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I can't say I am particularly impressed by the brakes on my LS430.

They just feel......... er .....................crap. The car has full dealer service history so I can assume they have 'standard' brakes and not cheapo motor factors ones.

I know its a heavy car and to be fair I haven't done a hard brake to see how they perform when they have to, but the general bringing down from 70 ish I feel is poor resulting in a - "ooh dear I'm not stopping as fast as I thought ,last minute pedal press" kind of thing.

is there any way of beefing them up without going silly money.

Other drives are

my traded in 2.2 Primera Diesel estate - brakes nothing special, but felt more effective

Nissan 200sx with upgraded 315 disks and Ferodo DS2500 upgraded pads upfront, and EBC Yellow on the back, but that would be a little unfair to compare against this.

wifeys Renault 1.5dci Clio (fantastic brakes despite only being 'motor factor pads' )

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I can't say I am particularly impressed by the brakes on my LS430.

They just feel......... er .....................crap. The car has full dealer service history so I can assume they have 'standard' brakes and not cheapo motor factors ones.

I know its a heavy car and to be fair I haven't done a hard brake to see how they perform when they have to, but the general bringing down from 70 ish I feel is poor resulting in a - "ooh dear I'm not stopping as fast as I thought ,last minute pedal press" kind of thing.

is there any way of beefing them up without going silly money.

Other drives are

my traded in 2.2 Primera Diesel estate - brakes nothing special, but felt more effective

Nissan 200sx with upgraded 315 disks and Ferodo DS2500 upgraded pads upfront, and EBC Yellow on the back, but that would be a little unfair to compare against this.

wifeys Renault 1.5dci Clio (fantastic brakes despite only being 'motor factor pads' )

Hello matey, thought I recognised the name from SXOC

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I can't say I am particularly impressed by the brakes on my LS430.

They just feel......... er .....................crap. The car has full dealer service history so I can assume they have 'standard' brakes and not cheapo motor factors ones.

I know its a heavy car and to be fair I haven't done a hard brake to see how they perform when they have to, but the general bringing down from 70 ish I feel is poor resulting in a - "ooh dear I'm not stopping as fast as I thought ,last minute pedal press" kind of thing.

is there any way of beefing them up without going silly money.

Other drives are

my traded in 2.2 Primera Diesel estate - brakes nothing special, but felt more effective

Nissan 200sx with upgraded 315 disks and Ferodo DS2500 upgraded pads upfront, and EBC Yellow on the back, but that would be a little unfair to compare against this.

wifeys Renault 1.5dci Clio (fantastic brakes despite only being 'motor factor pads' )

Hello matey, thought I recognised the name from SXOC

Yep its me - I think we need to set up a Lexus sub section, there seems to be a few of us dipping our toes in the wonderful world of V8ness, to go along with a MX5 subsection. Pipe and slippers and hairdressers sections FTW

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Last MOT but one the tester said that the brake response was the best he had tested on any car for evenness and effectivness.

I was very chuffed as I had just replaced the pads all round myself. It was a very simple operation too.

I have driven all sorts too inc. Merc 450sel 6.9 Merc 320sel Merc 450SL BMW 635 Csi Lincoln Town Car, Cadillac Coupe de Ville various Toyota Camry's (US and Mid East model) IS base etc. and I think the Lexus is well and away the best esp. with the new tyres. Falken ZEIX.

SS pipe and slippers?

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Last MOT but one the tester said that the brake response was the best he had tested on any car for evenness and effectivness.

I was very chuffed as I had just replaced the pads all round myself. It was a very simple operation too.

I have driven all sorts too inc. Merc 450sel 6.9 Merc 320sel Merc 450SL BMW 635 Csi Lincoln Town Car, Cadillac Coupe de Ville various Toyota Camry's (US and Mid East model) IS base etc. and I think the Lexus is well and away the best esp. with the new tyres. Falken ZEIX.

SS pipe and slippers?

It might be even but mine are rubbish - would a dealer service mean changing brake fluid - what intyerval - maybe mine needs at at 100k.

Pipe and slippers is a bit of a 'in' Nissan 200sx joke - the image of the 200sx is very pipe and slippers especially the S14 variant - but they are sleepers! They will surprise many a BMW M3, Scooby etc.

Mine is full stage 1 about 280bhp ish thru the rear wheels and 1260kg. I think the Lexus also has a "pipe and slippers" image as well in comparison with their BMW/Jag/Merc counterparts - Image has never been top of my list - but quality is.

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I did have trouble with the flexible connectors ballooning, Lexus service did not spot them but the mot did a week later! That would give a bit of a spongy feel as well as a bit of air luking.

I know - goes without saying really. Mines an LS400 III. btw.

Good luck with it...

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I did have trouble with the flexible connectors ballooning, Lexus service did not spot them but the mot did a week later! That would give a bit of a spongy feel as well as a bit of air luking.

I know - goes without saying really. Mines an LS400 III. btw.

Good luck with it...

did you get braided hoses? such as Goodridge? - I have them on my 200sx and it did make a difference.

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I can't say I am particularly impressed by the brakes on my LS430.

They just feel......... er .....................crap. The car has full dealer service history so I can assume they have 'standard' brakes and not cheapo motor factors ones.

I know its a heavy car and to be fair I haven't done a hard brake to see how they perform when they have to, but the general bringing down from 70 ish I feel is poor resulting in a - "ooh dear I'm not stopping as fast as I thought ,last minute pedal press" kind of thing.

is there any way of beefing them up without going silly money.

Other drives are

my traded in 2.2 Primera Diesel estate - brakes nothing special, but felt more effective

Nissan 200sx with upgraded 315 disks and Ferodo DS2500 upgraded pads upfront, and EBC Yellow on the back, but that would be a little unfair to compare against this.

wifeys Renault 1.5dci Clio (fantastic brakes despite only being 'motor factor pads' )

Drop the box out of D and into 2 really helps with the aid of engine braking on this type of car.

200sx is a sports car which is half the weight of the ls and the clio is also really light car.

Another fact is that the ls is a tourer not a sports car, Just get off the gas and cruise in comfort and relax.

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I can't say I am particularly impressed by the brakes on my LS430.

They just feel......... er .....................crap. The car has full dealer service history so I can assume they have 'standard' brakes and not cheapo motor factors ones.

I know its a heavy car and to be fair I haven't done a hard brake to see how they perform when they have to, but the general bringing down from 70 ish I feel is poor resulting in a - "ooh dear I'm not stopping as fast as I thought ,last minute pedal press" kind of thing.

is there any way of beefing them up without going silly money.

Other drives are

my traded in 2.2 Primera Diesel estate - brakes nothing special, but felt more effective

Nissan 200sx with upgraded 315 disks and Ferodo DS2500 upgraded pads upfront, and EBC Yellow on the back, but that would be a little unfair to compare against this.

wifeys Renault 1.5dci Clio (fantastic brakes despite only being 'motor factor pads' )

Drop the box out of D and into 2 really helps with the aid of engine braking on this type of car.

200sx is a sports car which is half the weight of the ls and the clio is also really light car.

Another fact is that the ls is a tourer not a sports car, Just get off the gas and cruise in comfort and relax.

actually the 200sx is a tourer - way too soft as standard to be a sports car. Weight is about 2/3 the lex at around 1300kg (think I read the lex was 1800kg). I drove it for the first time this weekend for a month - first time I braked I almost went thru the windscreen, being much more used to the squidgy Lex. But like I said the 200 will brake from 130mph to 40 all day long without a whimper, so not really a fair comparison.

I only drive fast in the 200sx and then only when I am in 'blast mode', all other times I drive like miss daisy.

I rarely go above 70 on motorways - except to get out of trouble.

I'll wait til I have the opportunity to do a test 'emergency style stop' maybe I just need to be firmer with the pedal.

with regard to the relax bit I find I am driving even more 'smoothly' and 'relaxed' than I ever was. which, when I already drive like my Gran, is some going.

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I have to say that both my current mk4 and previous mk 3 have brakes that don't inspire confidence when I first tried them- feels like quite a lot of pedal movement before much happens(compared to some other cars), but when I've needed to stop quickly they've never given me any worry. I think it may just be a matter of getting used to them.

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My LS430 brakes work fine for a big heavy car.

You have to realise that the LS has next to no engine braking, so all the stopping power comes from the brakes themselves.

This is why a lot of LS`s have had replacement discs fitted, because they have to do so much work they warp quickly. Mine had a set of discs fitted before I bought it, and it had done just 69000 miles. I replaced the discs on my old LS400 while I had it, and again, that had only done about 80000.

If your other cars are manuals or are auto`s with better engine braking then this could factor in it.

If the brakes are so bad that they scare you, then its time to have a look to see if anything is wrong.

Small pointer, I was passing a line of traffic coming the other way on a straight bit of road near to where I live. It is a road that I know well and to be honest, I wasnt hanging about. As I reached the start of the line, a womble in a BMW pulled out to overtake said line of cars, and I can safely state that the ABS works well at 80MPH.

So if you hit the pedal hard at high speed and the ABS dont cut in, then there is definately something wrong.

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My LS430 brakes work fine for a big heavy car.

You have to realise that the LS has next to no engine braking, so all the stopping power comes from the brakes themselves.

This is why a lot of LS`s have had replacement discs fitted, because they have to do so much work they warp quickly. Mine had a set of discs fitted before I bought it, and it had done just 69000 miles. I replaced the discs on my old LS400 while I had it, and again, that had only done about 80000.

If your other cars are manuals or are auto`s with better engine braking then this could factor in it.

If the brakes are so bad that they scare you, then its time to have a look to see if anything is wrong.

Small pointer, I was passing a line of traffic coming the other way on a straight bit of road near to where I live. It is a road that I know well and to be honest, I wasnt hanging about. As I reached the start of the line, a womble in a BMW pulled out to overtake said line of cars, and I can safely state that the ABS works well at 80MPH.

So if you hit the pedal hard at high speed and the ABS dont cut in, then there is definately something wrong.

Cheers - thanks for a helpful reply - I must say I hadn't actually factored in the 'automatic' aspect even though I was aware of it. I'll have a play at the weekend with 'harsher' braking.

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So if you hit the pedal hard at high speed and the ABS dont cut in, then there is definately something wrong.

But the ABS doesn't help brake any harder, does it? It's there to help you control the car if it goes into a skid under braking.

So there should be plenty of times you might brake hard but not have the ABS cut in, I would have thought.

Chris

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I have the Ls400 4 pot calipers fitted to my IS with supra discs and although there was a small issue with bleeding them initially (just needed some persistence), they do work 100% now. I got them from Mat and the calipers were fully rebuilt when I got them.

On the other hand I have just sold an s14a and as any 200sx owner will know, the 4 pot on the s14a are prone to seizing which mine did....badly. I would literally have to jump on the brakes to get any sort of response at all in that car.

I would suggest you get the calipers checked to see if they have seized.

Also does the pedal feel spongy indicating air in the lines or is it solid but just not having much effect indicating possible seized calipers? I am assuming the discs and pads are in good condition as Lexus checked them?

My LS430 brakes work fine for a big heavy car.

You have to realise that the LS has next to no engine braking, so all the stopping power comes from the brakes themselves.

This is why a lot of LS`s have had replacement discs fitted, because they have to do so much work they warp quickly. Mine had a set of discs fitted before I bought it, and it had done just 69000 miles. I replaced the discs on my old LS400 while I had it, and again, that had only done about 80000.

The most common reason for warped discs on autos is due to the fact that the brakes are held on after the car has come to a stop. When braking from speed to a complete stop (for example motorway slip roads etc) te discs get very hot and want to expand. When an auto car is stopped the brakes tend to be held on to stop the car pushing forward naturally. This means that the discs expand unevenly due to the clamping force of the pads causing the disc to warp.

Although it can be a pain in the *** you should always put the car in neutral and if possible leave the handbrake off. This will leave the discs free to expand and contract evenly.

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The most common reason for warped discs on autos is due to the fact that the brakes are held on after the car has come to a stop. When braking from speed to a complete stop (for example motorway slip roads etc) te discs get very hot and want to expand. When an auto car is stopped the brakes tend to be held on to stop the car pushing forward naturally. This means that the discs expand unevenly due to the clamping force of the pads causing the disc to warp.

Although it can be a pain in the *** you should always put the car in neutral and if possible leave the handbrake off. This will leave the discs free to expand and contract evenly.

Not exactly.

What we call "warped discs" isnt a very good description. What is actually happening, is a transfer of material from the pad to the disc, and when enough material is deposited (which isnt a lot) the surface of the disc becomes uneven and the pedal jumps up and down.

Because an auto uses its brakes more than a manual, the discs get hotter, and more material is transfered, and the less engine braking, the higher the heat.

You are correct that it is good practice to take you foot off the brake pedal after a high speed stop and not to use the emergency brake, but in reality on a busy road, this cannot always be practical.

Read more here:

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml

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Also does the pedal feel spongy indicating air in the lines or is it solid but just not having much effect indicating possible seized calipers? I am assuming the discs and pads are in good condition as Lexus checked them?

defo on the spongy side compared with my 200.

its more solid if I brake, come off and go straight back on.

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