for wheels/hubs mind you).

Generally I use Silver on hubs, suspension, chassis, etc, pretty much everywhere where I'd need anti-seize...Copper on spark plugs only really...Nickel on exhaust.

 

[mascarababa]

Someone I know who owns a Q5 already has rust built up on the front rotor.

Do you know if the rotors are OEM or aftermarket?
Usually OEM rotors are of good quality and coated - they don't rust easily.
Aftermarket rotors are of all kinds, cheaper ones are not coated and rust very fast, but that's just visual, you can drive them as long as more expensive coated rotors.
I've used all kinds of rotors on my cars and if I can I'll pick coated rotors to avoid seeing rust.

Original OEM rotors, car purchased brand new and only about little more than 3yrs old, always garage kept, no snow here and pretty dry (So. Calif weather)

 

[dyoo]

I tried cleaning the wheels and brake rotors with P&S Brake Buster, pressure washer, and air-dry with blower, but the brownish hue on the brake rotors is still there. I'm hoping it to get it back to the clean silver surface somehow. Do you guys have any recommendations for any chemicals/rust removal for brake rotors that will be safe to use and won't deteriorate brake performance?

 

[notmac1]

really?‍♂

 

[grim]

I tried cleaning the wheels and brake rotors with P&S Brake Buster, pressure washer, and air-dry with blower, but the brownish hue on the brake rotors is still there. I'm hoping it to get it back to the clean silver surface somehow. Do you guys have any recommendations for any chemicals/rust removal for brake rotors that will be safe to use and won't deteriorate brake performance?

Go to a safe place, legally get up to 50 or so. Brake hard. Repeat. Its like magic.

 

[SoCalS5]

The rust will eventually wear off through normal use. It also helps to drive the car a short distance after washing the car, so the brakes can dry off before rust starts to occur.

 

[ausged]

Drive it like you nicked it for a bit and lean on the brakes hard and they will be good as gold, well, once they cool down that is!

 

[Zeus]

As everyone else pointed out. They tend to get that rust after a rain or a wash (if you don't drive after).
Just drive it and let the pads do their work.