Nismo

I have a 2013 GS 350 F Sport RWD that I plan to begin tracking next month (been tracking all my cars for years, but this is my first Lexus).

Despite many Internet searches, including all the Club Lexus forums, I have not found anyone who sells brake parts for this car.

Anyone know where to buy aftermarket brake parts for this car? How about OEM?

I visited every site mentioned in this thread, My list of where to buy parts, as well as a few other Club Lexus threads, but none of the sites sell rotors or pads for this car specifically.

Probably too many questions for one thread, but... For those of you who track your GS, what pads do you run? With my other cars, I usually run Hawk Blue racing pads on track and HP+ on the street, but I don't think Hawk makes pads for the GS. Also, in your experience, do the stock pads overheat on street tires? How about on R Compounds?

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer.

mrpartsman

check on Stotech's web, u can run 309 series pads which is performance pads or else u can get BBK kit for it.

GSTONY

I have been using stock pads for the track on stock tires and they will be fine. They fade after 4 hard laps but still good been through 4 sets of oem pads on the track and havent able to find better pads I guess best option is to go bbk but there a bit pricy. I took it out 7 times this season and the car been reliable and stock brakes been good so far.

Nismo

Thank you for the tip. I contacted StopTech, but they don't sell front pads for the F Sport RWD's 14" rotors. They do sell rear pads, but only ceramic ones which wouldn't be suitable for track duty--they have a low temperature range and a low friction coefficient.

A Big Brake Kit would be nice, but the reason I bought the F Sport over the regular model is specifically for its large 14" floating rotors with 4-piston calipers. Besides, a BBK for this car, at least the Brembo one, is 355 mm (13.98"). So other than a possible increase in rotor mass (assuming the BBK has thicker rotors, which it might not) then there really wouldn't be any performance advantage.

Nonetheless, I appreciate the tip. Maybe StopTech will make pads for this car in the future.

Nismo

Thanks for the info. I'm guessing there's not a lot of GS 350 owners (not even the F Sport owners) that track their car, so it's nice to hear I'm not the only one!

Where do you buy your OEM replacement pads? Local dealer? I've checked online, but can't find anyone that sells them. To be more accurate, their online forms didn't list our front brake pads for sale. But I haven't called any online dealers yet. How about your replacement rotors? Purchased from the same place?

e39ng

Brembo is 380mm front and 345mm rear.....

Nismo

Thanks. It's so hard to find reliable information for this car.

Do you have the Brembo BBK on yours? If so, how would rate them versus the F Sport's stock brakes?

Brembo's USA Application Guide lists them as 355x32 front (8031A) and 345x28 rear (8027A). But then their Global Application Guide lists them as 380x32 front (9042A) and 345x28 rear (8050A). It looks like their USA Guide is just out of date, and doesn't have info for the 4th gen cars.

For now, I am still hoping the F Sport's stock brakes hold up to track duty; I'll find out for myself in a few weeks. Like others I know, I am starting to tire of modifying my cars for track duty, and really just want the manufacturer to have done that. IMHO, any Lexus with "F Sport" in the name (the F apparently represents Fuji Speedway) shouldn't have to have modified parts installed to make it track-worthy. The AMG, BMW M, Cadillac V, Corvette, Lotus, Porsche (even the entry-level Boxter), and Viper guys & gals I've run with don't have to modify their cars to make them track-worthy. I think Lexus will get there; they are getting better. I'm probably in the minority, but the large front brakes and cooling ducts were a big deciding factor in purchasing this car.

GSTONY

You be surprise how good our cars is at the track, yes the F is for fuji speedway and that is a track out in japan. Brembo brake kit will be better for sure but if you dont want to spend then oem brakes been helding up just fine. If anything I would suggest upgrading tires, I have been running all season and you see me beating ISF keeping up with M, AMG even S line from audi it also has to do with my driving and endurance. this car will gofast around a track once driven hard. Also I would upgrade to motul brake fluid and motul engine oil. I go to 2 track days and my oil is still golden. Other then that this GS is very reliable but no one will ever know how good this car untill you take it on the track, you'll never find its potential on the streets. Im planning to run r compund tires next season and with those ill be keeping up with alot of cars, Have fun nismo and go whoop some german ***.

Oh I buy replacement pads and rotors at cost from a buddy in lexus. There not that expensive to be honest you live in the states so its even cheaper.

LexFather

Stoptech, Brembo and D2racing have full front/rear BBK kits and I might have missed a couple others…

Nismo

It's good to hear the GS can handle track duty. I've autocrossed the GS a few times and the car is definitely quick--quicker than other cars its size--but is about 3-4 seconds off the pace of my S2000. Of course, that's on tight autocross courses; out on a big track like TWS or COTA, the GS should be closer (and still be able to haul the whole family around town in comfort afterwards).

Since you're thinking about R Compounds, one thing I'd caution is to think about temperatures. If the brakes are struggling on street tires, then they are definitely going to cook on track tires. My last time out in the S2000 on R Compounds, I broke a rotor in half from heat stress. Admittedly, it was hot that day, and like most Hondas, the S has some pretty wimpy brakes from the factory, but the brakes had always been fine on street tires. You might consider doing your first event on R Compounds on the GS in cooler weather, just in case. You might also want to pick up some rotor temperature paint, so you can keep an eye on exactly how hot your rotors are getting. I'll be doing the same. Cheers.

Nismo

I was prepping my car for its first track day next weekend and noticed the front rotors are installed incorrectly (if these were a dealer option, I'd understand the dealer's mechanic screwing this up, but I'm a bit surprised that they were installed wrong at the factory).

The front rotors have directional cooling vanes and the left-hand rotor was installed on the right side and vice versa. If Lexus did the same on yours, then that would explain the early pad fade.

mrpartsman

r u kidding me, no way, did u take pics.

Nismo

Nah, I didn't bother taking pics of mine. For others reading that may not know what I'm talking about, this image shows a correct installation:

mrpartsman

thats exactly how is suppose to work , the fins the opposite direction for cool down,when some times I sell drilled rotors or slotted I tell my customers make sure u dont put them wrong or else u will have overheating issues.good job Nismo.

nealb

try Porterfield in CA

http://porterfield-brakes.com/index.php

they list pads in their R4S compound that I've used in TT events

and I know they will custom make pads with about any compound you want