With AEZ alloy wheels cars show style in winter too. The high-quality and innovative SR3 painting ensures that the wheels still look good after years on end. While aluminium does not corrode like iron or steel, oxidation will soon lead to an unattractive grey layer. Therefore, SR3 painting enhances the wheel’s “natural defences” against road salt and small scratches.

The abbreviation stands for “Salt Resistant“, while the number refers to the 3-layer process – primer coat, paint coat, finish coat. The primer is always an ultra-hard powder paint in black or light-grey, applied electrostatically and then “baked on” at 210°C for 45 minutes. The paint coat is applied in form of a wet coating, needing another 40 minutes at 180°C. As a transparent sealing and first line of defence against environmental influences, premium clear lacquer is the finish coat.

Top quality standards

How well the alloy wheels are protected by the SR3 painting is revealed by, for example, the salt spray test on a scratched surface in accordance with CASS and the fact that all paints are pre-tested for corrosion resistance by an independent, external lab in accordance with ECE-R124. The test is a 300h hell of stone chips, salt, acetic acid and copper chloride.

Rock-solid

In order to check if the layers firmly adhere to the surface, the standard cross-cut test is run next. The surface is cut six times, forming parallel lines crossed at a right angle by another six. Now the surface is repeatedly coated with a brush to verify that the painting withstands the salt without flaking. In order to ensure that all the wheels of a series meet the high SR3 painting quality standards attained in those tests, every single product is visually inspected and the layers are measured. “Salt Resistant“ for the wheels´ entire life...