kareemRCF

So my RCF was in for the 20,000km service.. service advisor told me that I need new brakes pads, and he said there is a warranty claim for new ones for free.

so now I got new front pads, not sure if they are different or the same just new ones.

I will report back in the next week or so if they still squeak. Anyway, you gota love new free pads

ISF001

You DID NOT get the same Brembo pads. You were given an optional replacement pad designed by Lexus to minimize brake noise at the lowest speeds.

Check and get back to us.

ghoffner

I had these pads put on yesterday. So far, it is noticeably better. However, I was able to still hear some slight squeaking yesterday when I was coming to a stop. I think I am going to go out and do several hard stops from 60-0 and see if that helps anything.

My original pads WERE ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!!! And I do not buy the "these a performance pads and they squeak" explanation.

ROK

performance car, performance pads, associated noises. lexus buyers truly. smh you bought the wrong car if you want your grandpa's LS silence. i feel bad for F engineers. you'd NEVER hear BMW M owners or 911 drivers being so vocal over such non-issues.

ISF001

^^^^^This!

JCtx

It's a fact. That you don't like that is a different matter. Go to a driving/racing school and you better wear earplugs. I personally think Lexus got it just right: the brakes are phenomenal on this car. But most importantly, the FEEL is too. With only mild squealing. My car is not bad at all. What I'm not crazy about is the insane amount of dust they generate, but that's another side-effect of awesome braking power. And many of us decided to live with that and keep one of the most enduring features of this car. To each his own though. The good news is Lexus now gives the option to those not-so-sporting drivers to swap them for free. Can't argue with that. Good luck.

kareemRCF

I didn't get the non performance new pads.. I got the same old pads. They still squeak but not as bad but hey atleast they are brand new.

DEMIK

iTrader: (18)

Amen brother

JT4

Good to know, thanks.

ghoffner

I've driven numerous other performance cars and none of them had breaks that sounded even half as horrendous as the breaks on my RCF. Cars like the 458, FF, R8, RS7, M4, M3, ZL1, C63, V12 Vantage and a few others.

Guys...I'm not exaggerating or looking for something to complain about....the breaks on my car were 100% embarrassing and absolutely pathetic sounding. It was just way too ridiculous to listen to, so I had lexus change them for their substitute. The dust is now basically non-existent and the squeal is something that you can easily deal with....and the performance seems to be just as good as the previous pads, however it may make a difference on the track.

JCtx

I have a solution for your squealing, but first, have you compared your car with another one? My brother has Ferraris and I drive them often, and as you should know, since 2008 all of them are equipped with carbon-ceramic brakes standard. No way in hell the RC-F makes more noise than those. If your car is louder than another RC-F, then something is not right. Maybe something lodged in your caliper or something. But they're not that noisy, especially compared to cars with CC brakes. In fact, they're much quieter than cars with independent pads, like Corvettes, since Lexus uses single pads, not 6 or 4 per caliper (2 leading edges squeal less than 4 or 6). Compare it to another RC-F and you'll know if it's your car or normal. You should also know that squealing is worse when just caressing the brake pedal. Don't do that and it'd be minimized. I don't mean slamming on the brakes, but just don't 'ride' the brake pedal. My car hardly squeals, and I still stop smoothly.

Now a solution, which could be partial, but would surely reduce squealing a great deal: Noticed the pads on the RCF are not chamfered at the leading edges. Most manufacturers do that, but high-performance/racing pads usually not, to maximize swept (surface) area. So not surprised they're not on the RC-F. All you need is a small angle so pad and rotors are not at 90º, which promotes squealing. This is only necessary at the LEADING edge, so in case of the front calipers, the lower part of each pad. But you'd have to remove them and grind them at a 30º angle or so, but don't go near the backing plate. You can google pads and see how most come from the factory. Or if you don't care about losing a bit of performance and feel, just ask your dealer for the free ceramic pads and call it a day. Hope this helps.

RacingBrake

In searching other forums I found there are some interesting reviews on RB's ET500 for luxurious cars like Mercedes, and spirited driving like in EVO and GTR communities.

Racing Brake makes me happy
http://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-r...ml#post5939978

Racing Brakes ET500 installed
http://www.gtrlife.com/forums/forum/180-brakes/

I heard Mike from Fig Eng'g is working with RB for RCF pads.

FIGS

iTrader: (11)

Hi guys, we are very close to offering our front and rear pad set that should resolve this issue. Test pads were fitted yesterday in fact in addition to our 2P rotors.

Brake squeal is likely one the largest problems with any high performance brake system but there a number of reasons and it is not always a matter of lead on in the pad. This aids in the transition but more than likely it has to do with the surface condition of the rotor and the bed-in of the pad on the face of the rotor. You have to picture it as 2 surfaces interlocking and making and braking contact at a low level. If you operate the pad below its target temperature it will not expand enough to let the rotor material "in" and it will skip across the top. This skimming causes further rounding of the rotor and the pad leading to resonance in the pad (movement at a frequency of the skipping) causing the noise. Then we get back to dust as the 2 materials will interact and the pad material will separate. So what do you do.....?

Probably the easiest way to remedy the squeal as stated is the re-bedding of the pads. That is to get them hot enough and to apply enough pressure to reshape the interface between the two components. But longer term, if you are just not a heavy braker and I mean someone that finds the bottom of the pedal occasionally, the milder pad is likely more suited for your style of driving. The impact on performance is subjective as there is so much on the table with larger brakes. The RB Performance pads for the street should be an excellent alternative as then are intended for lower temperature stopping and the smaller granularity means that there is less material sacrificed in the process all while providing the same pedal feel of the 60% or less that most street drivers are using. The downside is they are not track rated, which does not seem to be a factor here.

Small changes to the backing plate and we should be good to go in a few more weeks. We will keep you posted. We had the application sorted based on the FSMI backing plate number, but of course Lexus made a few slight changes that we need to account for in the process of releasing these.
Mike

TigerAC3

Here is the service bulletin for the break squeal.