2018 VW GTI Alloy Wheels and Painted Calipers - Which products are safe?

mightypudge

mightypudge

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Hey all. I am sure this question comes up a lot so I did some searching, but I haven't found any answers that seem definitive. So, I thought I would pose this to the community.

My GTI is a week old and it has rained every day since. At some point soon I hope to give him his first proper detail, and of course I always worry about the wheels, rotors, and brakes. My GTI is bone stock, so it has the factory alloy wheels and red calipers. The product I have in stock for wheel cleaning are listed below. Do I need to be concerned with, or avoid, any of these?


  • Meguiar's Wheel Brightener
  • Wolfgang Uber Wheel Cleaner
  • CarPro Iron X
  • Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus

Thanks!!

View attachment 63628
 

I know that these 3 are safe for sure on my '17GTI. I don't use Meg's Wheel Brightener so I don't know.

  • Wolfgang Uber Wheel Cleaner
  • CarPro Iron X
  • Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus



I would suggest looking at and coating your wheels and calipers. I did mine and just topped them up again this spring.

 
As an owner of a MK6 GTI I'd recommend the most gentle wheel cleaner possible for two reasons:

1. Unless things changed for the non-performance package brake calipers on the MK7, the red paint is single stage and doesn't have a clear coat. I discovered even some wheel cleaners considered "mild" will cause them to fade over time.
2. Your MK7 wheels look like they are a clear coat sprayed over a brushed alloy surface. On Japanese OEM wheels of similar design, I've found harsh wheel cleaners to make that clear coat turn hazy/cloudy.

I'm not familiar with any of the wheel cleaners you have on hand, but I've been using the regular (i.e. green) Griots Wheel Cleaner and found it works really well. It seems to be pretty mild, yet still eats away brake dust and grime easily.
 
Megs Wheel Brightener is the only one I would avoid that you mentioned. Iron-x is really not a wheel cleaner but more of a decontaminator as it does not remove dirt, only brake dust. I would spray with iron-x and wash with normal car soap unless they are really nasty. Then coat the wheels. Hydro2 works great for a 3 month coating, just spray on clean wheels and rinse.
 
I've used these 2 on my 2017 GTI and they both work fine.

Wolfgang Uber Wheel Cleaner (my usual cleaner)
CarPro Iron X (just when detailing and need to decontaminate first)
 
Desertnate said:
As an owner of a MK6 GTI I'd recommend the most gentle wheel cleaner possible for two reasons:

1. Unless things changed for the non-performance package brake calipers on the MK7, the red paint is single stage and doesn't have a clear coat. I discovered even some wheel cleaners considered "mild" will cause them to fade over time.
2. Your MK7 wheels look like they are a clear coat sprayed over a brushed alloy surface. On Japanese OEM wheels of similar design, I've found harsh wheel cleaners to make that clear coat turn hazy/cloudy.
Click to expand...


Both of these reasons are why I coated my wheels and calipers as soon as I got my car. My wife thought I was nuts as my “new car prep” took almost 2 weeks and I got the car with the plastic still on it. But now it is super easy to clean and looks good even while dirty.


 
TroyScherer said:



Both of these reasons are why I coated my wheels and calipers as soon as I got my car. My wife thought I was nuts as my “new car prep” took almost 2 weeks and I got the car with the plastic still on it. But now it is super easy to clean and looks good even while dirty.


Click to expand...

What’s the proper way to coat the calipers? Do the wheels need to come off?


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rlmccarty2000 said:
Megs Wheel Brightener is the only one I would avoid that you mentioned. Iron-x is really not a wheel cleaner but more of a decontaminator as it does not remove dirt, only brake dust. I would spray with iron-x and wash with normal car soap unless they are really nasty. Then coat the wheels. Hydro2 works great for a 3 month coating, just spray on clean wheels and rinse.
Click to expand...

This is CarPro Hydro 2, correct? When applying to wheels and calipers is it just a matter of spraying on while they are wet, then rinsing off with the hose?


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The calipers on my SRT4 came painted red with no clear over them. This is a problem because they will eventually start to turn black because the brake dust gets into the paint. I would get some clearcoat on them before anything else. If you want to step it up a notch, check out Glisten PC from Por15. It's a two-part epoxy and gets extremely hard. I pulled my calipers, stripped them down, painted, and applied Glisten PC over two years ago and they still look perfect.

YouTube
 
mightypudge said:
What’s the proper way to coat the calipers? Do the wheels need to come off?
Click to expand...

The best and most durable way would be to pull the wheels off. This is also the best way to coat wheels so you can do the inside and the outside easily.




mightypudge said:
This is CarPro Hydro 2, correct? When applying to wheels and calipers is it just a matter of spraying on while they are wet, then rinsing off with the hose?
Click to expand...

Yeah you are correct with the process. Hydro2 works great as a stand-alone sealant and as a coating topper as well.




BSoares said:
Yes. I’d love to do that to mine but I just don’t have an easy way to remove my wheels to coat the barrels or the caliper :(
Click to expand...

I have jack and a set of jack stands. But I also have a 2nd vehicle that’s helps for longer term projects where I go a little OCD.
 
I’d look at using Carpro dLux on them as a solid coating. Then you can use a Sealant (hydro2) as needed.


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mightypudge said:
What’s the proper way to coat the calipers? Do the wheels need to come off?
Click to expand...

That's the only good way to get at them. If you swap out summer and winter wheels, it makes a perfect time to go in and spruce them up twice a year.

BSoares said:
Yes. I’d love to do that to mine but I just don’t have an easy way to remove my wheels to coat the barrels or the caliper :(
Click to expand...

You'd be surprised how inexpensively and easily you can do this. One trip to your local Harbor Freight store will get you an inexpensive jack, jack stands, wheel chocks, torque wrench, and breaker bar. Amazon is a great source for the deep well acrylic lined sockets. The HF tools aren't racing pit crew grade, but for a couple times a year they do just fine.

DMW said:
The calipers on my SRT4 came painted red with no clear over them. This is a problem because they will eventually start to turn black because the brake dust gets into the paint. I would get some clearcoat on them before anything else. If you want to step it up a notch, check out Glisten PC from Por15. It's a two-part epoxy and gets extremely hard. I pulled my calipers, stripped them down, painted, and applied Glisten PC over two years ago and they still look perfect.
Click to expand...

Using a Speedmaster wheel brush will help you get into calipers and keep them clean while the wheels are still mounted. I also noticed my calipers started to turn pink from the heat after a track day. This was easily fixed by polishing them out with an AIO and they have held up pretty well since.

I've not heard of the product you used, but I'm thinking of repainting mine with G2 Caliper paint once I've got time to take on a project like that.
 
Desertnate said:
You'd be surprised how inexpensively and easily you can do this. One trip to your local Harbor Freight store will get you an inexpensive jack, jack stands, wheel chocks, torque wrench, and breaker bar. Amazon is a great source for the deep well acrylic lined sockets. The HF tools aren't racing pit crew grade, but for a couple times a year they do just fine.
Click to expand...

I thought about it but my garage is too tight for that, can't use a jack in there. My driveway is steep and wouldn't be safe. Doing it right on the road might be an issue as I'm in an HOA managed development and not sure we can service cars on the street. So it's more about the location than the job or having the tools to do it.
 
BSoares said:
I thought about it but my garage is too tight for that, can't use a jack in there. My driveway is steep and wouldn't be safe. Doing it right on the road might be an issue as I'm in an HOA managed development and not sure we can service cars on the street. So it's more about the location than the job or having the tools to do it.
Click to expand...

This is my situation as well. We are not permitted to work on our cars in our driveway and we don’t have garages.


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