Isf Brake Pads

[lee789]

At £500 a set with fitting, does anyone know how many miles you can expect from a set of ISF front brake pads under normal driving conditions? I know it's a difficult one to answer, but I'm just looking for a ball park figure. Would 20-30k sound reasonable?

[Tango]

At £500 a set with fitting, does anyone know how many miles you can expect from a set of ISF front brake pads under normal driving conditions? I know it's a difficult one to answer, but I'm just looking for a ball park figure. Would 20-30k sound reasonable?

I hope you mean discs and pads for that price . My front discs have done 30K+ on the OEM pads, but I've since fitted a set of Hawk Performance Ceramic pads to the front and it's too early to tell if they'll wear more or less than the OEM. They definitely do not generate as much dust (about the same amount as the rear now). Got them from the USA for less than £100.00 and fitted them myself. http://www.hawkperformance.com/performance/ceramic.php They may be available in the UK from Compbrake, but would need to enquire as they don't appear to currently stock any Lexus or Hawk PC pads, only Hawk HP and HPS pads for just about every other marque.

[lee789]

Hi Tango,

No, the front pads are £373.00, and the fitting is 1.25 hours. The guy in Lexus parts couldn't believe the price, especially as most other Lexus pads are arond £60. I thought maybe they had upgraded later models to ceramic, but they are just ordinary pads. I think I'll go down the same route as you for replacements, thanks for the link. Did you replace your OEM pads before they had worn out, and what milleage did you get out of them before the dust became too much to put up with??

[lee789]

......actually I'm suprised Lexus haven't substituted ISF pads for ceramics, especially as their ISF track car has them fitted. After 3 years, and hundreds of customer complaints, you would have thought they would have sorted it out long before now. However, having had a number of conversations with Lexus GB Customer Services over the past few years, my impression is they really couldn't give a toss about customers, and pass all complaints and problems back to the dealerships. In fact, the only time they seemed to show the slightest bit of interest was when I told them I intended to replace my pads with after market ceramics, which are much easier to live with, and cost a third of their Lexus parts. I was told I would invalidate the warranty on the braking system, to which I replied that if it saved me £400 a time, I wasn't terribly bothered. Apart from that, Lexus would have to prove the pads were responsible for any braking system problems that occured in order to wriggle out of their warranty. Good job the cars are OK, because if customer services was indicative of the brand, Lexus would be down the same toilet as its parent company.

[Parthiban]

Those are surprisingly expensive! I suppose the only justification can be the limited numbers for the IS-F, but still that's quite a lot for what are effectively standard brake pads.

[lee789]

Hi Parthiban,

Yes, just one of the things I'm not too happy about. I did a routine inspection of the car today...you know the usual things like tyre pressures, fluid levels etc....and I found the tyres were all very under inflated, the brake fluid was on low, the coolant level was below minimum, and the washer bottle was completely empty. So much for the PDI & full service then!! The service centre apologised and assured me they had spoken to the technician, and that everything else was fine with the car. However, I'm now concerned about what other items they didn't bother checking. The technicians report, that was included in my folder of documents, and is supposed to be completed and signed under the terms of the Lexus approved program, was completely blank. The salesman told me not to worry about this, and that it was all done electronically now. I'm not convinced, and it sounds like BS to me. Also, the front pads seem very low considering they are supposed to have more than 60% left on them to pass the PDI. Still, look at the bright side, I can always wave the invoice at them at some point over the next 23 days and do what we discussed!!

[Tango]

......actually I'm suprised Lexus haven't substituted ISF pads for ceramics, especially as their ISF track car has them fitted. After 3 years, and hundreds of customer complaints, you would have thought they would have sorted it out long before now. However, having had a number of conversations with Lexus GB Customer Services over the past few years, my impression is they really couldn't give a toss about customers, and pass all complaints and problems back to the dealerships. In fact, the only time they seemed to show the slightest bit of interest was when I told them I intended to replace my pads with after market ceramics, which are much easier to live with, and cost a third of their Lexus parts. I was told I would invalidate the warranty on the braking system, to which I replied that if it saved me £400 a time, I wasn't terribly bothered. Apart from that, Lexus would have to prove the pads were responsible for any braking system problems that occured in order to wriggle out of their warranty. Good job the cars are OK, because if customer services was indicative of the brand, Lexus would be down the same toilet as its parent company.

Lexus listened to the customers in the US and made OEM ceramic based pads available for the IS250 and the IS350 because of the dust issue, but for some reason haven't made sets available for the IS-F. It may be because the IS-F has brembo calipers and there may be some kind of commercial deal between Toyota and brembo? No way will I be paying Lexus over £300 for front pads regardless of warranty, as the Hawk Pc's are much better.

I still have the original pads that I replaced with the Hawks, and yes they have a lot of material still left on them.

[lee789]

Tango, do the Hawks connect into the brake pad wear warning system of the car??

[Tango]

Tango, do the Hawks connect into the brake pad wear warning system of the car??

No, they do not have the riveted metal contact on the pad, but if you allow the pads to get anywhere near requiring such warning then either you haven't had any servicing done, or are completely deaf and/or blind

[Parthiban]

That does sound like a poor showing in terms of prepping the car - although my brother's XF was even worse, other than refurbing two wheels (badly I might add) they hadn't touched anything else.

If the pads look low ask for them to be replaced, my dealer once told me that they replace the pads on used cars when they still had a surprising amount still on them - can't remember the exact figure but think it was 60%.

But yeah if they create any problems it will be time to ask for an exchange

[giorgoXXI]

Are these brake pads any good?

http://www.ebcbrakesdirect.com/car/parts_pad.asp?part=pad&make=LEXUS&model=IS-F&year=5%2E0+%282007-%29#

My brake pads are 50% worn. Any idea how many miles I could do before I need to replace them?

[Tango]

Are these brake pads any good?

http://www.ebcbrakes...E0+%282007-%29#

My brake pads are 50% worn. Any idea how many miles I could do before I need to replace them?

Not tried them myself, but found this review which gives them the 'thumbs up'. Would be a bit wary of the comment regarding grip from cold, as 'Red Stuff' is the usual for everyday driving whereas 'Yellow Stuff' appears to be used for track days etc.

[report] [news] Wednesday 4th March 2009 I came across this which is pretty useful -

Although a full race material and capable of high temperature use with very good wear life, this new formulation sets a new trend in race type brake pad compounds that can be used on the highway. The "bite" from cold is superb which is uncommon with race materials (normally requiring warm-up) and makes this a pad which can be safely used on both street and track. This new formulation has been used by numerous championship race and rally drivers and is truly a milestone in brake pad material development. Nominal friction coefficient 0.5 with zero rotor damage and similar dust to original pads.

This material is a Kevlar® fibre based brake compound enhanced with ceramic particles. If you have previously tried EBC redstuff (pre-ceramic compound) this material is light years ahead. It lasts longer, it brakes better and is quieter. Being a hard wearing pad, bed-in times can be as long as 1000 miles and drivers must be patient until the pad takes up the shape of their disc (brake rotor).

This is a truly impressive fast road pad for repeated heavy braking. It emits far less dust than semi-metallic pads and has been proven to stop a passenger car/sedan/sport compact/hot hatch 13 metres quicker than OEM pads from 100mph/160kph. Features EBC Brake-In surface coating which conditions rotor surface and accelerates pad bed-in. Nominal friction coefficient 0.5 with approx. 50% dust reduction compared to other pads.

[lee789]

Parthiban,

My friends XF was delivered in a really poor condition as well - curbed wheels coated in dried oil, badly chipped screen, filthy engine bay. It wasn't a Jaguar Dealer in the Kent area was it?

[lee789]

Thanks Tango. Yes I agree, you can't miss the sound of metal on metal, even in a Lexus!!

[Parthiban]

Parthiban,

My friends XF was delivered in a really poor condition as well - curbed wheels coated in dried oil, badly chipped screen, filthy engine bay. It wasn't a Jaguar Dealer in the Kent area was it?

No this was Reading - to be fair though I think the salesman was a tw*t (who was also conveniently "off sick" on collection day). The finance guy who then sorted everything out was brilliant so I think it was a bit of bad luck that we had dealt with that guy.

[hondansxr]

re: red stuff pads i have these on my nsx and it feels like the car is going to do a stoppy (like a bike ) well impressed ...my wife doesnt think so

[Tango]

re: red stuff pads i have these on my nsx and it feels like the car is going to do a stoppy (like a bike ) well impressed ...my wife doesnt think so

What's the dust like? They're supposedly very low dust pads. Even though my Hawks are better than OEM regarding dusting, they still produce more than the ceramics I had in the IS350 calipers on my IS250.

[Looney]

Tango, i fitted the yeloiw ones on my isf and the dust is better than oem for sure but still you need to wash the wheels every week to avoid ruining them.

As far as performance, they equaled oem in my opinion but did take a little longer to bed in. Fitted by a local garage save me lexus prices and was happy with the result.

I am however considering putingt ceramics on next as i'm on my 3rd set at the front (2 oem and 1 yellow racing) at 30k on the clock - although i changed yellow racing with 50% left on them by mistake - so will put them back on and then go US ceramics