Brake disc rust on standard brakes?

[Yorkshirepuds]

Had a good search and can't find any reference to brake disc rust(or 'rotor rust' for our US friends)... That's not a typo by the way, I mean 'RUST' Not 'DUST'.

You probably need a particular set of circumstances to have a problem with this, notably:
- Live in a climate where the roads are regularly salted in a freezing winter;
- Have periods where your car isn't driven on a more or less daily basis.

We fulfil both those criteria and our previous Macan (with cast iron brakes) would get very unsightly rust on the brake discs when left for a couple of days or so in the winter. A Taycan would be even more affected as less reliance is made on the friction brakes so there is less scrubbing of the discs to clean them. For that reason we opted for PSCB on the car that replaced our Macan (Taycan CT4S). Needless to say, the PSCB have been very corrosion resistant and (so far at least) there's not a hint of corrosion on the discs.

I will have the same decision to make with the next car (GTS ST) in the hopefully not too distant future and with the RS Spyder Design wheels, rusty discs would be visually very exposed and would look pretty grim! I wondered if anyone else from a colder climate has had any experience of disc rust on the cast iron brakes or if I'd be spending the money needlessly?

Sponsored

 

[batteredhaddock]

Kinda got the PSCB by default as I upsold myself from original 4S. Glad to have them for the reason you mention but they weren’t one of the options I’d added to my 4S build (despite having so many options the Turbo then made sense). The rust was never terrible on the iPace and rather enjoyed the excuse of cleaning the brakes (charge to 100% so minimal regen and a blat up the A1 with all its roundabouts to kill speed quickly at?).

 

[David Bennett]

Yep, I get rust on my rotors after a few days when I leave the car. It gets cleared up at the start of the next trip since the brakes are used for the first few braking events each day. Only after that do you get regen.

 

[tbinmd]

Wash the car or light rain and let the car sit for a few hours and the rotors will rust. No big deal, the brake pads scrub the rotors next time you drive. The rust tends to be from the brake pad material that gets deposited on the disks. Which is why they rust up so quick.

 

[RAHRCR]

Wash the car or light rain and let the car sit for a few hours and the rotors will rust. No big deal, the brake pads scrub the rotors next time you drive. The rust tends to be from the brake pad material that gets deposited on the disks. Which is why they rust up so quick.

Agreed. The “rust” is so surface level that its not a big deal. Personally, I would be careful with brake upgrades on vehicles that have regen. Regen vehicles really dont get enough brake use/heat.…could cause other types of annoying issues (other than rust).

 

[Kingske]

My memory may also be a bit rusty, but I seem to remember that Taycans (with any type of brakes) do rely on friction rather than regen braking for the first couple of miles to make sure that the discs get dry and to remove dust or rust. Delusional?

 

[tbinmd]

My memory may also be a bit rusty, but I seem to remember that Taycans (with any type of brakes) do rely on friction rather than regen braking for the first couple of miles to make sure that the discs get dry and to remove dust or rust. Delusional?

That is correct, seems to just take a couple of good stops to flip back to using regen.

 

[dickp]

The rust on the rotors does drive me crazy with trying to keep the wheels clean. After washing the car and wheels, as soon as you drive the car the wheels are dirty again from the rust dust. This stuff helps somewhat, just hoping its not going to harm the brakes - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DD29BY8?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

 

[Genau]

The rust on the rotors does drive me crazy with trying to keep the wheels clean. After washing the car and wheels, as soon as you drive the car the wheels are dirty again from the rust dust. This stuff helps somewhat, just hoping its not going to harm the brakes - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DD29BY8?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

I also reside in Virginia and have never noticed much rust on my steel brakes, or collecting on the silver wheel rims. But, I’m not wearing my prescription eyewear when I look at my Taycan.

Off topic, but thank you for linking your photography website in your profile. Your photos are moving, partly because they contain so many interesting human subjects. Have you taken any similarly interesting photos of Taycans with people? Most of your posted photos are in black and white, and I learned on YouTube that the movie studios got their start in Hollywood because of the unique properties of daylight there and how that adds drama to black and white photography.

 

[dickp]

I also reside in Virginia and have never noticed much rust on my steel brakes, or collecting on the silver wheel rims. But, I’m not wearing my prescription eyewear when I look at my Taycan.

Off topic, but thank you for linking your photography website in your profile. Your photos are moving, partly because they contain so many interesting human subjects. Have you taken any similarly interesting photos of Taycans with people? Most of your posted photos are in black and white, and I learned on YouTube that the movie studios got their start in Hollywood because of the unique properties of daylight there and how that adds drama to black and white photography.

Thanks so much for taking a look at some of my photographs. I shoot with two different Leica cameras and they do render well in B&W - there is a saying in photography that says if you want to show a man's suit, shoot him in color. If you want to show a man's soul, shoot him in B&W. You are correct in that photography is all about the light. No, I have not yet done anything re. Taycans with people - will have to start thinking about that. Although, I mostly shoot unposed subjects.

 

[swhsv]

For whatever it’s worth, the steel brake discs on the Boxsters I’ve owned in the past were the same way. If I had let the car sit a day after washing it or driving in rain, some surface rust would appear on the discs. It doesn’t affect braking effectiveness, and “scrubs” off after a few uses of the brakes.

 

[dickp]

For whatever it’s worth, the steel brake discs on the Boxsters I’ve owned in the past were the same way. If I had let the car sit a day after washing it or driving in rain, some surface rust would appear on the discs. It doesn’t affect braking effectiveness, and “scrubs” off after a few uses of the brakes.

Yea it does scrub off. But then your wheels are dirty with a coating of rust dust.

Sponsored