In June, I replaced my front and rear brakes with Akebono (pretty sure) and did a brake bleed, as advised by the maintenance schedule. Wife, who rarely drives, recently drove and said the brakes feel really soft. I brought it back to the shop, thinking there was air in the fluid but still feels almost the same after bleeding it again. The shop said the aftermarket brake pads are just softer than OEM. A mechanic buddy of mine, who works with a lot of Lexus's, said Lexus does have pretty sensitive brakes. My dad's 2018 RX is significantly a lot more sensitive.

So yeah, how sensitive are your brakes? I feel like I have to press down almost half way down before I feel the resistance for <30mph. Whether the car is warm or cold.

Not sure if Akebono really is softer or if the car does does have a softer brake, which is why our car is so smooth.

 

There's a lot that goes into what makes a brake system "sensitive" or not sensitive. But generally speaking, all other things being equal, using a "ceramic" pad or in other words a pad with less steel content will generally have less grip, less initial bite, etc. It's not so much you having an aftermarket pad, but could be the general pad compound. There are "aftermarket" pads offered by tier 1/oem suppliers that use similar if not the same or generally the same compound as OE (note I said OE,, NOT OEM) as this topic requires nuance that most do not get or get wrong.

Long story short, focus on pad compound rather than pad brand -- but keep the brand big such as tier 1/oem.

A classic example of this is Textar which makes the same/similar brand pad for some of Lexus sport models and use the same compound and thus offers the same performance, at a fraction of the price. A classic trick us BMW guys used to do (taught and led by me lol) way back in the day. (vs buying OE pads)

Akebono is a big supplier AFAIK but not sure what you bought there. sometimes OEMs/tier 1s offer all kinds of wacky stuff. if they promise low dust or less dusting etc, i'd steer away.

i always want maximum bite, maximum performance, as the mfr configured the car with.

i just gave a lot of extremely nuanced valuable info on brakes. this is just scratching the surface! (pun intended)

longer story shorter: Go OE (stock) if you can afford it, or you gamble with outcome. If you still want to save, you'll need to do your homework and buy pads that match the stockers as closely as possible. ive been there done that with all possible criss-crossing and matching of pad compounds/brands/rotors/fluids etc. learned many many lessons.

 

Wonder if the master cylinder has air in it which is real easy to do if fluid gets too low while bleeding the lines to change the fluid.

 

You replaced the brakes? Meaning pads and rotors, or just pads?

 

My 19 350 FSport brake is very hard, I'm on second set of OEM pads and it is the same as day 1. I always have to press it fairly hard to stop the car, sometimes I feel like I have to floor it for a quick complete stop.

Edit: I think this called soft brake not hard brake, meaning because it's a soft brake, it requires driver to apply the brake harder to stop the car..., confused huh lol

 

I find the brakes on my 2025 ES350 to be very "soft" or non-sensitive. It takes an aggressive push on the pedal to initiate much braking force. Compared to other cars i have had these are really soft. I at first thought there was something wrong and then i investigated it and found its a Lexus thing in that they don't want drivers to feel aggressive braking (or acceleration for that matter) as its a luxury car that is to pamper the driver and passenger. I dislike the brakes very much. As i've said before, these feel more like the old drum brakes i've had on classic cars or older cars. I've gotten used to it, those folks that have not had cars with sensitive braking will feel these as normal, its all your prior frame of reference or experience. Prior cars ive recently had with much more responsive braking were, GTI, BMW and Hyundai.

 

I doubt that the Akebono pads are the issue: I replaced the brake pads on my '14 ES with Akebono ProACT Premium (ceramics) and did not notice any change in pedal resistance (firmness/spongy) or in braking performance. Haven't done the pads on the '20 (haven't had the car that long...pads not needed yet) but my understanding is that Akebono is one of the main brake pad suppliers to Lexus/Toyota so I would be surprised if they were your issue. I rather think that the change was done and some air was left in the system (or possibly the brake fluid needs changing).

 

Supposedly Akebono is the supplier for Lexus oem pads, and they are ceramic pads on the 3.6 lexus according to the Akebono website. Ceramic are commonly used oem now because of generally having less braking dust, longer life, and quieter than organic or semi-metallic. Semi-metallic will give better initial bite but will usually be noisier and generate more brake dust, and put more wear on the rotors. I prefer semi-metallic and will be switching when its time as i hate the soft mushy brake feel of the oems.

 

I have been using Akebono ceramics for a while now (on a Toyota) and been very happy. When it's time to do the Lexus I'll probably keep using them.