Is-F Ceramic Brakes

[Top Cat]

Hi, I am new to the forum but have had my IS-F for a year. Although I love the car, the brake dust from the front pads (as frequently mentioned)is horrendous and despite various cleaning products and rim wax etc etc I have had enough!

I have just bought the Hawk Ceramic front pads from the States and they are being fitted next week. Just before I go ahead I thought I would ask if anyone in the UK has had these fitted and what they think of them? They are supposed to give minimal dust, longer life and more progressive braking.

Lexus UK have informed that fitting them will invalidate any warranty relating to the front discs and pads but the rest of the warranty is unaffected.

Am I doing the right thing? Any comments welcome!

Thanks

[Tango]

Hi, I am new to the forum but have had my IS-F for a year. Although I love the car, the brake dust from the front pads (as frequently mentioned)is horrendous and despite various cleaning products and rim wax etc etc I have had enough!

I have just bought the Hawk Ceramic front pads from the States and they are being fitted next week. Just before I go ahead I thought I would ask if anyone in the UK has had these fitted and what they think of them? They are supposed to give minimal dust, longer life and more progressive braking.

Lexus UK have informed that fitting them will invalidate any warranty relating to the front discs and pads but the rest of the warranty is unaffected.

Am I doing the right thing? Any comments welcome!

Thanks

Ceramic based pads are available for the IS350 and IS250 from Lexus in the States (I have a set on my IS250 SE-L). This was to sort out the problem with the excessive dusting of the original fitment, so I'm more than surprised that similar pads have not been made available by Lexus for the IS-F.

Based on the performance of the ceramic pads fitted to the IS350 brakes on my IS 250, I brought a set of Hawk Ceramic pads back from the States for the front brakes of my IS-F in June this year and they produce considerably less dust than the OEM pads, so the wheels are now less prone to being pitted. However, reports from the IS-F forum in the US say they do not perform as well as the OEM pads in track conditions i.e. driven hard and hot. For everyday use they appear to be fine, but I have yet to try them on a track day.

There are other manufacturers of ceramic based pads in the US, but from all the reviews I have seen the Hawk pads appear to give the best all round performance, which is why I bought them..

[Top Cat]

Thanks for the response. It appears the Hawk Performance Ceramic pads I bought on-line from the states are the same as yours, so on the basis I am not doing any track days they sound like they will finally solve the brake dust problem.

Excellent news! Thanks again.

[Top Cat]

A quick update on my Hawk Ceramic front pads........

They were fitted on Weds 25th August by Lexus in Bracknell with no problem. The only downside is that they no longer connect to the warning system which tells you when the pads are getting low. Not really a problem as you can see the pad and they are supposed to last longer than normal pads anyway, so it will be a while before they need replacing.

So far I have driven 500 miles on the ceramic pads and they feel completely different from before. They are much more pregressive in feel but when you stamp on them they react immediately and give a strong sense of belief in their ability.

The Lexus dealer handed the car back sparkling clean and I can report the front alloys are still shining after 500 miles. The brake dust appears to be minimal.

So far so good. Will report back in a few months......

[asl]

How much did they cost to buy / fit?

[Tango]

How much did they cost to buy / fit?

I paid $271.00 when I was in Texas in June this year. Brought them back to UK and fitted them myself.

[asl]

Just had my MOT and the front brakes will need changing soon so I'm thinking about changing to ceramic.

Top Cat, how much did you pay for them (I assume you purchased on line and had them shipped) and how much did Lexus chrge to fit them?

Tango, are they easy to fit? I don't intend doing them as I'm a complete numpty and would probably put them on upside down and wrong way round but my dad used to be a mechanic so he said he will do if it's not too difficult.

[Tango]

Just had my MOT and the front brakes will need changing soon so I'm thinking about changing to ceramic.

Top Cat, how much did you pay for them (I assume you purchased on line and had them shipped) and how much did Lexus chrge to fit them?

Tango, are they easy to fit? I don't intend doing them as I'm a complete numpty and would probably put them on upside down and wrong way round but my dad used to be a mechanic so he said he will do if it's not too difficult.

Dead easy to fit, especially if you've changed brake pads on anything before.