Scott in Houston

One thing I've been very pleased about is that the brakes on the automatics are the most brake-dust-free of any car I've owned.

Does everyone else with an automatic think the same? I'm very happy about that.

AcuraVic

I agree 1000%. The rims on this car stay cleaner than any car i've owned.

Repecat

I also agree. My Saab front wheels were a nightmare to clean; thick black dust all over them in a very short time period. With the TL, the wheels are almost a pleasure to clean.

golferboy1862

Ditto

ghughes20

I drive 400 mile per week and the rims are pretty dirty by the end of the week. They're pretty easy to clean, for now.

Scott in Houston

ghughes, did you notice that we're talking about automatics?

The manuals have much more brake dust. They have different brakes. (better ones)

They are easy to clean though.


EDIT: I just saw that you acknoledged that in the title of your post... my bad. hehe

Yeah, the manuals aren't nearly as clean.

crazymjb

Good, these will be the first rims we ever have(cept the taurus, but those dont count). Is brake dust hard to get off?

TLTrance

Yeah, I love these rims (although they are real easy to scratch). Time to find new tires that will go well with these..

neuronbob

My wheels stay clean.

JetJock

The brake dust is easy to remove if you don't let it sit very long. I usually wipe my wheels every day or so, and it comes off with a paper towel. It takes me less than 5 minutes to do all 4 wheels providing I don't wait more than a day or so. Also, I use a product made by Michelin called "Brake Dust Repellent." It sprays on and then foams up.....you wait a minute or so, then wipe it dry. It keeps the brake dust from sticking to the rims. I've got Brembo Brakes...so they make quite a bit of that black dust...but as long as I keep up with it, I don't have any problems. 5 minutes or less...that's it......not too bad for shiny rims IMHO.

Bluenote

My wheels are factory fresh, but I was my car at least once a week. I also Zaino'd them.

california-usa

Very true. And they are sooooooooo easy to clean.

EMF213

Mine are ok...I notice brake dust, but nothing like Germans!!

Has anyone noticed rust on their brake rotors? If I don't wash for a couple weeks my front rotors are covered in orange!! It seems to wash away with the wheel cleaner I use, but should this happen at all?

Repecat

Sure, they all rust. Just one application of the brakes will knock that stuff off. The rust causes no appreciable harm.

Burgman

Waxing the wheels will also make them easier to clean.

JimF_NJ

Just traded in my '01 9-3 for a new TL on Friday... I've yet to see the results of what everyone is saying about the TL myself, but I can totally relate in terms of the Saab.

equity

My BWM 528 was a bitch when it came to brake dust.

crvlvr

can't say the same about the Brembos. My front rims look black and the rear stock.

Cesci

I can handle the dust from the Brembos...........its the squeeling from the Brembos that gets to me. Embarrassing.

Scott in Houston

All good brakes squeak. It's inevitable with high performance brakes.

05YankeeTL

my Audi had so much brake dust...It seemed like once I washed my car, by the time I pulled out of the drive way I would have to clean the brake dust off of the rims....But not on the TL!!!!!!!!

Cesci

Not sure I agree Scott in Houston. I have had many a high end car (BMW, Merc, Infinity) pull up beside me at the lights and have not heard the squeeks I get from mine. No squeeks first couple of days after washing the car which tells me it must be brake dust related.

Scott in Houston

Yes, carbon build up can cause squeaking too.

My point is true though. The better the pads, the more they squeak because in order to perform better, they have to have a higher amount of metal in the compound.
I have 2 sets of pads for my 911. One for the street and one for the track. The track pads are worlds better than the street pads, but I don't leave them in for 2 reasons...
1) they need to be warm to really perform
2) they sound like a city bus when coming to a stop. That's not an exageration at all.

Those brakes on other nice cars are not what I would call high performance brakes. BMW's for example have mediocre brakes. They start to fade like a mother after a while on the track. Merc... same thing. (I'm not familiar w/ Infiniti though)

Anyway, the manual TL's get nice brembo's, and they will squeak at times. If it's too often, it could be that the pads weren't broken in correctly. Another thing that causes squeaking is the pad vibrating on the rotor. This can happen if when your pads were new, you did some hard stops before they were broken in and now they don't sit properly.

Sorry there are no simple answers.