Product recommendations?

[Mark]

Hello Damon,

I washed the RS6 this morning, unfortunately it was left sitting in the garage dirty for about 3 weeks.

As you've had one yourself, can you recommend any products for cleaning the aluminium bits around the grille and wing mirrors?
The wheels also have some brake dust spots which are still there after normal washing, what's safe to use?
Thanks!

 

[Damon]

Both can be addressed using Virisol.

I guess the alu strips have traffic grime on them. I sprayed them with Virisol (paint safe) leave for 10 mins, then spray again and rub with a cloth with a bit of 'bite' say a terry towel. Then use a clay bar to get any stubborn bits.

Same treatment for the alloys. But be careful. If the deposit are large 'dots' they may have bound on at high temps and its difficult to remove them with potentially micro-scratching the alloy. IMO you can't keep an alloy 100% free of deposits, just a fact of ownership, especially on an RS6 with the weight = heavy load on brakes.

Are you on OEM pads? They are Pagid Blacks and give off a tremendous amount of dust. Cheapest I ever found them for front and rear was 180, Audi charge 220.

I switched to Mintex and found them to perform better, especially on track/Nurburgring and less deposits. I got them circa 90 pounds from www.autops.co.uk

Hope this helps

 

[Damon]

Virisol

It is a citrus degreaser and can be diluted with water. I use it neat as it is so cheap. It can be cut 50:1 and used in the kitchen and bathroom (its marketed use).

I would contact them and ask for your nearest distributor

http://www.cloverchemicals.com/uk/contact_us.htm

You should be able to get 5 ltrs for about £7-8

 

[Mark]

Very helpful, thanks!

Someone on PH had suggested using the clay bar for the alloys too, which I tried doing at lunchtime. It was working, but very, very slowly. I only managed to do the 2/5ths of one wheel before I started looking around for something else to try.

I'm using OEM pads at the moment, sourced from eBay - no way am I going to pay Audi prices if I can avoid it. I'm quite gentle on the brakes, (very gentle) I think it's mainly because the car has been left dirty for so long. The hosepipe ban has been lifted too, so it's easier to wash and rinse as some bright spark put the outside tap at the furthest point from the garage - filling buckets was a pain

Thanks for the tips, I'll get some Virisol.